Senior Research Software Engineering Lead

University of Glasgow - School of Social & Political Sciences

Are you an experienced Research Software Engineer (RSE) who thrives on solving complex problems through hands-on development and technical leadership? The Urban Big Data Centre (UBDC) is seeking a Senior RSE Lead to play a central role in designing and delivering innovative software and data science solutions that unlock the potential of urban data for research, policy, and public impact. This is a strategic yet technical role, ideal for someone who enjoys collaborating with researchers and end-users, architecting systems, and building tools that make complex datasets accessible, interactive, and actionable.

In this role, as Senior RSE Lead, you will be responsible for the end-to-end development of robust data analytics pipelines, scalable applications, and intuitive user interfaces. You will work directly with interdisciplinary teams of researchers, data scientists, and external partners to co-create impactful solutions that support data-intensive social research. Your work will span the full software lifecycle—from requirements gathering and design to implementation, testing, and deployment—ensuring that research outputs are reproducible, user-focused, and technically sound. You will also contribute to the design of research projects and funding proposals, embedding software engineering expertise into the heart of UBDC’s strategy.

In addition to your technical contributions, you will provide leadership, mentoring, and coordination to a small team of technicians based at UBDC. You will foster a collaborative and inclusive working environment, ensuring high-quality software and support services to the UBDC research community. You will also act as a key liaison with infrastructure providers, helping researchers make optimal use of high-performance computing resources, including cloud platforms and university infrastructure services.

This is a unique opportunity to join a mission-driven organisation that values innovation, technical excellence, and real-world impact. At UBDC, you’ll be part of a dynamic environment that encourages creativity, collaboration, and continuous learning. You will also be associated with a team of Research Software Engineers working across the University through a close relationship with the university-wide Research Computing as a Service. We’re looking for someone who thrives in a fast-paced research setting, has demonstrated project management and initial leadership experience, combines this with solid software engineering skills, and is excited to contribute to meaningful societal change through thoughtful, user-focused software engineering.

For informal enquiries, please contact UBDC’s Director, Professor João Porto de Albuquerque.

This post is full time (35 hours per week) and is available until 31st October 2028 in the first instance.

To apply online at: https://www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/senior-research-software-engineering-lead?source=gla.ac.uk

Closing date: 10 February 2026 at 23:45