Digital Research Infrastructure Engineer

The role

We are seeking an experienced and highly motivated Research Infrastructure or web ops engineer to lead PML's Digital Research Infrastructure team. This role has specific responsibilities for enabling and developing web visualisation and data delivery services as a critical component of PML's marine and environmental research excellence mission. The role will work with a growing team of research software engineers and Research Infrastructure Engineers in PML's Digital Innovation and Marine Autonomy group. The successful applicant will work alongside world leading researchers and technologists undertaking cutting-edge environmental and social science in support of a healthy and sustainable ocean.

About you

You will have excellent full stack website development skills and a passion for working as part of a team to solve problems. You will have a clear vision of how to approach problems and be able to communicate this with others to successfully deliver projects. You will be keen to learn and to help others learn both as a critical member of and team leader within the PML Digital Innovation team.

Skills Required

• Full stack website development (Linux/Python/Django/Bootstrap/Jquery)

  • Web (ngnix, apache tomcat, SSL)

  • Scripting (Bash / Python)

  • Containers (e.g., Docker) and optionally container orchestration (Kubernetes)

  • Linux system admin (Ubuntu, Ansible)

  • Virtualisation (VMWare)

• Demonstrable high level of Linux skills

• Experience of people and project management

• Good oral and written skills to communicate technical concepts with users and record information in documentation.

Key deliverables

• Lead the Research Infrastructure Engineering team at PML, including management and training other members of the group as needed and providing expert technical input to research funding proposals.

• Develop containerised web platforms and provide training to the team on how to utilise containers (e.g., Docker).

• Install and configure software to ingest and process data from a range of environmental sensors on Linux infrastructure as part of Digital Twin architecture developments.

• Develop interactive websites science projects using the Django framework and deploy on the internal virtual machine infrastructure.

• Ensure underlying web visualisation virtual machine infrastructure is well maintained and security updates are applied in a timely manner.

About PML

As a charity passionate about the marine environment, we aim to develop and apply innovative marine science to ensure a sustainable future for our ocean. For over 40 years we have provided evidence-based environmental solutions to societal challenges by applying cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research that benefits society and promotes stewardship of marine ecosystems. The impact of our science is far-reaching ranging from highly cited scientific papers, to providing scientific evidence for policy and training the next generation of marine scientists. Through the delivery of our science plan, we are also contributing to UN Sustainable Development Goals to promote healthy, productive and resilient oceans and seas.

To support PML's science it operates in house Linux infrastructure used for processing satellite data, running models and making outputs accessible through web visualisation tools. This infrastructure includes a large amount of storage (6 PB), a High-Performance Computing cluster with over 1500 cores, a 40 GPU cluster (the MAssive GPU cluster for Earth Observation; MAGEO) and a virtual machine cluster.
The role will be part of the Digital Innovation and Marine Autonomy (DIMA) group within PML. DIMA is a pioneering digital science group dedicated to advancing PML's world-class and cutting-edge environmental research through the utilisation of state-of-the-art digital and autonomous technologies. The team comprises research software engineers, Research Infrastructure Engineers, marine technologists and scientists who work on a variety of projects using autonomous vessels, satellite data, drones, Artificial Intelligence, High Performance Computing and data visualisation tools to help deliver PML's goals. The team have an enthusiasm for solving problems through collaboration and shared learning.

PML has a number of generous employee benefits:

• 30 days annual leave + 2.5 Privilege days
• Principle Science staff are eligible for performance based contribution awards.
• Peer to peer bonus scheme
• Employee Benefits platform
• Free car parking (although our location is excellent for public transport links)
• Flexible working hours scheme
• Company Pension Scheme with up to 10% employer contributions
• Life assurance
• Confidential financial advice
• Cycle to work scheme
• Merit Promotion / Individual Merit Award schemes
• Bonus scheme
• Welfare services
• 24/7 employee assistance helpline
• Staff development - identified through the Performance and Development Review (PDR) process.