The Max Planck Society is Germany's premier research organization. The currently 86 Max Planck Institutes and facilities conduct basic research in the service of the general public in the natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences and the humanities.

The Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) is located at the Science Campus Hamburg-Bahrenfeld and investigates dynamical phenomena within matter down to the elementary timescales of atomic and electronic motions, the femtosecond or attosecond timescale. The focus is on the use of short wavelength ultrafast probes, such as X-rays or electron pulses, which are capable of measuring atomic and electronic structures in matter of all kinds.

The MPSD currently consists of three scientific departments focusing on solid state physics, physical chemistry and theoretical methods in these fields. The MPSD is a partner in the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL), collaborating with the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), European XFEL (EuXFEL) and the University of Hamburg in the development of science based on the X-ray Free-Electron Lasers.

We are looking for a

Scientist for the Scientific Service Unit (SSU) for Computational Science (f/m/d)

Starting date: as soon as possible As part of the scientific service unit (SSU) for computational science, you will provide computational science support for the departments of the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter.

The SSU supports software engineering for simulation and data analysis, data science and visualisation, and provides a High-Performance Computing (HPC) installation. Collaboration with scientists of the institute takes a key role. Support tasks include delivery of training and training materials. The group researches computational methods and infrastructures to stay at the forefront of computational science.

Your qualifications:

We expect applicants to have scientific training and a PhD in natural sciences or a relevant related field. Applicants should have at least 5 years of experience as a scientific programmer, research software engineer or similar, and experience working with scientists in a support role. In addition you need:

• Excellent communication skills, and ability to collaborate effectively with internal and external partners; confidence and fluency in written and spoken English
• Experience with data analysis and visualisation
• Experience designing and delivering training on computational topics
• Commitment to and experience of good software engineering practice (such as version control, testing, continuous integration, documentation, refactoring)
• Experience with High-Performance Computing, and High-Performance Computing facilities
• Experience working with large data sets and hdf5
• Performance engineering experience (such as making existing software faster or more memory-efficient)
• In-depth Python knowledge, including libraries relevant for computation and data analysis
• Experience designing or contributing to open source software

Desirable is experience with:

• Working in photon science
• Containerization
• User interface design
• Software packaging and provisioning
• Linux system administration
• The Jupyter ecosystem

Our offer:

We offer an innovative environment, which will give you the opportunity to develop your own ideas at the forefront of scientific high-performance computing embedded in the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL). We offer a position according to the German public pay scale. The appointment is for two years with the possibility to be made permanent. The Max Planck Society seeks to increase the proportion of women in areas where they are underrepresented. Hence, we are particulary encouraging qualified women to apply. In addition, the Max Planck Society aims to hire more people with disabilities. Applications from disabled candidates are expressly welcome. For further information please contact Hans Fangohr, phone: +49 40 8998-88390, e-mail: hans.fangohr@mpsd.mpg.de. Detailed information about the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter can be found at: http://www.mpsd.mpg.de. We look forward to receiving your application!