Software Engineer at Newcastle University

Key Accountabilities

• Design, build, and maintain backend features in Python as part of OpenScan’s core infrastructure.
• Contribute to ingestion, crawling, and data processing pipelines.
• Work with NoSQL databases (e.g. MongoDB) and version control tools (GitHub).
• Help shape and improve coding practices as the platform matures.
• Collaborate with internal users to refine data flows and backend functionality.
• Support integration with frontend applications and application programming interface (API) endpoints.
• Contribute to continuous delivery through a Kanban-based workflow.
• Learn and engage with our evolving stack, including generative AI and modular application development.

This job description identifies the key responsibilities of the post. It is not an exhaustive list of duties and is subject to amendment as necessary, in consultation with the postholder.

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience (Essential)

• Proficient in Python, with experience building real-world applications or systems.
• Experience with web scraping, data processing, or similar workflows.
• Familiarity with version control (e.g. Git/GitHub) and collaborative development.
• Working knowledge of cloud environments (ideally AWS).
• Strong attention to code quality, testing, and documentation.
• Willingness to learn and work across backend and infrastructure layers.
• Have an awareness of the principles of good project management, as deployed in a software development setting (e.g. Agile, Kanban etc).

Knowledge, Skills and Experience (Desirable)

• Experience working in research and innovation, public sector, or data-intensive environments.
• Familiarity with Atlas Search, Elasticsearch and/or search engine design.
• Exposure to frontend frameworks or tools (e.g., React, Streamlit) and templating within full-stack frameworks like Django.
• Interest in large language models and modern AI toolchains, including the use of agentic coding tools.
• Experience with health or policy-related data workflows.

Attributes and Behaviour

• Focused on building robust, practical systems that solve real problems.
• Communicates clearly across technical and non-technical contexts.
• Self-driven and receptive to feedback, with a strong appetite for learning.
• Contributes to a respectful, delivery-focused team culture.
• Ability to adhere to and contribute to the ongoing development, of all policies and processes across the Innovation Observatory.

Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree in Computer Science or a related field