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Science and Technology Facilities Council

RAL Space: Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Harwell, Oxfordshire
Salary: Band D £31,931 - £34,709 to Band E £39,748 - £44,166 per annum (dependent on skills & experience) *
Contract Type: 3 X Open-Ended
Hours: Full-Time or Part-Time (We understand the importance of work-life balance, and are happy to discuss the possibility of flexible working with applicants)

• A Specialist Allowance of up to £3,000 per annum is also available for this role.

Come and do the kind of engineering that made you want to be an engineer. Stretch your technical skills while building human understanding. Promote sustainability and create new materials. And, alongside world-leading scientists and technologists, shape projects that improve lives, and daily life, in the UK and far beyond.

Background
RAL Space is the UK’s national space laboratory and has over 50 years of experience in space programmes with significant involvement in more than 210 instruments on missions to date.
STFC values their employees by offering a benefits package designed to provide an excellent work/life balance including 30 days’ annual leave, 10.5 public and Research Council holidays, flexible working hours, a workplace nursery, exceptional average salary pension scheme, social and sporting activities and societies and a subsidised restaurant.

List of Duties / Responsibilities
RAL Space Imaging Systems Division Production & Software Group are looking for a software engineer to design, develop and test code for both ground and space based scientific instruments. Working closely with the Instrument science team you will be well organised, flexible, adaptable and have a good understanding of software engineering to allow an innovative approach to the mission challenges. Recent programmes have been on Lunar and Mars landers along with Earth Observation missions.

You will have experience of specifying, designing, verifying and validating software for embedded systems while working within an ISO9001 quality system. Most of the instruments developed by RAL Space have been programmed using ANSI C with no underlying operating system, knowledge of a real time operating system and ARM microprocessors would be an advantage.

You are also likely to support the hardware engineers and scientists by providing electrical ground support equipment (EGSE) software. This is coded in Python, C++ or C and runs either on Windows or Linux operating systems.

The role may include the following activities:

• Project documentation e.g., Requirement’s specifications and design documents
• Coding to the required standard in various languages.
• Test, Verification &Validation
• Assisting users operating the software, making changes and corrections where required.
• Support & maintenance for previously released or installed software.
• Product assurance such as change and configuration control.
• Working with other engineers and scientists to give an optimum design and solve problems

If you are an experienced engineer then you will also have responsibility for Software Project Management and system engineering, including:

• Generating quotes and technical submissions to prospective customers.
• Maintaining a schedule for software activities.
• Review & approval of technical specifications and documents
• Working with other system engineers within RAL Space and the customer.

Person Specification

• Degree level or equivalent experience in software engineering.
• Evidence of programming in ANSI C and/or embedded Linux.
• Use of software configuration management tools and defect tracking tools e.g., Git.
• Use of tool chains and debug tools such as GCC
• Evidence of technical experience working on embedded software projects designed for high reliability/availability applications.
• Experience of developing high quality software with a good understanding of standard software development methodologies (Agile, Waterfall), adhering to software standards and working within a quality management system (i.e. ISO9000)

We ask some of the biggest questions in the universe, to answer some of the biggest challenges in the world. Together, our scientists, technologists, engineers and business-support team explore the unknown across every field you could think of. And they turn what they find into work that changes the world around us. What could you achieve with the world-leading facilities and experts of one of Europe's largest research organisations by your side? Join us and discover what's possible.