About the Team
We are seeking a Full Stack Software Developer to join the BioSamples team at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI). BioSamples is a core biological metadata repository that stores, validates, and serves sample metadata for life‑science research. It underpins major public archives such as ENA, ArrayExpress, and Human Cell Atlas, enabling FAIR data submissions at scale.
Role Overview
As a Senior Full‑Stack Software Developer you will design, develop, maintain, and evolve software systems that support BioSamples data submission, validation, and retrieval services. Your work will span backend services, APIs, large‑scale metadata processing pipelines, and user‑facing web applications, ensuring high‑quality metadata can be submitted and explored by researchers worldwide.
Responsibilities
- Design, implement, and maintain backend services and RESTful APIs using Java (preferably 17+) and Spring.
- Develop frontend applications with Angular, React, or similar modern frameworks.
- Architect distributed, scalable, and reliable systems handling millions of biological sample records.
- Participate in system architecture discussions and long‑term platform evolution.
- Collaborate closely with developers, bioinformaticians, data curators, product owners, and external data infrastructures.
Qualifications
- University degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent experience.
- 5+ years of hands‑on full‑stack software development.
- Strong Java/Spring programming experience.
- Experience designing and implementing RESTful APIs and backend services.
- Experience developing frontend applications using Angular, React or similar.
- Experience with relational and/or NoSQL databases such as PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Elasticsearch.
- Experience building performant, reliable, and scalable services capable of handling high‑volume metadata submissions.
- Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, Unix/Linux environments, Git, and command‑line tools.
- Experience using AI‑assisted development tools and modern software engineering workflows.
- Excellent communication, interpersonal, and English language skills.
Preferred Skills
- Authentication and authorisation technologies such as OAuth 2.0 or OpenID Connect.
- JSON schema validation or metadata‑driven system design.
- Monitoring and observability tools such as Grafana, Kibana.
- CI/CD pipelines (e.g. GitLab CI).
- Event‑driven architectures or messaging systems such as Kafka or RabbitMQ.
- Knowledge of FAIR data principles and open scientific data standards.
- Experience with large scientific datasets or bioinformatics resources.
- Contribution to open‑source or international scientific infrastructure projects.
Contract & Salary
Contract Length: 18‑month fixed‑term, project‑based staff member contract.
Salary: Grade 6.0 – Monthly salary starting at £3,695 per month (after tax, excluding pension and insurance contributions) plus benefits.
Benefits
- Annual salary review, pension scheme, insurance coverage.
- Flexible working arrangements, including hybrid options.
- Private medical insurance and dental coverage for employee and immediate family.
- 30 days annual leave plus public holidays.
- Relocation package and installation grant (if required).
- On‑site facilities including shuttle bus, library, gym, cafeteria and social club activities.
EEO Statement
EMBL-EBI is a signatory of DORA and welcomes applications from candidates of all genders, identities, nationalities and diverse backgrounds. EMBL is committed to a diverse, inclusive and innovative workplace.
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