Job Reference
349_25_LS_SLA_RE2
Position
Research Engineer on Trusted Research Environment (TRE) Infrastructures for Secure and/or Sensitive Data projects (RE2)
Closing Date
Sunday, 18 May, 2025
Reference: 349_25_LS_SLA_RE2
Job title: Research Engineer on Trusted Research Environment (TRE) Infrastructures for Secure and/or Sensitive Data projects (RE2)
About BSC
The Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) is the leading supercomputing center in Spain. It houses MareNostrum, one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe, was a founding and hosting member of the former European HPC infrastructure PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe), and is now hosting entity for EuroHPC JU, the Joint Undertaking that leads large-scale investments and HPC provision in Europe. The mission of BSC is to research, develop and manage information technologies in order to facilitate scientific progress. BSC combines HPC service provision and R&D into both computer and computational science (life, earth and engineering sciences) under one roof, and currently has over 1000 staff from 60 countries.
Look at the BSC experience:
BSC-CNS YouTube Channel
Let's stay connected with BSC Folks!
We are particularly interested for this role in the strengths and lived experiences of women and underrepresented groups to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights in science and IT research. In instances of equal merit, the incorporation of the under-represented sex will be favoured.
We promote Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, fostering an environment where each and every one of us is appreciated for who we are, regardless of our differences.
If you consider that you do not meet all the requirements, we encourage you to continue applying for the job offer. We value diversity of experiences and skills, and you could bring unique perspectives to our team.
Look at the BSC experience:
BSC-CNS YouTube Channel
Let's stay connected with BSC Folks!
We are particularly interested for this role in the strengths and lived experiences of women and underrepresented groups to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights in science and IT research. In instances of equal merit, the incorporation of the under-represented sex will be favoured.
We promote Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, fostering an environment where each and every one of us is appreciated for who we are, regardless of our differences.
If you consider that you do not meet all the requirements, we encourage you to continue applying for the job offer. We value diversity of experiences and skills, and you could bring unique perspectives to our team.
Context And Mission
In recent years, the exponential growth of data in scientific fields such as healthcare, genomics, and life sciences has surpassed our ability to securely and efficiently manage, share, and analyse it. As research becomes increasingly data-driven, there is a critical need for infrastructures that support secure, responsible, and efficient access to sensitive data.
A Trusted Research Environment (TRE) provides the foundation for enabling such access while upholding the highest standards of data security, privacy, and regulatory compliance—especially under European regulations like the GDPR. TREs offer controlled, auditable, and transparent platforms for researchers to work collaboratively across institutions, borders, and disciplines.
These environments are essential for large-scale biomedical studies focused on understanding disease mechanisms, developing new treatments, and improving patient care. By ensuring data sovereignty, ethical standards, and privacy, TREs empower researchers to responsibly use sensitive data, such as genomic sequences, medical records, and clinical images.
We are seeking a highly motivated Junior Research Engineer to join our team in the development and deployment of a TRE infrastructure. The focus will be on supporting Spanish research initiatives in healthcare, genomics, and life sciences, particularly those related to precision medicine, genomic data integration, and healthcare innovation.
The selected candidate will be part of the Social Link Analytics unit within the Life Sciences Department, a group dedicated to analysing biomedical data to evaluate its societal and scientific impact. The role will involve contributing to ongoing projects and designing effective solutions for data generation, processing, and analysis.
A Trusted Research Environment (TRE) provides the foundation for enabling such access while upholding the highest standards of data security, privacy, and regulatory compliance—especially under European regulations like the GDPR. TREs offer controlled, auditable, and transparent platforms for researchers to work collaboratively across institutions, borders, and disciplines.
These environments are essential for large-scale biomedical studies focused on understanding disease mechanisms, developing new treatments, and improving patient care. By ensuring data sovereignty, ethical standards, and privacy, TREs empower researchers to responsibly use sensitive data, such as genomic sequences, medical records, and clinical images.
We are seeking a highly motivated Junior Research Engineer to join our team in the development and deployment of a TRE infrastructure. The focus will be on supporting Spanish research initiatives in healthcare, genomics, and life sciences, particularly those related to precision medicine, genomic data integration, and healthcare innovation.
The selected candidate will be part of the Social Link Analytics unit within the Life Sciences Department, a group dedicated to analysing biomedical data to evaluate its societal and scientific impact. The role will involve contributing to ongoing projects and designing effective solutions for data generation, processing, and analysis.
Key Duties
- Validate proposed protocols to ensure alignment with existing regulations, especially the EU AI Act and data protection frameworks.
- Contribute to capturing and analysing user interactions with the TRE to inform system improvements and usability.
- Contribute to the development of projects aimed at validating Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions within the healthcare sector, considering technical, ethical, legal, socioeconomic, cultural, and social dimensions.
- Support research initiatives focused on identifying key challenges in AI-driven data processing.
- Apply advanced AI techniques and large language models (LLMs) in the context of TRE infrastructure and biomedical data analysis.
Requirements
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Education
- A higher degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, or a related bioinformatics field.
- Master’s degree is preferred but not required.
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Essential Knowledge and Professional Experience
- Minimum of 2 years’ experience in validation of AI Infrastructures or virtual research environments (VREs).
- At least 2 years’ experience in cloud infrastructure management, preferably in sensitive data contexts (e.g., healthcare, genomics).
- Experience designing or maintaining data processing pipelines, including data cleaning, transformation, and integration.
- Familiarity with the FAIR principles for data management.
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Additional Knowledge and Professional Experience
- Prior involvement in AI/ML projects, especially in the validation or deployment of AI solutions in healthcare or life sciences.
- Familiarity with Large Language Models (LLMs) and their integration into data workflows is a strong plus.
- Proficiency in Linux-based environments.
- Excellent communication skills in both Spanish and English (written and spoken). Knowledge of Catalan is considered a plus.
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Competences
- Ability to interpret scientific literature and technical documentation.
- Effective communication of scientific and technical results.
- Comfortable working in a multicultural environment.
- Proficiency in SQL, Python, or other programming languages for data processing; experience with ETL tools and cloud platforms.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills to interact with both technical and non-technical, research and business stakeholders.
- Strong problem-solving abilities to address challenges in data management for AI.
- Meticulous attention to detail to ensure accuracy and compliance.
Conditions
- The position will be located at BSC within the Life Sciences Department
- We offer a full-time contract (37.5h/week), a good working environment, a highly stimulating environment with state-of-the-art infrastructure, flexible working hours, extensive training plan, restaurant tickets, private health insurance, support to the relocation procedures
- Duration: Open-ended contract due to technical and scientific activities linked to the project and budget duration
- Holidays: 23 paid vacation days plus 24th and 31st of December per our collective agreement
- Salary: we offer a competitive salary commensurate with the qualifications and experience of the candidate and according to the cost of living in Barcelona
- Starting date: asap
Applications procedure and process
All applications must be submitted via the BSC website and contain:
The selection will be carried out through a competitive examination system ("Concurso-Oposición"). The recruitment process consists of two phases:
- A full CV in English including contact details
- A cover/motivation letter with a statement of interest in English, clearly specifying for which specific area and topics the applicant wishes to be considered. Additionally, two references for further contacts must be included. Applications without this document will not be considered.
Development of the recruitment process
The selection will be carried out through a competitive examination system ("Concurso-Oposición"). The recruitment process consists of two phases:
- Curriculum Analysis: Evaluation of previous experience and/or scientific history, degree, training, and other professional information relevant to the position. - 40 points
- Interview phase: The highest-rated candidates at the curriculum level will be invited to the interview phase, conducted by the corresponding department and Human Resources. In this phase, technical competencies, knowledge, skills, and professional experience related to the position, as well as the required personal competencies, will be evaluated. - 60 points. A minimum of 30 points out of 60 must be obtained to be eligible for the position.
The recruitment panel will be composed of at least three people, ensuring at least 25% representation of women.
In accordance with OTM-R principles, a gender-balanced recruitment panel is formed for each vacancy at the beginning of the process. After reviewing the content of the applications, the panel will begin the interviews, with at least one technical and one administrative interview. At a minimum, a personality questionnaire as well as a technical exercise will be conducted during the process.
The panel will make a final decision, and all individuals who participated in the interview phase will receive feedback with details on the acceptance or rejection of their profile.
At BSC, we seek continuous improvement in our recruitment processes. For any suggestions or comments/complaints about our recruitment processes, please contact recruitment [at] bsc [dot] es.
For more information, please follow this link.
Deadline
The vacancy will remain open until a suitable candidate has been hired. Applications will be regularly reviewed and potential candidates will be contacted.
OTM-R principles for selection processes
BSC-CNS is committed to the principles of the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers of the European Commission and the Open, Transparent and Merit-based Recruitment principles (OTM-R). This is applied for any potential candidate in all our processes, for example by creating gender-balanced recruitment panels and recognizing career breaks etc.
BSC-CNS is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. We are pleased to consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or any other basis protected by applicable state or local law.
For more information follow this link
BSC-CNS is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. We are pleased to consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or any other basis protected by applicable state or local law.
For more information follow this link