Software Engineer 1

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

About the Role

This Software Engineer 1 role will support the development of the EMSL Science Central technology platform with a focus on backend services, data infrastructure, and platform reliability. The team follows modern DevOps principles using GitLab CI/CD and actively uses AI-assisted development tools — including GitHub Copilot, OpenCode, and Claude Code — to accelerate development and improve code quality. The candidate will work closely with a multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers to deliver scalable, maintainable software that supports scientific research workflows at EMSL. Familiarity with frontend technologies is a plus but is not a primary focus of this role.

Key Responsibilities

• Designs, develops, documents, tests, and debugs new and existing software systems, hardware/software interfaces, and/or applications according to industry established software engineering principles and best practices.
• Works collaboratively within a team to execute on the full system development lifecycle including analyzing user needs to determine technical requirements; developing technical specifications based on conceptual design and requirements; developing well-crafted and documented source code; integrating hardware using software; automating manual tasks; and consulting with the end user to prototype, configure, refine, test, and debug programs or systems to meet needs.
• Identifies and evaluates new technologies or methods for implementation and continuous improvement.
• Designs and develops RESTful APIs using Python and FastAPI.
• Builds and maintains PostgreSQL databases.
• Implements role-based access control (RBAC) across platform services.
• Contributes to the deployment of containerized services in Kubernetes environments.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Python
• FastAPI
• PostgreSQL
• Kubernetes
• GitLab CI/CD
• AI-assisted development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, OpenCode, Claude Code)
• Role-based access control (RBAC)
• RESTful APIs

Qualifications

• BS/BA or higher in Bioinformatics
• Working knowledge of Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, and other deployment environments
• API development using Python
• Experience designing and implementing role-based access control (RBAC) for APIs and platform services
• Experience with API gateways (e.g., Kong, AWS API Gateway, or similar) for routing, rate limiting, and authentication enforcement
• Backend languages and tools such as Python and PostgreSQL
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and tools like Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD, or Github Actions
• Experience using AI-assisted development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, OpenCode, Claude Code, or similar) in a professional software development workflow
• Familiarity with RESTful API design patterns and backend service architecture

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience working at national labs and/or DOE