Software Engineer - Machine Learning And Computer Vision

Position overview:

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is seeking a full-time Software Engineer to work on computational methods development for data processing at LCLS. The successful candidate will be a founding member of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) Machine Learning and Computer Vision (MLCV) group, part of the Photon Controls and Data Systems (PCDS) Division, and a key to the successful mission of the group in establishing collaborations with external expert groups in academia and industry. The position will focus on supporting the maintenance and development of existing data processing workflows currently in operation at the 7 instruments of LCLS and LCLS-II, as well as supporting the integration of new data processing approaches into the PCDS framework, such as experiment-specific digital twins enabling end-to-end online analysis in the LCLS-II era. A significant aspect of the role will be to interface with collaborators, users, and their teams/students to support their data analysis needs as a technical resource.

The Software Engineer will be a member of a multidisciplinary team of scientists and software developers focused on developing and deploying software solutions to support scientific instrumentation, data acquisition and data analysis systems. This position will also work with scientific and operations support staff involved in advancing scientific instrumentation capabilities. A successful candidate should be comfortable writing efficient, scalable and documented code in various languages running on heterogeneous hardware in complex environments. Proven experience in collaborative coding and scientific programming is required. Background in Machine Learning for science would be a plus. SLAC is committed to fostering a work environment that promotes inclusion, diversity, equity and accountability. We encourage all qualified applicants to apply; you do not need to meet all the Preferred Qualifications to be considered. This is a 3-year position with a potential option to extend. Assignment duration is contingent upon project needs and funding.

SLAC is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) laboratory operated by Stanford University and based in Menlo Park; CA.

Your specific responsibilities include:

• Maintain and contribute new features to the PCDS data reduction pipeline and/or the data analysis framework.
• Support the development of new Machine Learning approaches for online analysis within the PCDS framework.
• Interface with external collaborators and provide technical support to facilitate their use of PCDS and SLAC infrastructure.
• Be a technical resource to MLCV students.
• Design and write documentation of the codebase for beginner users and expert contributors.
• Implement tests and benchmark studies and establish continuous integration practices for code maintenance.
• Support users of the scientific instruments in running self-developed data analysis software within the LCLS software framework, consulting with external software developers and designing integrated solutions.

Additional opportunities include:

• Participate in and contribute to general group research activities.
• Represent your research results at seminars, scientific conferences, and workshops.
• Monitoring and analysis of Data Retrieval and Data Analysis software performance and design of performance-focused software solutions.
• Design and deployment of automated tests that assess the performance of the Data Retrieval and Data Analysis software on a wide range of scientific data, with the goal of performance optimization.
• Design and development of Graphical User Interfaces that facilitate the deployment and use of the software stacks and frameworks.

To be successful in this position you will bring:

• Bachelor's degree in physics, computer science, engineering or related discipline and three years of relevant experience in scientific data analysis, and scientific software deployment and use or a combination of education and relevant experience.
• Ability to learn and understand the workings of a broad range of scientific software and of software packaging/deployment solutions.
• Ability to understand the basic functionality and scientific purpose of x-ray science instruments and analysis software.
• Demonstrated programming skills in a scripting language such as (and preferably) Python and BASH.
• Familiarity with scalable computing on HPC such as MPI and CUDA.
• Exceptional communications skills and ability to work well in a research and development team.
• Demonstrated project leadership, planning, and excellent organizational skills.

In addition, preferred requirements include:

• Master's degree and relevant experience in scientific data analysis, and scientific software deployment and use. Advanced degree strongly preferred.
• Experience with HPC software deployment and task scheduling systems (module system, SLURM)
• Background in x-ray or material science.

SLAC Employee Competencies:

• Effective Decisions: Uses job knowledge and solid judgment to make quality decisions in a timely manner.
• Self-Development: Pursues a variety of venues and opportunities to continue Learning and developing.
• Dependability: Can be counted on to deliver results with a sense of personal responsibility for expected outcomes.
• Initiative: Pursues work and interactions proactively with optimism, positive energy, and motivation to move things forward.
• Adaptability: Flexes as needed when change occurs, maintains an open outlook while adjusting and accommodating changes.
• Communication: Ensures effective information flow to various audiences and creates and delivers clear, appropriate written, spoken, presented messages.
• Relationships: Builds relationships to foster trust, collaboration, and a positive climate to achieve common goals.

Physical requirements and Working conditions:

• Consistent with its obligations under the law, the University will provide reasonable accommodation to any employee with a disability who requires accommodation to perform the essential functions of his or her job.

Work Standard:

• Interpersonal Skills: Demonstrates the ability to work well with Stanford colleagues and clients and with external organizations.
• Promote Culture of Safety: Demonstrates commitment to personal responsibility and value for environment, safety and security; communicates related concerns; uses and promotes safe behaviors based on training and lessons learned. Meets the applicable roles and responsibilities as described in the ESH Manual, Chapter 1—General Policy and Responsibilities:
• Subject to and expected to comply with all applicable University policies and procedures, including but not limited to the personnel policies and other policies found in the University's Administrative Guide,

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• Classification Title: Software Developer 1
• Grade: I Job code: 4821
• Duration: Regular Continuing

The expected pay range for this position is $84,000 to $135,000 per annum. SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory/Stanford University provides pay ranges representing its good faith estimate of what the university reasonably expects to pay for a position. The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the qualifications of the selected candidate, departmental budget availability, internal equity, geographic location and external market pay for comparable jobs.