SARAO is Hiring a Software Engineer

The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) is recruiting a Software Engineer on a permanent contract to its facility in Cape Town, Western Cape. The successful candidates will be responsible for guiding and working with Junior software engineers to accomplish their tasks. In addition, they will be responsible for developing, testing, and maintaining software solutions to meet the requirements.

Key Responsibilities

• Prototyping and software development of the telescope operational software (all stages of the entire software development life-cycle may be encountered);
• Provide hands-on technical support in the system administration of the hardware platforms, deployment environments and processing, which may include site visits to the Karoo;
• Collaborate with departmental stakeholders to support engineering, commissioning, operations and early science activities;
• Assist the software development and quality assurance processes towards greater standardisation and improved long-term maintainability and robustness;
• Facilitate coding standard compliance and code reviews, which include mentoring junior engineers;
• Compile document sets; and
• Provide project management and progress reporting input as required by the Functional Manager and for team communication.

Qualification

• B.Tech/B.Sc (Comp Sci) with 5+ years of relevant experience; OR
• B.Eng/B.Sc Hons (Comp Sci) with 4+ years of relevant experience; OR
• M.Eng/M.Eng/M.Sc (Comp Sci) with 3+ years of relevant experience; OR
• PhD with 2+ years of relevant experience; OR
• Engineering (with a software focus) or related field.

Experience

• Experience in a software engineering environment, preferably in an engineering development project environment with a strong software focus;
• Python or C/C++ programming language and experience in development, testing, deployment, commissioning, release and support of large-scale projects in Python or C/C++;
• Technical knowledge of development in Linux operating systems (experience in system administration of such will be beneficial);
• Technical experience in architecture design and development of large software projects (experience with control and monitoring will be beneficial;
• Experience in programming in the Python programming language;
• Experience in prototyping and development, including testing, deployment, commissioning, release and support of large-scale projects;
• Experience with test-driven development and integration testing techniques, methodologies and frameworks; and supporting systems like revision control and build systems;
• Experience with quality assurance and software development processes and willingness to participate in improving software development processes and quality procedures; and
• Experience in the implementation of project management and system engineering principles.

Knowledge

• Modern software collaboration tools include Github, Containers, Google Drive, JIRA; and
• Python programming language.

Skills/Abilities

The applicant should have the following skills/abilities/competencies:

• Participate and thrive in a collaborative environment;
• Both to work independently and be a good team player;
• Troubleshoot issues methodically;
• Ability and willingness to self-train and up-skill independently;
• Communicate effectively (written and verbal);
• Understanding and experience in the implementation of project management and system engineering principles;
• Experience with test-driven development and integration testing techniques, methodologies and frameworks; and supporting systems like revision control and build systems;
• Experience with quality assurance and software development processes and willingness to participate in improving software development processes and quality procedures;
• Willingness to play a leading role in mentoring juniors;
• Ability both to work independently and be a good team player;
• Ability to participate and thrive in a collaborative environment;
• Self-motivated and the ability and willingness to self-train and up-skill independently;
• Keen attention to detail and
• Strong oral and written communication skills.

How to Apply

Applicants should submit a comprehensive CV here before 14 June 2024. Furthermore, applicants should include a letter of motivation indicating their suitability for the position in their applications. In addition, the applicants must provide at least three referees’ names and contact details.

South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF) offers a challenging career and a competitive remuneration package commensurate with qualifications and experience. The NRF is also committed to employment equity and redress, and appointments to the position will align with the NRF Employment Equity Plan. In addition, the NRF reserves the right not to make an appointment and will only send correspondence to short-listed candidates.

For more information, click here.

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