University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · 2 hours ago
Senior Research Software Engineer - Illinois Natural History Survey/PRI
Urbana, IL
Full-time
Onsite
Mid, Senior Level
$75K/yr - $85K/yr
5+ years expThe University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a leading research institution seeking a Senior Research Software Engineer for the Illinois Natural History Survey. The role involves designing and maintaining software components that support taxonomic science and biodiversity informatics, collaborating with a team to enhance core functionalities of TaxonWorks and related software architectures.
Higher Education
Responsibilities
Design, develop, and maintain robust, reusable software components and tools that support taxonomic science and biodiversity informatics
Prototype, mock, or stub front-end elements in Vue.js that integrate with middle- and back-end systems, ensuring designs are evolvable by UI/UX specialists
Use feedback from Continuous Integration (CI) processes and reports to guide development, testing, and refinement
Contribute to application performance and extensibility by integrating script-based code with compiled languages (e.g., Rust, C, C++)
Monitor and evaluate emerging technologies, research trends, and best practices relevant to software development and biodiversity informatics
Assess strengths and limitations of novel technical approaches and clearly communicate findings and recommendations to collaborators
Support and curate software, documentation, and emerging AI-based tools to better serve biodiversity informatics researchers across biological domains (e.g., ecology, evolution, taxonomy, natural history collections)
Develop and maintain long-term resources and meta-tools (e.g., AI agents, pipelines, toolchains) that facilitate community contributions while improving code quality, security, and semantic validity
Build and apply domain-specific knowledge in taxonomy and biodiversity science to inform the design and modeling of large-scale, integrative software architectures that address complex and heterogeneous biodiversity data
Perform other duties as needed to further the mission and goals of the Survey, PRI, and the University of Illinois
Remain current with developments in software engineering, biodiversity informatics, and related disciplines
Qualification
Required
Master's degree in computer science, Software Engineering, Mathematics, or a closely related field
A minimum of two (2) years of experience in Ruby/Rails software development, programming, and demonstrated experience with Rails v8
Experience using automated testing frameworks in a production software environment
A minimum of three (3) years of experience addressing biodiversity informatics challenges, particularly those involving species-level metadata
Demonstrated ability to work independently by selecting, prioritizing, and resolving tasks from user- and developer-generated issue trackers
Ability to determine appropriate placement of functionality across front-end, middle-tier, and back-end layers and to articulate the rationale for those decisions
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to clarify and refine feature requirements through issue trackers, chat platforms, email, and meetings
Experience working effectively within hybrid and collaborative development teams
Knowledge of academic publishing workflows, including technical preparation and automation using tools such as LaTeX, Pandoc, and Markdown extensions
Ability to design, document, and maintain JSON-based APIs serving broad application domains (e.g., Swagger/OpenAPI)
Experience exploring and documenting integrations between core applications and cloud-based services (e.g., authentication systems, LLM access, geospatial computation, analytics engines)
Ability to reverse-engineer legacy binaries to extract embedded data when required
Strong interpersonal, organizational, collaboration, and leadership skills
Demonstrated effectiveness in fast-paced, deadline-driven environments with shifting priorities and minimal supervision
High attention to detail, sound judgment, and effective conflict-resolution skills
Proficiency with commonly used software tools and database systems
Intermediate to advanced understanding of biodiversity informatics concepts, particularly as they relate to taxonomy and natural history collections
Preferred
Field or laboratory experience in conservation biology, species assessment, monitoring and identification, or evolutionary biology and species description
Benefits
Health
Dental
Vision
Life Insurance
A Retirement Plan
Paid time Off
Tuition waivers for employees and dependents
Company
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is dedicated to building upon its tradition of excellence in education, research, public engagement and economic development.
10001+ employees
H1B Sponsorship
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2020 (1)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageLeadership Team
Robert Whitmore
Co-Founder | Evolution & Impact of Societies in Africa | *EISA*
Shelley Giordano
Co-Founder Academy for Home Equity in Financial Planning University of Illinois
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