Back-End Software Developer

Oak Ridge National Laboratory•Oak Ridge, TN

9d•Remote

About The Position

The Information Technology Services Division in the Information Technology Services Directorate at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory is seeking qualified applicants for a Python Developer position in the Research and Development Solutions Team. The R&D Solutions team exists to facilitate lab goals through systems engineering, development, integration, and support for the research community at ORNL. We are responsible for facilitating service and capability delivery for R&D projects. We work as a team to provide development, deployment, automation, monitoring, and management tool infrastructure for researchers. We advocate, promote, and facilitate Agile Scrum development practices to researchers who develop or require development of code as a part of their projects.

Requirements

BS degree in a scientific or technical field and 2–4 years of experience
Python development
Software development best practices (Git, Agile, issue tracking tools)
Working with APIs and/or backend services
AI-integrated workflow
Data processing or ETL workflows
Debugging and maintaining existing codebases
Basic database usage (SQL or NoSQL)

Nice To Haves

Exposure to geospatial tools/data (e.g., PostgreSQL/PostGIS, GDAL)
Exposure to cloud or container technologies (e.g., Docker, Docker Compose, Kubernetes)
Understanding of microservices concepts
Experience working in research, scientific, or government environments
Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines
Experience with Data-as-a-Service or API-based architectures
Programming experience in C, C#, C++, and SQL
Experience working in highly technical environments (government, scientific, or similar)

Responsibilities

Partner with research organizations to enable research excellence and successful project delivery
Design, develop, and manage spatial data platforms and solutions within Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) environments
Deliver capabilities, services, cost savings, and optimizations that enhance research outcomes and reduce IT burden for researchers
Collaborate with a diverse, multidisciplinary team including photogrammetrists, geographers, mathematicians, physicists, computer scientists, and engineers
Contribute to research, development, integration, testing, and deployment across areas such as spatial computing, real-time data platforms, and machine intelligence systems
Develop geospatial applications, software, and digital map layers as service-based solutions
Support research staff in publishing and disseminating results through peer-reviewed journals, technical reports, conferences, and open-source repositories
Work with researchers and project sponsors to gather, understand, and implement project and security requirements in developed solutions
Optimize workflows and monitoring solutions to leverage 24/7 operations support and minimize off-hours work
Utilize collaboration tools such as Email, Jira, Confluence, Teams, Slack, and other platforms to maintain effective communication
Support a flexible, team-oriented work environment
Deliver ORNL’s mission by aligning behaviors, priorities, and interactions with our core values of Impact, Integrity, Teamwork, Safety, and Service. Promote equal opportunity by fostering a respectful workplace – in how we treat one another, work together, and measure success.