Software Research & Development Engineer

80%-100%, Zurich, Fixed-term

The Swiss Data Science Center (SDSC) is a national research infrastructure specializing in data science and artificial intelligence (AI) within the ETH domain, supported by founding partners EPFL and ETH Zurich. Our mission is to aid academic labs, hospitals, industrial stakeholders, and public sector entities—including cantonal and federal administrations—throughout their data science journey. This journey encompasses everything from data collection and management to machine learning, AI, and industrialization. With a diverse multidisciplinary team across three locations (Lausanne, Zurich, and Villigen), the SDSC provides expertise and services across multiple domains including health and biomedical sciences, energy and sustainability, climate and environment, and large-scale scientific infrastructures.

Project Background

The Swiss Data Science Center (SDSC) is seeking a Software Research & Development Engineer to become a vital member of our project-based engineering team in Zürich. This team is dedicated to transforming research outcomes into production-ready data science infrastructure, acting in conjunction with platform teams to explore, build, and validate solutions that can ultimately be adopted as sustainable services.

In this role, you will navigate the intersection of research and engineering, taking early-stage ideas and prototypes and refining them into reusable systems ready for real-world deployment. You will align with FAIR principles, ensuring that our practices are not only fair but also usable, scalable, and sustainable.

Projects are driven by tangible needs in various sectors, including health and biomedical sciences, climate and environment, energy and sustainability, digital society, and extensive data ecosystems.

Job Description

• You will contribute to projects that evolve through two significant modes.
• In early phases, engage in focused exploration and prototyping, shaping solution spaces, testing approaches, and making technical choices.
• As projects mature, contribute to Minimum Viable Product (MVP) development, creating operational, reusable components that are ready for production environments.
• Collaborate with engineers across the stack to build end-to-end solutions, focusing primarily on backend, data, and infrastructure components, while occasionally supporting lightweight user-facing elements.
• Ensure continuity beyond project lifecycles by working closely with internal platform teams and partner IT units to transition successful MVPs into production, maintaining their usability and operational readiness.
• Co-design solutions with users and domain experts, participating in collaborative workshops to iteratively refine requirements into robust implementations.
• Adhere to established engineering and data best practices, emphasizing reproducibility, maintainability, interoperability, and production readiness.

Profile

• We welcome candidates with varying levels of experience—whether you're early in your career or already seasoned, your problem-solving approach and collaborative spirit are what matter most.
• You possess a passion for building practical systems, navigating ambiguity effectively while collaborating with stakeholders to iterate toward optimal solutions.
• Your focus on quality, clarity, and long-term usability ensures that the systems you create are secure by design and aligned with best practices.
• A background in software engineering, data engineering, or a related field, combined with an interest in data-intensive systems, is preferred.
• You provide a solid foundation in software or data engineering, usually reflected in a Master's degree or higher (e.g., PhD) in Computer Science or a relevant field or equivalent professional experience. Experience in relevant domains is a plus, but not a requirement.
• You are effective at bridging the gaps between teams, facilitating collaboration between research, engineering, and operations to ensure successful adoption and sustainability of built solutions.
• Familiarity with modern software and data engineering practices like version control, testing, APIs, data pipelines, containerization, and reproducible workflows is advantageous, as is programming knowledge in languages such as Python, Go, Rust, or similar.
• Exposure to data modeling or semantic interoperability (like ontologies, common data models) is beneficial.
• We value attitude, curiosity, and eagerness to learn; technical skills can be developed on the job.

Workplace

Your work environment will be stimulating, collaborative, and cross-disciplinary within a world-class research institution.

We Offer

• A collaborative environment within a premier research institution.
• Flexible work arrangements.
• Exciting challenges and varied projects with ample opportunities for growth.
• The chance to pursue your passion and leverage your skills to impact research communities and society.
• An opportunity to foster your creativity through experimentation and learning new technologies.

We Value Diversity and Sustainability

ETH Zurich is committed to fostering an inclusive culture that promotes equality of opportunity and values diversity. We strive to create a working and learning environment where the rights and dignity of all our staff and students are respected. Click here to learn more about our commitment to a fair and open environment.

Moreover, sustainability is a core tenet of our values, and we are continuously working towards a climate-neutral future.

Curious? So Are We!

We look forward to receiving your online application using the form below. Please include the following documents:

• CV
• Motivation letter
• Diplomas
• References
• Etc.

For further information about the SDSC, please visit our website. Any queries regarding the position can be directed to Oksana Riba Grognuz at oksana.riba@epfl.ch (no applications).

Please note that only applications matching the job profile will be considered.

About ETH Zürich

ETH Zurich is one of the world’s leading universities specializing in science and technology, recognized for exceptional education, innovative research, and effective knowledge transfer to society. With over 30,000 individuals from more than 120 countries, our university fosters independent thinking and inspires excellence. Positioned in the heart of Europe, we create global connections to develop effective solutions for today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.