Computational Scientist - Particle Based Simulation

Job Title: Computational Scientist- Particle Based Simulation
Salary: £39,748 - £44,166 gross per annum*
Banding: UKRI Band E
Location: Daresbury Laboratory- Warrington OR Rutherford Appleton Laboratory- Didcot
Contract Type: 3 Year Fixed Term Contract
Hours: Full Time/ Part Time 22 hours minimum (We understand the importance of work-life balance, and are happy to discuss the possibility of flexible working with applicants)

*This role is eligible for up to £2000 Responsibility and Retention Allowance gross per annum

Come and do the kind of science that made you want to become a scientist. Explore the unknown and get to grips with the biggest challenges in Big Science. And, alongside world class engineers and technologists, use everything you've learnt to find real answers that shape society and improve lives. Put simply, discover the kind of impact you can make when you work with some of the best facilities and brightest scientists in the world.

The Hartree Centre (part of UK Research and Innovation) are seeking a Computational Scientist to sit at the interface of our Chemistry and Materials, and High-Performance Software Engineering groups to accelerate development of our code base for efficient particle-based simulation in the field of soft matter

You will focus on two major themes (i) developing serial, parallel and hybrid codes for efficient computation of multiple properties of soft matter systems and (ii) on applying these codes to industry and academic challenges. We are looking for an individual with a diverse range of skills to support a number of code development opportunities which will include developing highly parallelised codes and working on GPU aware execution. Familiarity with complex parallel workflows will be beneficial as will knowledge of multiple particle-based simulation codes such as DL_POLY, LAMMPS, GROMACS, DL_MESO etc.

Our Computational Scientists work in a highly dynamic environment of academic and industrial work and often balance multiple projects simultaneously. You will work on projects whilst proactively looking for and securing future opportunities for work in alignment with the Hartree Centre strategy. The post as advertised is for a three-year fixed term role in the first instance, but a successful post holder will work to secure future funding in partnership with the technical leads in the Hartree Centre.

To succeed in this role, you will have:

• Ph.D. degree (or demonstrable equivalent experience) in Physics, Chemistry, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Computational Science, or a related field
• Experience in model development, algorithm development, and/or performance optimisation
• Previous experience with large scale, distributed memory, parallel models
• Extensive experience with high performance computing environments
• Experience with FORTRAN, C/C++, and Python
• Familiarity and parallel programming experience on CPUs with MPI, & OpenMP
• Detailed knowledge of coding best practice and ability to demonstrate evidence of using this in a 'live' environment

Choosing to come to work at UKRI means that you will have access to a whole host of benefits including a flexible working scheme, a Career Average Revalued Earnings pension scheme, 30 days annual leave allowance, access to employee shopping/travel discounts and salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme.

We ask some of the biggest questions in the universe, to answer some of the biggest challenges in the world. Together, our scientists, technologists, engineers, and business-support team explore the unknown across every field you could think of. And they turn what they find into work that changes the world around us. What could you achieve with the world-leading facilities and experts of one of Europe's largest research organisations by your side? Join us and discover what's possible.

The closing date for applications is Sunday 25th September 2022.