Junior Research Engineer (RE1)

Job Reference
49_26_CS_HAMHPC_RE1
Position
Junior Research Engineer (RE1)
Closing Date
Tuesday, 24 February, 2026
Reference: 49_26_CS_HAMHPC_RE1
Job title: Junior Research Engineer (RE1)

About BSC

The Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) is the leading supercomputing center in Spain. It houses MareNostrum, one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe, was a founding and hosting member of the former European HPC infrastructure PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe), and is now hosting entity for EuroHPC JU, the Joint Undertaking that leads large-scale investments and HPC provision in Europe. The mission of BSC is to research, develop and manage information technologies in order to facilitate scientific progress. BSC combines HPC service provision and R&D into both computer and computational science (life, earth and engineering sciences) under one roof, and currently has over 1000 staff from 60 countries.

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We are particularly interested for this role in the strengths and lived experiences of women and underrepresented groups to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights in science and IT research. In instances of equal merit, the incorporation of the under-represented sex will be favoured.

We promote Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, fostering an environment where each and every one of us is appreciated for who we are, regardless of our differences.

If you consider that you do not meet all the requirements, we encourage you to continue applying for the job offer. We value diversity of experiences and skills, and you could bring unique perspectives to our team.

Context And Mission

The Mobile and Embedded HPC group within the Computer Science Department at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) is seeking a researcher (junior research engineer) to support the deployment of RISC-V-based prototypes for the exploration of next-generation HPC systems.

The team’s development activities at BSC focus on:

Rapid prototyping of IPs for design validation and system software testing on FPGA platforms;
Development of system software components (e.g., hardware performance counters support, numerical libraries);
Benchmarking and comparison of state-of-the-art CPUs, with a particular emphasis on RISC-V and vector architectures.

We are looking for a researcher to support the deployment of RISC-V-based prototypes on complex FPGA systems. The technical work will be carried out in the context of international research projects, in which the candidate will be actively involved.

Key Duties

Design, develop, and maintain Continuous Integration / Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines for vector architecture research infrastructures.
Implement and optimize FPGA support within the research infrastructure to enable efficient vector computing on specialized hardware.
Develop, maintain, and ensure long-term support for hardware performance counters on RISC-V platforms, including integration with performance analysis tools such as PAPI.
Develop and maintain dashboards and visualization tools to monitor and analyze system performance and resource utilization (using BSC internal tools).
Document and maintain technical specifications, user guides, and best practices for using the research infrastructure.
Provide technical guidance and training to researchers on using the infrastructure and optimizing their applications for vector architectures.

Requirements

Education
B.Sc. degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Computational Physics, or a related field.
Essential Knowledge and Professional Experience
Programming languages: C, C++, Fortran; scripting languages: Bash, Python.
Linux operating systems, cluster environments, and developer toolchains.
Parallel and scientific programming environments (OpenMP, MPI, scientific libraries such as ATLAS, BLAS, etc.).
Performance analysis and profiling methodologies.
Previous experience with performance analysis tools such as PAPI.
Additional Knowledge and Professional Experience
Previous experience in porting parallel applications to Arm- and RISC-V–based systems is considered a strong asset.
Competences
Ability to work independently as well as within a team or project context.
Ability to organize and prioritize heterogeneous workloads.
Flexibility in working schedule and availability to travel.
Good written and spoken English communication skills.

Conditions

The position will be located at BSC within the Computer Sciences Department
We offer a full-time contract (37.5h/week), a good working environment, a highly stimulating environment with state-of-the-art infrastructure, flexible working hours, extensive training plan, restaurant tickets, private health insurance, support to the relocation procedures
Duration: Open-ended contract due to technical and scientific activities linked to the project and budget duration
Holidays: 22 days of holidays + 6 personal days + 24th and 31st of December per our collective agreement
Salary: we offer a competitive salary commensurate with the qualifications and experience of the candidate and according to the cost of living in Barcelona
Starting date: 1 Marzo 2026

Applications procedure and process

All applications must be submitted via the BSC website and contain:

A full CV in English including contact details
A cover/motivation letter with a statement of interest in English, clearly specifying for which specific area and topics the applicant wishes to be considered. Additionally, two references for further contacts must be included. Applications without this document will not be considered.

Development of the recruitment process

The selection will be carried out through a competitive examination system ("Concurso-Oposición"). The recruitment process consists of two phases:

Curriculum Analysis: Evaluation of previous experience and/or scientific history, degree, training, and other professional information relevant to the position. - 40 points
Interview phase: The highest-rated candidates at the curriculum level will be invited to the interview phase, conducted by the corresponding department and Human Resources. In this phase, technical competencies, knowledge, skills, and professional experience related to the position, as well as the required personal competencies, will be evaluated. - 60 points. A minimum of 30 points out of 60 must be obtained to be eligible for the position.

The recruitment panel will be composed of at least three people, ensuring at least 25% representation of women.

In accordance with OTM-R principles, a gender-balanced recruitment panel is formed for each vacancy at the beginning of the process. After reviewing the content of the applications, the panel will begin the interviews, with at least one technical and one administrative interview. At a minimum, a personality questionnaire as well as a technical exercise will be conducted during the process.

The panel will make a final decision, and all individuals who participated in the interview phase will receive feedback with details on the acceptance or rejection of their profile.

At BSC, we seek continuous improvement in our recruitment processes. For any suggestions or comments/complaints about our recruitment processes, please contact recruitment [at] bsc [dot] es.
For more information, please follow this link.

Deadline

The vacancy will remain open until a suitable candidate has been hired. Applications will be regularly reviewed and potential candidates will be contacted.

OTM-R principles for selection processes

BSC-CNS is committed to the principles of the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers of the European Commission and the Open, Transparent and Merit-based Recruitment principles (OTM-R). This is applied for any potential candidate in all our processes, for example by creating gender-balanced recruitment panels and recognizing career breaks etc.
BSC-CNS is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. We are pleased to consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or any other basis protected by applicable state or local law.
For more information follow this link