About Careertakes

👉 Important disclosure: Careertakes is a third-party recruiting platform supporting this hiring process. If selected, you will be employed directly by our client, Research Services.

Applicants for this role may also receive access to additional matched opportunities through the Careertakes platform.

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What You’ll Do

This early-career Research Software Engineer I role sits at the interface of research and software engineering. You will build and maintain the research software that turns computer vision models into biological discovery: containerized, GPU-accelerated analysis pipelines, desktop acquisition software, a web application and database for image and result management, and open-source Python packages that extract analysis-ready traits.

• Develop, maintain, and release open-source scientific Python packages using professional software engineering best practices (Git, code review, testing, type checking, CI/CD).
• Maintain and extend a scientific web application and database (backend services, API, frontend, schema design, deployment).
• Maintain and extend a desktop image-acquisition application (Electron/React or similar) and its integration with cameras and acquisition hardware.
• Build and run containerized, GPU-accelerated pipelines that run deep-learning inference and produce quantitative outputs.
• Train, evaluate, and deploy deep-learning pose-estimation models; maintain datasets, configurations, and model registries to make runs reproducible.
• Operate and maintain self-hosted and cloud infrastructure: backups, object storage, TLS certificates, and deployment tooling.
• Integrate pipelines and applications through well-defined data contracts and provenance tracking; write results back to the database.
• Run analyses for collaborators and produce documented, reproducible reports and figures.
• Work with shared HPC/GPU resources and job schedulers (e.g., Kubernetes, SLURM) and container-based workflows.
• Rapidly prototype command-line tools, utilities, and internal apps in response to evolving scientific needs.
• Prepare documentation, runbooks, and training materials so researchers can use tools independently.
• Collaborate directly with biologists and other scientists to translate experimental goals into technical solutions.
• Contribute to open-source projects, review external contributions, and respond to user issues.
• Participate in project planning and coordinate with other labs, core facilities, and programs.
• May assist with onboarding student trainees and interns; perform other duties as assigned.

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Minimum Qualifications

• BS in computer science, engineering, quantitative science, or a related discipline is preferred.
• Early-career role: no prior professional experience required, but demonstrated software engineering ability via internships, research projects, open-source contributions, or personal projects is essential.
• Proficiency in Python and at least one other language (TypeScript preferred); experience building end-to-end applications (backend, frontend, data storage).
• Strong familiarity with the scientific Python stack (NumPy, pandas, scikit-learn) and packaging tested, documented Python libraries.
• Experience designing and querying relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL), including schema changes and migrations.
• Working familiarity with at least one deep learning framework (e.g., PyTorch) and conceptual understanding of training, evaluation, and deployment.
• Comfortable in Linux/Unix environments, with version control (Git), testing, and code review.
• Effective use of modern AI-assisted development tools and large language models to design, build, and ship software.
• Ability to learn unfamiliar systems quickly and stand up services and pipelines through scripting and automation.
• Demonstrated interest in computer vision and open-source software development. A public code portfolio (e.g., GitHub) is strongly recommended.

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Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree or post-baccalaureate certification in a computational or scientific field.
• Prior internship, research, or work experience in a scientific, laboratory, or academic environment.
• Full-stack web experience with modern frameworks (React, Svelte, FastAPI, Django).
• Desktop app development experience (Electron or similar).
• Experience integrating software with scientific instruments (cameras, scanners, data-acquisition hardware).
• Experience on large scientific image datasets, computer vision, or image analysis.
• Experience with containerization (Docker) and GPU scheduling (Kubernetes, SLURM); HPC or systems-administration experience.
• Experience deploying and maintaining self-hosted applications and cloud deployments (AWS, GCP).
• Experience maintaining open-source projects (packaging, releases, community support).
• Coursework, research, or interest in plant science, biology, neuroscience, or life sciences.
• Strong communication skills and ability to translate scientist needs into technical solutions.

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Compensation & Benefits

• The expected pay range for this position is $33.00 to $38.00 an hour. The pay offered will be determined based on experience, qualifications, departmental budget, and market factors.
• Benefits include medical, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, tuition reimbursement, patient advocacy services, and transit/parking programs (benefits may vary by employer and location).

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Work Environment & Values

Our client is a research-focused organization that values collaboration, inclusion, and scientific rigor. You will join a small, interdisciplinary team that delivers tools and infrastructure used by researchers worldwide. The role suits someone who enjoys working closely with scientists, shipping reproducible software, and contributing to open-source research tools.

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Notes & Application Tips

• Candidates who can share a public code portfolio (personal projects or open-source contributions) will be highly preferred. We recognize that work from prior employers may be proprietary; public examples are not required but are beneficial.
• This is a full-time role based in San Diego, CA. Travel and occasional on-site presence may be required depending on the project and infrastructure needs.

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Equal Opportunity & Hiring Transparency

Careertakes and our client are Equal Opportunity Employers committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce. We prohibit discrimination or harassment of any kind. To support a fair and efficient hiring process, AI tools may be used to assist with application review or resume screening. These tools do not replace human decision-making. Final hiring decisions are made by people.

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