Software Development Engineer

We are seeking a Software Development Engineer with experience and interested in state-of-the-art AI technologies, data science, and research software engineering. This position offers the opportunity to work in a world-renowned research institute alongside faculty, software engineers, PhD students, and PostDocs on the development of cutting-edge AI-ready/agentic infrastructure for data and model discovery, model metadata extraction, and scholarly intelligence. The Software Development Engineer III/IV provides advanced technical leadership in the design, development, deployment, and operation of complex software systems, cloud platforms, data infrastructure, and AI-enabled research environments. This position serves as a senior technical contributor responsible for architecting and delivering scalable, secure, and innovative software solutions that support nationally significant research, artificial intelligence, advanced computing, and cyberinfrastructure initiatives.

The position leads the technical design and implementation of large-scale projects supporting AI innovation, federated data ecosystems, privacy-enhancing technologies, cloud-native platforms, and scientific computing environments. Working with faculty, researchers, government agencies, industry partners, and multidisciplinary technical teams, the incumbent provides technical direction and oversight across multiple concurrent initiatives, including the NSF-funded SAFE-AI (Sandbox for Accelerated Feedback and Experimentation for AI Innovation), National Data Platform (NDP), and PARAPET (Prototype Architecture for Research Advances Using Privacy Enhancing Technologies) programs.

The Software Development Engineer III operates with minimal supervision and substantial independence, serving as a highly skilled technical professional responsible for complex software engineering efforts and technical decision-making. The Software Development Engineer IV serves as a recognized subject matter expert and senior technical leader, providing strategic direction, architectural leadership, and mentorship while driving the development of advanced cyberinfrastructure and software platforms critical to organizational and national research priorities.

Learn more about the great benefits of working for University of Utah: benefits.utah.edu

The department may choose to hire at any of the below job levels and associated pay rates based on their business need and budget.

Responsibilities Technical Leadership and Solution Architecture

• Lead the design, architecture, development, deployment, and maintenance of enterprise-scale software applications, cloud platforms, distributed systems, and cyberinfrastructure services.
• Define technical architecture, system integrations, development standards, and engineering best practices for complex software initiatives.
• Provide technical leadership across multiple projects, ensuring solutions are scalable, secure, maintainable, and aligned with organizational goals.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and determine their applicability to current and future research, computing, and AI initiatives.
• Lead technical feasibility assessments, proof-of-concept activities, and technology roadmaps.

Software Engineering and Platform Development

• Design and develop advanced software systems, services, APIs, middleware, databases, and cloud-native applications.
• Lead full software development lifecycle activities, including requirements analysis, architecture, implementation, testing, deployment, operations, and maintenance.
• Develop and maintain highly available, production-grade systems supporting scientific workflows, AI applications, and data-intensive computing environments.
• Establish and implement software engineering practices related to source control, automated testing, CI/CD pipelines, observability, and operational excellence.
• Ensure software systems adhere to security, privacy, accessibility, and compliance requirements.

Research Computing, AI, and Data Infrastructure

• Lead technical activities supporting advanced AI, machine learning, and data science initiatives.
• Design and implement infrastructure that supports secure AI experimentation, validation, deployment, and governance.
• Architect distributed computing environments integrating edge, cloud, and high-performance computing resources.
• Support the development of federated data ecosystems that enable secure access, integration, and sharing of research data.
• Lead implementation of reusable software components, services, frameworks, and workflows that enable broader institutional and national adoption.

Privacy, Security, and Compliance Engineering

• Design and implement secure computing environments for sensitive and regulated data.
• Support the development and operationalization of privacy-enhancing technologies including federated learning, differential privacy, and homomorphic encryption.
• Collaborate with cybersecurity, compliance, legal, and research stakeholders to ensure adherence to regulatory and institutional requirements.
• Develop secure architectures that balance innovation, usability, privacy, and risk management.
• Evaluate and mitigate technical, security, and operational risks associated with research computing platforms.

Project Oversight and Stakeholder Engagement

• Provide technical oversight for major strategic initiatives including SAFE-AI, NDP, and PARAPET.
• Coordinate technical activities across research institutions, industry collaborators, government agencies, and external partners.
• Translate research objectives and user requirements into practical technical solutions.
• Present technical concepts, architectural designs, and project outcomes to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Participate in proposal development, technology planning, and strategic research initiatives.

Mentorship and Organizational Leadership

• Mentor software engineers, developers, and technical staff in software engineering principles, architecture, and development practices.
• Conduct code reviews and provide technical guidance to project teams.
• Contribute to technical workforce development and knowledge-sharing initiatives.
• Establish development standards, governance processes, and engineering methodologies.
• Foster innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement within technical teams.

Additional Responsibilities for Software Development Engineer IV

• Serve as the organization’s recognized technical expert in one or more specialized areas such as artificial intelligence, cloud architecture, distributed systems, cyberinfrastructure, data platforms, privacy-enhancing technologies, or research computing.
• Provide strategic technical leadership for large-scale, multi-institutional initiatives and federally funded research programs.
• Define long-term architectural direction and technology strategies.
• Lead resolution of highly complex technical challenges with significant organizational impact.
• Influence institutional technology standards, engineering practices, and future platform investments.

EQUIVALENCY STATEMENT: 1 year of higher education can be substituted for 1 year of directly related work experience (Example: bachelor’s degree = 4 years of directly related work experience).Department may hire employee at one of the following job levels: Software Development Engineer, III: Requires a bachelor’s (or equivalency) + 6 years or a master’s (or equivalency) + 4 years of directly related work experience.

Experience

• Demonstrated experience designing, building, deploying, and supporting complex production software systems.
• Experience leading technical projects or significant software development efforts.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Advanced proficiency in one or more modern programming languages such as Python, Java, C#, JavaScript, Go, or similar.
• Experience designing and implementing cloud-native and distributed systems.
• Strong knowledge of software architecture, design patterns, and scalable application development.
• Experience with API development, databases, data integration, and distributed computing environments.
• Experience implementing CI/CD pipelines, testing frameworks, and DevOps practices.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving abilities.
• Ability to independently manage complex technical work with minimal supervision.
• Effective communication skills and ability to collaborate across technical and non-technical teams.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical initiatives and mentor junior staff.

Software Development Engineer, IV: Requires a bachelor’s (or equivalency) + 8 years or a master’s (or equivalency) + 6 years of directly related work experience.

Experience

• Demonstrated experience designing, building, deploying, and supporting complex production software systems.
• Experience leading technical projects or significant software development efforts.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Advanced proficiency in one or more modern programming languages such as Python, Java, C#, JavaScript, Go, or similar.
• Experience designing and implementing cloud-native and distributed systems.
• Strong knowledge of software architecture, design patterns, and scalable application development.
• Experience with API development, databases, data integration, and distributed computing environments.
• Experience implementing CI/CD pipelines, testing frameworks, and DevOps practices.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving abilities.
• Ability to independently manage complex technical work with minimal supervision.
• Effective communication skills and ability to collaborate across technical and non-technical teams.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical initiatives and mentor junior staff.
• Expert-level proficiency in software engineering principles, architecture, and system design.
• Advanced experience with cloud computing, distributed systems, data platforms, and modern software development methodologies.
• Experience leading highly complex technical initiatives involving multiple organizations, stakeholders, or disciplines.
• Demonstrated expertise in designing secure, scalable, and resilient technology solutions.
• Strong understanding of cybersecurity, privacy, governance, and compliance requirements for modern software platforms.
• Ability to establish technical strategy, engineering standards, and architectural direction.
• Exceptional ability to evaluate emerging technologies and apply them to organizational priorities.
• Demonstrated success mentoring senior technical professionals and leading engineering teams through complex initiatives.
• Ability to conduct highly complex work independently and exercise extensive latitude in technical decision-making., * Master’s or Ph.D. degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Software Engineering, or a related field.
• Experience supporting NSF-, NIH-, DOE-, or other federally funded research programs.
• Experience with artificial intelligence, machine learning, large language models, or generative AI technologies.
• Experience with AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Kubernetes, Docker, and Infrastructure as Code.
• Experience developing federated data systems, scientific data platforms, or advanced research cyberinfrastructure.
• Experience with high-performance computing (HPC), distributed computing, or large-scale data processing systems.
• Experience implementing privacy-enhancing technologies, including differential privacy, homomorphic encryption, secure multiparty computation, or federated learning.
• Experience with regulated data environments including healthcare, education, finance, or government sectors.
• Experience working with multi-institutional research partnerships involving academia, government, and industry.
• Experience leading architecture reviews, technical governance processes, and enterprise platform initiatives.

Special Instructions

The SCI Institute is a world-class research institute located within the new Warnock Engineering Building on the University of Utah campus. We are a highly dynamic, driven group of over 170 faculty, staff, and students. The overarching goals of the SCI Institute’s scientific computing research are to create new techniques, tools, and systems, by which scientists may solve problems affecting various aspects of human life. We believe that to advance the state-of-the-art and create meaningful computational solutions for such complex systems, one needs to advance research in a number of areas within scientific computing, including: visualization, simulation, and modeling. The SCI Institute presents a highly challenging, collaborative work environment that can be deeply rewarding for the right individual. Further information is available at http://www.sci.utah.edu/.