Research Software Engineer - Social Sciences & Humanities

About

The Netherlands eScience Center is the national centre for innovative software solutions in academic research. We aim to bridge the gap in knowledge and expertise between digital technologies on the one hand and scientific and scholarly inquiry on the other. We create the tools and digital methodologies that enable researchers across all disciplines to answer research questions, harnessing our unique blend of academic expertise and software development skills. We attach great importance to software quality and sustainability, and academic recognition of research software.

We stand for a research-focused, professional, collaborative, open and resourceful approach to everything we do, and we require that our staff can identify with these eScience Center values. Our people have a diverse background in education, gender, nationality, and ethnicity. Together, we form an inclusive group with a common drive.

Our Research Software Engineers are distributed into four different sections, Natural Sciences & Engineering, Social Sciences & Humanities, Life Sciences, and Environment & Sustainability, with opportunities to collaborate and exchange knowledge between the different sections.

We always work at the crossroads of digital technologies and academic research with projects ranging from machine learning for climate science to GPU for high-energy physics or linked data for digital humanities.

What will you do?

• You will be a part of a multidisciplinary team.
• You will typically work on 2 or 3 projects simultaneously.
• Projects vary in size from three-month consultancy projects to large multi-year collaborations.
• You will share your time between our office in Amsterdam, projects locations in various universities across the Netherlands and working from home.
• A typical day includes a stand-up or work meeting discussing the status of the project software: some issues with the code that may need testing or require further development.
• You stay abreast of the latest technological and scientific developments in the project.
• You finish your contribution to a paper being written in your project.
• You attend an online presentation of a project you are interested in.
• You'll have the chance to participate in global conferences across a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines, expanding your professional network and engaging with experts from diverse fields.
• RSEs are explicitly encouraged to explore technological and disciplinary fields outside of their main expertise and can develop their skills by following external training, leading projects, and attending community events.

Who are you?

You are motivated to tackle complex research challenges using digital approaches. You enjoy working at the intersection of research and technology, and take pride in enabling researchers to answer cutting-edge questions through robust and innovative software solutions. You are curious, proactive, and collaborative, and you communicate effectively with both academic researchers and technical experts across disciplines.

You bring a strong sense of ownership to your work, while remaining flexible and open to learning new tools, domains, and methodologies. You value software quality, sustainability, and reproducibility, and are eager to contribute to an open and inclusive research environment.

Furthermore:

• You have strong credentials in academic research, such as a PhD or equivalent.
• You have demonstrated experience in academic research and in development of research software, methodologies, or open-source frameworks for research purposes.
• To complement our Social Sciences and Humanities team, we are particularly looking for an RSE with domain affinity in the humanities (e.g. art, archaeology, history), and technical expertise in (one of the) following: image processing, computer vision, computational modelling, 3D.

What we can offer you

• We work at the forefront of cutting-edge international research.
• You will be part of a team of collaborative and ambitious people with a passion for academic research.
• You will be given extensive opportunity to further develop your professional and personal capacities.
• Salary scale 10 or 11, based on our Collective Labour Agreement (WVOI Cao-OI) depending on qualifications and expertise.
• Excellent secondary benefits: travel and communication allowance, holiday allowance (8%), 42 holidays on the basis of full-time, a year-end bonus (8,33%), personal development budget, fitness plan, bicycle plan, and flexible work from home options and facilities.

Want to join us?

Your application must contain a CV, a letter of motivation, and a link to an active GitHub account (or an alternative). The closing date to apply is 25 May 2026.