Research Software Engineer

• Full Time (40 h/w)
• Klosterneuburg near Vienna, Austria / Home Office possible
• € 54,000* gross/year

Your Responsibilities

We are seeking a skilled and proactive Scientific Software Engineer to join the Scientific Computing Facility (SciComp) at ISTA. In this role, you will collaborate closely with researchers and the SciComp team to refactor, optimize, and port scientific applications across different programming languages and architectures. You will identify and resolve computational bottlenecks, modernize legacy codebases, and adapt scientific software for high-performance execution on modern CPU and GPU systems.

• Refactor and modularize existing scientific software to improve performance, maintainability, and scalability
• Port and translate scientific applications between languages (e.g., Python, C/C++, Fortran, MATLAB)
• Profile and optimize numerical algorithms for modern HPC systems (CPU, GPU, and hybrid environments)
• Collaborate with researchers to adapt workflows to parallel and distributed computing architectures
• Implement automated testing and CI/CD pipelines for research codebases
• Contribute to internal software engineering best practices, documentation, and reusable libraries
• Support the adoption of reproducible and maintainable software development practices across research groups

Your Profile

• Education: Degree in Computer Science, Computational Science, Physics, Applied Mathematics, or a related field
• Programming skills: Strong proficiency in Python, C/C++, and/or Fortran
• Numerical methods: Solid understanding of algorithmic optimization and numerical techniques
• Experience: Proven track record in developing or optimizing scientific libraries and applications
• Software practices: Familiarity with Git, unit testing, and CI/CD workflows
• Parallelization: Experience with MPI, OpenMP, CUDA, or OpenACC
• HPC environment: Experience deploying and running scientific applications on Slurm-based clusters
• Strong debugging skills, ability to work in a team, flexibility, and commitment to high-quality results

ISTA is growing. Grow with us

Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) is a constantly growing international institute for conducting world-class research in mathematics, computer science, life sciences & physical sciences. We strive to recruit passionate professionals from across the world over all fields who strive to support our goal of excellent research. Located within a beautiful campus on the outskirts of Vienna, we offer multiple opportunities for personal growth in a stable working environment. Get an insight

ISTA promotes a diverse and inclusive working environment and is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all applicants, free of discrimination. All employment decisions at ISTA are based on job requirements, qualifications, merit and organizational needs. We strongly encourage individuals from underrepresented groups to apply.

Your benefits

Education & training

Cafeteria

Childcare

Free shuttle bus

Multiple health offers

Pension insurance

• This position comes with possible overpayment depending on education, qualification and work experience. For more information on how ISTA processes your personal data, please refer to

Your Contacts

Susanne Zyla

Recruiting and Dual Career