View Vacancy Graduate Scheme - Software Developer MLC 2542 Open Date 06/01/2025, 00:00 Close Date 09/02/2025, 23:55 Research Institute MRC Mary Lyon Centre Research Institute / Unit Information About Us: The Mary Lyon Centre at MRC Harwell (MLC) https://www.har.mrc.ac.uk/ is located in an expanding science and innovation campus in Oxfordshire and is an internationally renowned centre at the forefront of genetics research. As the hub of the new National Mouse Genetics Network, the specialist facilities and capabilities of the MLC support a number of research groups across the UK to accelerate our understanding of human diseases, such as cancer, developmental disorders and neurodegeneration. The Medical Research Council (MRC) is a great place to work and progress your career. The MRC encourages the integration of clinical and discovery research to elucidate both disease processes and potential new therapies. The MLC provides vital scientific support for the UK biomedical community and focuses on preclinical research using mouse models, which supports clinical research and therapy discovery. The MRC is an excellent place to develop yourself further and a range of training & development opportunities will be available to you, including professional registration with the Science Council. UK Research and Innovation is a new entity that brings together nine partners to create an independent organisation with a strong voice for research and innovation, more information can be found at www.ukri.org Band MRC - 5 Location Harwell Campus, Oxfordshire Salary £30,911 Contract Type Fixed Term Job Type Science Full Time / Part Time Full Time Contract Length 23 Months Job Description Overall Purpose: The Mary Lyon Centre (MLC) at MRC Harwell are seeking an enthusiastic Graduate Software Developer Trainee to join their Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) Software Development Team (SDT) as part of the Mary Lyon Centre's Graduate Training Program. The successful applicant will be working within an established Agile/Scrum team of Software Developers to help produce bespoke web-based data capture and visualization tools across a range of interesting projects. Our principal technologies: Software technologies - Java (JSE & JEE), Spring Framework, GWT, JSF, JSP, Web-services, HTML, Javascript, SQL. Databases - Sybase and MariaDB. Developer Tools - IntelliJ, Data-Grip, JIRA, Confluence, Git-lab. The successful candidate can expect to gain exposure in all aspects of the Software Development Lifecyle. From design and development through to testing and live systems support. They will be encouraged to focus on their own personal career development objectives as much as possible and will have a large input on the choice of projects they undertake. The ideal candidate will be a recent Graduate in a strongly technical IT/Computing subject. Alternatively, they could have studied a Scientific/Engineering subject but will need to demonstrate some familiarity and experience in Software Development. Main Duties/Key Responsibilities: The specific work undertaken by the successful candidate will be dependent on the interests of the applicant, but will broadly fall under the following areas: The design, development and support of robust production-quality software tools that meet the requirements of stakeholders to support their scientific research activities. Carrying out first-line user assistance across our various in-house software systems using JIRA Service-Desk for ticket management. Performing second-line systems support to develop new software features and resolve technical faults. Produce and maintain SQL-based reporting tools. Carry out general data-management tasks requested by stakeholders. Test new software features to identify faults or missed requirements, giving feedback on design and UX factors. Delivering new software releases to users. Routine server and database maintenance tasks. Produce technical system and user help documentation. Working Relationships: Collaborate with other LIMS team members in supporting and developing software tools. Work closely with various users/stakeholders to support their use of the software tools developed by the team. Collaborate with other IT/Informatics teams where necessary on joint projects to support shared solutions. Collaborate with LIMS team members in developing ideas for continual process improvement. Report on project progress to the LIMS Team Lead. The post will be line-managed by the LIMS Team Lead. Additional Information: Informatics at MRC Harwell: The Informatics Department is currently composed of 5 teams: The LIMS team (5 people) which this post would be joining. The Data-Management team (4 people) responsible for our scientific data QC. The Software and Web Development Systems (SWDS) team (4 people) responsible for public websites. The IMPC Data-Coordination-Centre team (4 people) responsible for managing all IMPC project systems. The Infrastructure IT team (7 people) responsible for all IT hardware and core systems on-site. Person Specification Education/Qualifications/Training Required: Essential: A strong technical IT/Computing educational history, ideally to BSc/MSc level, or with equivalent relevant experience. Desirable: Some exposure or familiarity with Biological Sciences Previous Work Experience Required: Essential: No professional working experience required. Academic projects in some technical aspect of Software Development. Some experience working as part of a collaborative team. Desirable: Any experience working in the Software Development field. Knowledge and Experience: Essential: High-level of knowledge in at least one Software coding language, preferably Java. Familiarity with web-client technologies (Javascript, HTML, CSS). Working level of knowledge of the Structured Query Language (SQL). Familiarity with Relational Database (RDMS) features. Experience with common IT tools - MS Office etc. Desirable: Some level of understanding of enterprise application architecture. Familiarity with Linux operating systems. Experience with common software project management tools - JIRA, Confluence, Gitlab. Familiarity with Agile/Scrum software development methodology. Personal skills/Behaviours/Qualities: Essential: Strong verbal and written communication skills. A proactive, self-motivating attitude towards project organisation and delivery. An ability to work both collaboratively and independently. An ability to create concise and effective documentation. Desirable: An ability to contribute novel ideas as part of our continual Team improvement process. Effective presentation skills. Further Information Equality & Diversity The MRC values the diverse skills and experience of its employees and is committed to achieving equality of treatment for all. Our objectives are that all individuals shall have equal opportunities for employment and advancement on the basis of their skills, aptitudes and abilities. The MRC is committed to the engagement and retention of the best possible talent and to creating an environment that encourages excellence in scientific research through good equality and diversity leadership and management. Corporate/Local Responsibilities & Requirements The post-holder must at all times carry out their responsibilities with due regard to the MRC's: Code of Conduct Equality and Diversity policy Health and Safety policy Data Protection and Security policy Job descriptions should be reviewed on a regular basis and at the annual appraisal. Any changes should be made and agreed between the post-holder and their manager. The above lists are not exhaustive and the post-holder is required to undertake such duties as may reasonably be requested within the scope of the post. All employees are required to act professionally, cooperatively and flexibly in line with the requirements of the post and the MRC. The MRC is a unique working environment where scientific researchers and professional support staff can actively partake in world class innovation and collaboration opportunities and their skills and knowledge through accessing a wide catalogue of training & development, including professional registration with the Science Council. In addition, MRC (part of UKRI) provides its community of employees access to a whole host of useful benefits, including a defined benefit pension scheme and excellent holiday entitlement (30 days plus 2.5 privilege days & 8 bank holidays), family friendly policies (6 months full pay maternity & adoption leave), a range of shopping/travel discounts, access to our Employee Assistant Programme Scheme, Health and Wellbeing Support and a salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme. Please follow this link to find out more - Benefits Our success is dependent upon our ability to embrace diversity and draw on the skills, understanding and experience of all our people. We warmly invite people from diverse backgrounds and heritage, including people who identify as having a disability, to apply for a role that excites them. As "Disability Confident" employers, we guarantee to interview all applicants who have disclosed they have a disability and who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy. UKRI supports research in areas that include animal health, agriculture and food security, and bioscience for health which includes research on animals, genetic modification and stem cell research. Whilst you may not have direct involvement in this type of research, you should consider whether this conflicts with your personal values or beliefs. We will conduct a full and comprehensive pre-employment check as an essential part of the recruitment process on all individuals that are offered a position with UKRI. This will include a security check and an extreme organisations affiliation check. The role holder will be required to have the appropriate level of security screening/vetting required for the role. UKRI reserves the right to run or re-run security clearance as required during the course of employment.