Software Engineer for the HEP Software Foundation

Would you like to take a major role in supporting the activities of the HEP Software Foundation (HSF) by fostering new common software projects and building new collaborative efforts? Are you interested in coordinating the building of new services that can be of use to the whole community and participate directly as a programmer in the development of common software projects supported by the HSF? Then join the HEP Software Foundation. Take part!

Introduction
Software Engineer in the CERN Physics Department (EP), Software for Experiments Group (SFT).

The LHC experiments are collaborating closely in order to make the changes required to improve the performance of their data processing software in preparation for the HL-LHC upgrade. The many common software packages require collective efforts which need to be coordinated across the experiments and across laboratories.

The HEP Software Foundation (HSF) has been created as an umbrella organization to facilitate the coordination and common efforts in HEP software and computing internationally. The main objectives are to share expertise, raise awareness of existing software and solutions, catalyse new common projects and promote commonality, training and support for project teams wanting to contribute to the common goals.

In addition, the foundation should support the career development for software and computing specialists, provide a framework for attracting effort and support to software and computing common projects as well as to provide a structure to set priorities and goals for the work.

Functions
The successful candidate will play a major role in fostering new common software activities and in building new collaborative efforts. The role also involves taking up responsibilities for the implementation of services that can be of general use to the community, in particular by adopting guidelines and tools for supporting all phases of the software development life-cycle.

Specific duties will be to:
.Manage HSF information;
.Update and curate the knowledge base of HEP software;
.Collect and homogenise training material;
.Provide services for software integration, validation and distribution;
.Helping developers to integrate their software packages into the overall HSF software ecosystem;
.Contribute directly in development tasks associated with one or more of the common software projects that the HSF supports.

Qualification required
PhD / Doctorate in the field of experimental physics or computing science, or equivalent.

Experience and competencies
The experience required for this post is:
.Solid experience in the collaborative development of C++ code, in software domains typically used in HEP data processing applications (reconstruction, analysis and simulation);
.Excellent knowledge and experience of using modern procedures and tools for managing the integration, building, testing and release of complex software systems;
.Analysis of user requirements and experience of collaborating with users in order to ensure delivered products are `fit for purpose'.

The technical competencies required for this post are:
.Design and selection of methods & tools: methods and tools for the planning, development, testing, operation, management and maintenance of software systems to ensure software sustainability;
.Programming/software development: design, implementation, testing and performance optimization of new and modified software. proficiency in C++ programming language;
.Programming/software development: experience in exploiting features of modern CPU architectures would be an advantage;
.Systems integration: incremental and logical integration and testing of components, which are typically developed and released independently;
.User relationship management: coordination of relationships with and between key stakeholders, during the design, management and implementation of products and services.

The behavioural competencies required for this post are:
.Achieving results: defining clear objectives, milestones and deliverables before initiating work/ project;
.Communicating effectively: expressing opinions, ideas and suggestions with conviction and in a logical/structured manner; keeping to the point; demonstrating a pro-active approach to resolving differences; addressing issues of conflict constructively; ensuring that information, procedures and decisions are appropriately documented;
.Learning and sharing knowledge: sharing knowledge and expertise freely and willingly with others; coaching others to ensure knowledge transfer.

The language competencies required are:
.Spoken and written English including the ability to draw-up technical specifications and/or scientific reports and to make oral presentations;
.A willingness to acquire a knowledge of basic French is also expected.

This vacancy will be filled as soon as possible, and applications should normally reach us no later than 16.03.2017.

Note on Employment Conditions
We offer a limited-duration contract for a period of 5 years. Limited-duration contracts shall terminate by default on their date of expiry. Subject to certain conditions, holders of limited-duration contracts may apply for an indefinite position.