Software Engineer

Job Description

The Department of Physics at Virginia Tech seeks multiple Wage Software Engineers to support the NSF-funded project NSF POSE: Phase II: Ecosystem of the Applications and Libraries for Physics Simulations (ALPS) a global community-driven open-source software ecosystem used for quantum and classical physics simulations. ALPS supports a broad scientific community spanning condensed matter and materials physics quantum computing quantum chemistry atomic/molecular optics and related areas.

This position will focus on the software engineering work needed to establish and sustain the ALPS open-source software environment (OSE) including developer-facing infrastructure and user-facing resources. Key project goals include strengthening long-term sustainability through modern infrastructure and governance; improving maintainability and code quality via robust testing and release practices; establishing clear on-boarding protocols for new application codes (including wrapper standards and input/output standards); and expanding accessibility through documentation tutorials and training materials delivered through workshops and online channels.

The Software Engineer will collaborate with the distributed ALPS leadership and contributor community and will help implement and maintain ALPS development standards and tooling (e.g. repository workflows testing and delivery practices packaging/distribution and user/developer support channels).

Required Qualifications

Bachelors degree in Computer Science Engineering Physics or a related field or equivalent training and experience.
Demonstrated ability to develop test and maintain software in one or more languages used for scientific/technical computing (e.g. Python C/C).
Proficiency working in a Linux-based development environment.
Demonstrated experience with collaborative version control workflows (e.g. Git/GitHub) and communicating changes through code reviews and issue tracking.
Ability to communicate clearly with both developer and user communities and contribute to documentation and support materials.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience supporting open-source scientific software ecosystems (libraries/applications) including contributor on-boarding and interface design (APIs/wrappers).
Experience with continuous integration/testing and release processes for multi-platform scientific codes.
Experience with packaging/distribution (e.g. Python packaging) and/or HPC-facing distribution workflows.
Experience developing or integrating user-facing support tooling (e.g. documentation sites tutorials or conversational/agent-style user assistance).

Pay Band

5

Overtime Status

Exempt: Not eligible for overtime

Appointment Type

Restricted

Salary Information

Commensurate with experience

Hours per week

25-35 (part time)

Review Date

05/20/2026

Additional Information

The successful candidate will be required to have a criminal conviction check.

About Virginia Tech

Dedicated to its mottoUt Prosim(That I May Serve) Virginia Tech pushes the boundaries of knowledge by taking a hands-on transdisciplinary approach to preparing scholars to be leaders and problem-solvers. A comprehensive land-grant institution that enhances the quality of life in Virginia and throughout the world Virginia Tech is aninclusive communitydedicated to knowledge discovery and creativity. The university offers more than 280 majors to a diverse enrollment of more than 36000 undergraduate graduate and professional students in eightundergraduate colleges aschool of medicine aveterinary medicinecollegeGraduate School andHonors College.The university has a significant presence across Virginia including Blacksburg the greater Washington D.C. area the Health Sciences and Technology Campus in Roanoke sites in Newport News and Richmond and numerousExtension officesandresearch institutes.A leading global research institution Virginia Tech conducts more than $650 million in research annually.

Virginia Tech endorses and encourages participation in professional development opportunities and university shared governance. These valuable contributions to university shared governance provide important representation and perspective along with opportunities for unique and impactful professional development.