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The National Biodiversity Network Trust is a specialist non-profit organisation with the mission of “making data work for nature”.  We provide data management capability for the Biodiversity Community in the UK.

We are currently recruiting for a permanent position, initially working on a 12-month project.  There is scope to extend the position beyond the current project subject to further funding.

The job is offered on a full-time basis, but we work flexibly.  We are happy to receive applications and enquiries about different working patterns, for example working around school runs. We are looking for commitment to the project and for whoever we appoint to have us as their only employer for the duration of the contract. 

Our people are based all over the UK and work remotely, so you must be able to work from home. You will need the right to work in the UK, or be ready to obtain it independently, and we take up two references after we make a job offer, one of which is from a current employer. 

We are a supportive and friendly organisation and we welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and personal situations. 

No agencies please.

What we are developing

NBN Record Manager is a multi-tenant, cloud based data management system being developed for the biodiversity recording community. It will enable Local Environmental Records Centres (LERCs), recording groups and other organisations to collate, manage and share biodiversity records, replacing ageing desktop software with a modern, scalable application. 

The system must accommodate substantial volumes of data from different sources, with varying structures, quality and consistency.  
 

About the Role  

We are looking for a capable, self-motivated Software Engineer to join our growing team and play a significant role in the continued development of NBN Record Manager. 

This is a hands-on engineering role combining backend application development, data integration and database design. A major initial responsibility will be taking ownership of the migration of data from a staging database into the application's data model, including designing transformations and resolving data integrity challenges. 

You will also work closely with our Data Analyst, providing technical guidance and engineering support to develop reliable, production-ready data pipelines and deploy them to AWS. 

You may also be required to work on the NBN Atlas and other projects within the NBN Trust. 

The role offers a varied range of technical challenges and considerable autonomy. You will work closely with the Principal Software Engineer, contributing to technical decisions, architectural improvements and the long-term scalability and maintainability of the system. 

Our technology stack 
Our current technology stack includes: 

• Backend: Java, Grails, Groovy 
• Frontend: Server-rendered MVC, HTMX, JavaScript 
• Database: PostgreSQL 
• Data engineering: Python, Dagster 
• Infrastructure: AWS, including EC2 and RDS 

Essential experience 

• Strong SQL and relational database skills, including performance optimisation with large datasets. 
• Experience with Python for data processing, migration and pipeline development. 
• Ability to analyse complex datasets, identify data quality issues and design appropriate solutions. 
• Experience with backend application development, ideally Java or similar. 
• Experience deploying applications or data pipelines to cloud environments, ideally AWS. 
• Ability to independently plan, design and deliver maintainable, well-tested solutions. 
• A commitment to writing clean, maintainable and well-tested code. 

Desirable experience 

• Dagster, Airflow or similar data orchestration tools.  
• Java, Groovy, Grails or Spring.  
• AI-assisted development, including critical evaluation and testing of generated code.  
• MVC or server-rendered web applications.  
• Biodiversity data standards, such as Darwin Core.

How we work

We are a small team developing a substantial system, so engineers have the opportunity to make meaningful contributions and take real ownership of their work.

We favour pragmatic, maintainable solutions over unnecessary complexity, and value thoughtful technical design, clear communication and a willingness to investigate problems thoroughly.

We use AI-assisted development tools to improve productivity, while maintaining high standards of code quality, testing and technical understanding.

You will have support and technical collaboration from the Principal Software Engineer.

We can offer you a meaningful role making a genuine difference for nature, a place on a small, friendly and mutually supportive team and flexible, remote working with occasional travel agreed in advance.