Diamond Light Source is the UK’s national synchrotron science facility. Located on the Harwell Science & Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire a 20 minute drive south of Oxford in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Diamond Light Source conducts world-class research in virtually all fields of science and offers rewarding career opportunities covering both technical and scientific disciplines.

I07 is a high-resolution X-ray diffraction beamline at Diamond Light Source for investigating the structure of surfaces and interfaces under different environmental conditions, including, for example, semiconductors and biological films. Operational since 2010, studies on I07 help to exploit the understanding of the structure of the interface between two materials which is of critical importance in a wide range of scientific disciplines. X-ray diffraction is now an established technique for the detailed study of surfaces and interfaces on an atomic scale. Its power derives from two factors: the weak interaction of X-rays with matter and the introduction of intense sources of synchrotron radiation. The exceptional quality of the X-ray beam on I07 is used to record X-ray reflectivity from solid and liquid surfaces, grazing incidence wide angle and small angle x-ray scattering and crystal truncation rods for accurate structure determination from highly ordered single crystal samples.

We are looking for a high calibre software scientist to join our dynamic scientific software group to work on visualization and analysis of experimental and processed data collected on I07 and other similar beamlines at Diamond. In collaboration with world leading software groups at other facilities the group has the responsibility for the provision of advanced data evaluation, analysis and visualization software applications for both internal and external users of Diamond facilities. You will work with experienced software scientists and engineers in the scientific software group at Diamond collaborating with I07 staff and users to define requirements for data analysis and visualization applications covering the complete process through to publication and ensure that they are implemented in a timely and effective way. Knowledge of surface scattering theory as well as experience with specialist analysis programs such as ANAROD, Gen-X, Motofit or other x-ray reflectivity analysis packages is highly desirable.

This is an exciting new opportunity to take a leading role on a mature source in a fast changing landscape within the field of high resolution X-ray surfaces and interfaces diffraction whilst benefiting from a professional and experienced scientific software development environment offered by Diamond.

Duties

To work with existing software and scientific staff to establish software requirements for scientific data reduction and analysis on beamline I07, develop and ensure implementation in a timely manner.

• Working with the beamline scientists and the data acquisition team to identify and define requirements for the data analysis software;
• Implementation and management of required software including appropriate documentation and project plans;
• Work closely with acquisition colleagues to enable the integration of analysis software into the data acquisition process where appropriate;
• Technical appreciation of software techniques and tools to employ;
• Use scientific and technical knowledge to understand and implement data analysis and mathematical software;
• Development and use of collaboration across multidisciplinary teams from potentially geographically separated locations;
• Produce project plans and documentation;
• Implement appropriate software testing regimes as part of the development process.

• First degree in engineering, computing or science;
• Experience of modern programming languages such as Java, C, C++ and Python;
• Experience or understanding of synchrotron experimentation and data interpretation of surface diffraction and/or closely related scientific field;
• Requires practical experience in a professional, scientific or technical field;
• Good interpersonal, communication  and presentational skills;
• Enjoys team work;
• Self motivated;
• Ability to interact effectively with staff at all levels;
• Ability and initiative to get to the heart of the problem and take it effectively through to completion.

• PhD in science discipline;
• Experience of user interface development;
• Background in using advanced mathematics and software engineering techniques for application development;
• Experience of data management, describing data and exploiting databases for scientific work;
• Experience of software development frameworks and applications such as Eclipse;
• Project management experience;
• Ability to supervise or mentor small teams of more junior technical or administrative roles.

Must be available to travel occasionally in UK and overseas including overnight absences.