Research Software Engineer – Pandemic & Crisis Preparedness / NUM Dashboard (m/f/d)

About MWTek and the NUM Dashboard

The Staff Unit for Medical & Scientific Technology Development and Coordination (MWTek) at University Hospital Bonn works at the intersection of software engineering, medical informatics, patient care and clinical research.

Our physician-led, interdisciplinary and international team brings together software specialists, clinicians and healthcare professionals to develop technology that addresses real-world challenges in medicine. We contribute to major national initiatives including the Medical Informatics Initiative (MII) and the Network of University Medicine (NUM), helping build the infrastructure for data-driven medicine in Germany.

One of our key responsibilities is the NUM Dashboard (https://www.netzwerk-universitaetsmedizin.de/en/research/num-sar/modules/dashboard), a federated data-analysis and visualization infrastructure that provides near-real-time insight into the care and capacity situation across German university medicine.

Originally developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the platform is now being expanded as part of NUM-SAR – Surveillance & Rapid Response into sustainable infrastructure for pandemic and crisis preparedness. It currently supports surveillance of COVID-19, influenza and RSV and is being extended to additional clinical and healthcare-system indicators in close collaboration with top national domain experts.

Its privacy-by-design architecture allows close-to-realtime datastreams that fully respect patient privacy: clinical data originate in heterogeneous hospital information systems and Data Integration Centers across multiple institutions. Processing and aggregation take place locally before anonymous aggregated information is made available for central analysis and visualization.

This is software engineering where interoperability, reliability, data protection and scientific correctness matter — because the resulting information can support researchers, healthcare professionals and decision-makers in understanding and responding to emerging pressures on the healthcare system.

Role Description

We are looking for a Research Software Engineer / Scientific Software Developer (m/f/d) to join the team responsible for the continued development and operation of the NUM Dashboard and its underlying federated infrastructure.

You will work on a production-critical software ecosystem connecting medical data standards, distributed hospital IT environments, data processing and visualization.

Your work will include:

• Designing, developing and maintaining components of the federated NUM Dashboard infrastructure
• Developing software and database solutions primarily using Java, JavaScript, SQL and R
• Building and maintaining interfaces between heterogeneous clinical, research and data-integration systems
• Working with modern web APIs and interoperability technologies, particularly REST, HL7 and FHIR
• Contributing to processing pipelines that transform interoperable clinical data into privacy-preserving, aggregated information for nationwide analysis
• Integrating and administering complex IT subsystems in enterprise environments
• Improving software architecture, testing, deployment, CI/CD, maintainability and operational reliability
• Documenting and validating complex, production-critical systems, including work in regulated environments where traceability matters
• Translating scientific, clinical and surveillance requirements into robust technical implementations
• Working closely with software engineers, physicians, researchers, data-integration specialists and partners across a large national research network

The position combines software engineering, medical informatics, distributed systems and applied research. You will have substantial room to understand complex problems, develop technically sound solutions and take responsibility for systems that need to work beyond the prototype stage.

Qualifications

We are looking for someone with a strong software-engineering foundation and the ability and motivation to work across disciplinary and institutional boundaries.

You should bring:

• A university degree in Computer Science, Engineering or a related technical discipline; a Master’s-level qualification in areas such as computer science, systems engineering, systems integration or a comparable field is preferred
• Strong programming skills and practical software-development experience
• Experience with Java or a comparable high-level programming language, ideally also with Spring Boot & Security
• Experience with JavaScript, HTML/CSS and SQL, or the ability to become productive with these technologies quickly
• Practical experience with network-based interfaces, APIs and common data formats, particularly REST
• Familiarity with modern development environments, version control and deployment tooling
• The ability to work independently, take ownership and systematically familiarize yourself with new technologies and scientific domains
• Strong communication skills and an interest in working with colleagues from software engineering, medicine and research
• Professional fluency in German and good English skills; English is commonly used as the working language in our software-development projects

Additionally, experience in one or more of the following areas would be particularly valuable:

• Biomedical software development or medical informatics
• HL7 / FHIR and healthcare interoperability
• Enterprise Linux and/or Windows server environments
• Relational database administration
• Administration and operation of complex software systems
• Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery and modern agile development practices
• Software development in regulated environments, including validation and traceability requirements

You do not need to arrive as an expert in every aspect of the stack. The role is particularly suited to engineers who enjoy understanding complex systems, learning unfamiliar domains and applying rigorous software-engineering principles to problems with real scientific and societal relevance.

What We Offer

You will join an interdisciplinary team working on technically demanding projects with direct relevance to patient care, medical research and the resilience of the healthcare system.

UKB offers:

• A full-time position (38.5 hours/week)
• Employment initially tied to the project through 30 June 2030
• Compensation according to the German public-sector collective agreement TV-L, including applicable additional benefits and annual special payments
• Flexible working arrangements, including flexible hours and home-office options where compatible with the role
• Structured onboarding and opportunities for professional training and development
• Health, fitness, mobility and family-support programmes available to UKB employees
• An international and interdisciplinary working environment at one of Germany’s leading university hospitals

About University Hospital Bonn

University Hospital Bonn combines highly specialized patient care with internationally competitive research and medical education. MWTek provides a particularly interdisciplinary environment within UKB, bringing together expertise in information technology, medical technology, clinical medicine and research to develop practical solutions for the healthcare system.

If you want to work on software where distributed systems, interoperability, data engineering and public-health preparedness meet, we would be pleased to hear from you.

Application deadline: 8 September 2026

Reference: ST-48063

Location: University Hospital Bonn, Venusberg Campus, Bonn, Germany

The working language in our tech teams is English, but knowledge of German is a plus. Applications in English are welcome, also via LinkedIn.

For the official job advertisement and administrative details, please refer to the UKB careers posting here: https://karriereamukb.de/jobs/wissenschaftlicher-softwareentwicklerin-m-w-d-pandemic-crisis-preparedness-2/