Research Assistant position in Software Engineering
School of Computer Science,
Technological University Dublin
(Grangegorman Campus)
The School of Computer Science, TU Dublin currently has a position available for a Research Assistant in Software Engineering in the TRIDENT Commercialization Fund project.
Job Description
The School is seeking to appoint a Research Assistant in Software Engineering on a fixed-term (7 months), specified-purpose basis to work on the Enterprise Ireland–funded TRIDENT project. The post holder will be required to carry out research in the area of software engineering, including the development of web applications for procurement automation using open-source Python frameworks, the design of AI workflows and intelligent agents, and data transformations, including the design of vectorisation / documents parsing pipelines.
The role will include collaborative software development using Git, contributing to CI/CD pipelines, and building effective cloud-based solutions.
Principal Accountabilities
Working with and taking direction from the TRIDENT project Technical Lead.
Contribution to software design and development in controlled environment, compliant with ISO27001, SOC 2 type 2.
Collaborating with the team using Git-based workflows and contributing to CI/CD.
Designing and implementing AI workflows, including intelligent agents and retrieval-augmented generation systems, in support of project objectives.
Developing and maintaining data transformation and vectorisation pipelines for use in AI-enabled applications.
Designing custom document-parsing solutions (e.g. data extraction from handwritten quotations).
Ensuring the quality and performance of applications through testing and maintenance.
Presenting findings and progress in regular updates.
Contributing to the overall activities of the team as required.
Managing and prioritising time effectively to meet project deliverables.
As a Commericalization Project, the goal is to move towards a spin-out in Q4 of 2026. Thus the role is particularly well suited for a candidate who has interest in entrepreneurial and startup activities.
Person Specification
The ideal candidate will demonstrate the appropriate mix of knowledge, experience, skills, talent and abilities as outlined below:
Knowledge
Completed Bachelors in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field with a focus on software development or related. (essential)
Completed a Masters in Computer Science Engineering, or related field with a focus on software development or related (desirable).
Demonstrated working knowledge of Python Backend Development and of at least one web development framework, e.g. Flask/FastAPI/Django. (essential)
Demonstrated working knowledge of DevOps principles and CI/CD tools such as Jenkins or GitHub actions. (desirable)
Demonstrated working knowledge of containerization and orchestration technologies: Docker and Kubernetes. (essential)
Demonstrated working knowledge of AI trends: AI agents, MCP, A2A, RAG, and willingness to be/remain contemporaneous with the subject matter. (desirable)
Experience
The successful candidate will have:
Work experience in cloud environment such as Google Cloud / AWS / MS Azure (essential)
Professional AI-related Certification with Google, Amazon or Microsoft (at least foundational level) (essential)
Work experience with computer vision and fine-tuning Convolutional Neural Networks (essential)
Evidence of achievements or proactiveness in the field, e.g. participation in hackatons (essential)
Evidence of experience in completing software projects (desirable)
Interest in procurement field or experience with a procurement related project (desirable)
Skills, talents & abilities
The successful candidate will be highly skilled in Software Development, DevOps, MLOps/AI engineering.
Preferred skills include working with MacOS and VS Code for team IT environment integrity
Excellent interpersonal skills.
Excellent communication skills.
Excellent organisational skills, time management and ability to undertake duties assigned and meet deadlines required.
Salary
The successful candidate will be appointed at Point (01) of the Research Assistant salary scale i.e. €33,791 gross per annum. (Position is for 7 months)
