Job Description

Cambridge Environmental Research Consultants (CERC) is recruiting. We are looking for a software engineer to join our air quality forecasting team.

CERC develops the world leading Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling System (ADMS) family of models, which are used across many counties to calculate air pollutant concentrations in the vicinity of traffic, industry and other emissions sources. We also work on diverse consultancy and research projects relating to both toxic air pollutants and greenhouse gases, for a wide range of clients including government, industry and academia. CERC also provides operational cloud-based air quality forecasting and alert services for parts of the UK (London and South-East England, Manchester and York), Latvia and Malaysia. The company is based in central Cambridge and employs around 25 staff, approximately half of whom work within the development team.

The role and its requirements in more detail are:

* The role: Your work will typically involve developing and maintaining operational cloud-based air quality forecasting systems for a range of clients from the public and private sectors. You will be responsible for designing, building, and optimising these systems as part of a team, integrating data from multiple sources, processing it using our proprietary models and creating appropriate documentation.

* Our requirements: You will have a strong background in physical science (e.g. maths, physics, engineering, computer science, chemistry, meteorology) at graduate level or higher. You will enjoy coding and be flexible and adept at learning new systems and processes. You will have experience of coding in Python.

Other desirable skills:

* Experience with development on cloud platforms (preferably Microsoft Azure and/or Google Cloud Platform, GCP), including API development, Cloud Run Functions (Python), Cloud SQL databases, deploying containerised applications (e.g. Azure Kubernetes Services, AKS), PowerShell.

* Coding experience with Docker and/or R.

* GIS development experience, including GeoServer.

* Web development experience, including PHP, JavaScript, HTML and CSS.

Applicants will be required to work in a well-organised and conscientious way, with attention to detail, and be able to meet challenging deadlines. The ability to communicate effectively in written and spoken English is also necessary. Although in recent years the large majority of client interaction has been online, the role may involve some travel in the UK and overseas.

CERC encourages and funds appropriate professional membership, usually with the Institute of Air Quality Management / Institution of Environmental Sciences. We offer opportunities for all staff to attend events such as webinars and conferences. We provide formal training through attendance of CERC’s training courses, and additional training when appropriate to your role.

Your salary is likely to be in the range £29,000 to £38,000, depending on your qualifications/skills and experience, and will be reviewed annually. You will be entitled to 25 days’ holiday per year, in addition to public holidays. In order to make sure that you and the position are a good match, you will initially be employed on a three-month probationary period. The post is initially full time, for two years, but may be made permanent. The successful candidate will typically be expected to work at least 4 days a week at CERC’s offices in central Cambridge, with up to 1 day a week from home by arrangement.

Please e-mail your CV, with a covering letter explaining your suitability for the role described above, to Winnie Piotrowski (no agencies please). When emailing, please be clear about the role you are applying for, quoting the code SSD24B. The closing date is 15th November 2024. We will invite selected candidates for interview within 2-3 weeks of the closing date. We do not sponsor applications for the right to work in the UK