Urban Observatory Software Engineer
Urban Observatory Software Engineer
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1 Vacancy
Job Description
Salary: 35608 to 37694 per annum
Newcastle University is a great place to work with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.
Closing Date: 14 October 2025
The Role
This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to impactful urban research that informs policy and improves lives. Youll be part of a vibrant academic community with access to professional development opportunities and the chance to work on diverse real-world challenges.
This position plays the pivotal role in the running and development of the UO infrastructure and is critical in sustaining a nationally and internationally unique research facility. The UO underpins a wide range of high-impact externally funded projects such as the Edge-AI Hub and the DARe Hub which rely on robust scalable and secure data infrastructure. The post ensures the continuous operation development and innovation of this infrastructure enabling real-time urban data collection processing and dissemination. Moreover the UO supports long-term strategic partnerships with city and local authorities providing essential data and insights that inform urban planning sustainability and policy decisions. Without dedicated technical management the continuity and success of these collaborations and research outputs would be at significant risk.
We are seeking a skilled and motivatedSoftware Engineer and researcher to join our interdisciplinary Urban Observatory team. This role is central to supporting a range of cutting-edge research projects that leverage urban data to understand and improve city life. You will work closely with researchers data scientists and external partners to develop and maintain robust software systems that underpin our data infrastructure and user-facing applications.
To find out more please contact Philip James (Professor of Data Science) at
This role is fixed term for a period of 12 months.
Key Responsibilities
- Manage and maintain Linux-based servers (primarily Ubuntu) used for data collection processing and storage
- Design implement and maintain PostgreSQL databases ensuring data integrity performance and scalability
- Develop and maintain Python-based data processing pipelines and backend services
- Build and enhance web applications and user interfaces for data visualization and interaction
- Collaborate with researchers to understand project requirements and translate them into technical solutions
- Ensure software systems are well-documented version-controlled and maintainable
- Support the deployment and monitoring of software in production environments
- Collaborate on a range of research projects and the production of research outputs
- Contribute to a flexible collaborative and innovative research environment
Essential Skills and Experience
- Proven experience with Linux server management (preferably Ubuntu)
- Strong knowledge of PostgreSQL database design management and optimization
- Proficiency in Python for software development and data processing
- Experience with **web development** (HTML CSS JavaScript) and modern web UI frameworks (e.g. React or similar)
- Familiarity with version control systems (e.g. Git)
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary team
- Ability to manage multiple tasks and projects in a flexible and dynamic research environment
- A PhD or other research or relevant experience
Desirable Skills
- Experience with containerization tools (e.g. Docker)
- Familiarity with RESTful APIs and microservices architecture
- Knowledge of data visualization libraries or platforms
- Experience working in academic or research settings
Qualifications
- Fully completed and awarded PhD in relevant area
Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.
We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.
At Newcastle University we hold a silverAthena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.
In addition we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.
Requisition ID: 28576
Employment Type
Full-Time
