Senior Software Engineer - Automation
Who we are
imec is 6000-strong non-profit R&D organisation thatplays a world-leading role in the fields of semiconductor, nano-electronics,compute architecture, sensing, AI, and digital technologies. Headquartered inLeuven, Belgium, imec has offices and lab/fab facilities in several othercities in Belgium, the Netherlands, UK, US, Germany, among other countries.
Within imec, the SoftwareDevelopment & Prototyping (SD&P) department (part of the ISSAExpertise Center) focuses on designing, developing, and prototypinginnovative software solutions that enable, accelerate or even define imec’sR&D activities in various areas. SD&P is home to ~40 softwareengineers, working out of Belgium (Ghent, Leuven & Antwerp), and theNetherlands (Eindhoven and Wageningen). We have teams specializing in“full-stack” (web/mobile) applications, cloud-based data/compute platforms, andembedded software. SD&P-built solutions range from exploratory PoC’s anddemonstrators on one end, to production-ready business critical systems on theother.
What you will do
Your primary assignment will be to play a key rolein our efforts to buildrobust, scalable, secure software systems withan emphasis on automation of software delivery and operations. You’ll helpus make engineering outcomesrepeatable: from commit to production,from experiment to reliable service, and from manual processes to automatedworkflows.
Depending onthe project, your work may involve:
1. Buildautomation-first delivery foundations
o Design, implement, andevolve CI/CD pipelinesthat make building,testing, scanning, and deploying software fast and trustworthy.
o Automate release workflows (versioning,artifact management, promotion across environments) and establish qualitygates that ensure consistent delivery.
o Drive “pipeline as product” thinking: reusabletemplates, golden paths, and self-service tooling for engineering teams.
2. Workfloworchestration & system automation
o Engineerworkfloworchestrationfor complex processesand integrations: reliable job execution, retries, observability, andstate management across systems.
o Collaborate with domain experts to translateR&D processes intoautomated, auditable, and maintainable workflows.
o Improve operational robustness throughautomation (e.g., automated rollbacks, environment provisioning, andoperational runbooks-as-code).
3. Moderncloud-native engineering (built for automation)
o Implementand optimizecontainerization strategiesandclouddeploymentsthat are reproducible and automation-friendly.
o Contributeto architectural decisions, ensuringscalability, security,resilience, and “operability by default.”
o Strengthenautomation around infrastructure and deployment patterns so teams can shipwith confidence.
4. Full-stackdelivery, quality & team impact
o Developand maintain full‑stack applications, from robust back‑end services tointuitive front‑end interfaces — while embedding automation and qualitythroughout the SDLC.
o Drivesoftware quality: clean, testable, maintainable code; pragmatic testingstrategies; strong review culture.
o Mentorand guide team members, sharing knowledge on modern engineering,automation, and DevOps practices.
Moreover,as Senior Software Engineer within SD&P, you may also contribute tosoftware engineering projects that enable other R&D activities at imec, indomains such as Health, Automotive, Industry & Consumer, and ICdesign/manufacturing services.
What we do for you
We offer you the opportunity to join one of the world’s premier research centers in nanotechnology at its headquarters in Leuven, Belgium. With your talent, passion and expertise, you’ll become part of a team that makes the impossible possible. Together, we shape the technology that will determine the society of tomorrow.
We are committed to being an inclusive employer and proud of our open, multicultural, and informal working environment with ample possibilities to take initiative and show responsibility. We commit to supporting and guiding you in this process; not only with words but with tangible actions. Through imec.academy, 'our corporate university', we actively invest in your development to further your technical and personal growth.
We are aware that your valuable contribution makes imec a top player in its field. Your energy and commitment are therefore appreciated by means of a market appropriate salary with many fringe benefits.
Who you are
We are looking for an experienced Software Engineer whothrives on tough technical challenges and approaches them with a combination ofdeeply understood first principles and pragmatically applied best practices. Weimagine an ideal candidate to roughly have these skills:
Must-haves (essential skills):
* Senior-level software engineering experience in a professional context, including architectural responsibility and demonstrated ownership of substantial systems.
* Master or PhD degree in Computer Science (or related), or proven equivalent track record.
* Proven ability to design and deliver automation that scales:
o CI/CD pipelines and modern DevOps practices (e.g., GitHub Actions or similar) — designing for reliability, speed, and security.
o Workflow orchestration and automation of complex, multi-step processes and integrations.
* Proven experience designing, implementing & delivering scalable, production-grade applications (full-stack and/or cloud services).
* Strong programming skills in Python, TypeScript, Go, Kotlin, or similar modern languages.
* Solid experience with:
* Data modelling and system integration.
* Containerization (i.e. Docker) and orchestration technologies (i.e. Kubernetes).
* Cloud infrastructure and ecosystems such as Azure, AWS, GCP.
* Strong engineering fundamentals: clean architecture, testing strategies, version control, peer code reviews.
* Have a well-defined understanding and practical experience using agentic workflows to automate parts of the software development lifecycle
* Comfortable working in a multidisciplinary, multicultural team.
* English proficiency (professional level) / Dutch is nice-to-have.
If you do not fully match this description but still thinkyou have what it takes to fit our needs: don’t worry, get in touch and convinceus!
IMEC and its affiliates will not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than directly from a candidate. IMEC will consider unsolicited referrals and/or resumes submitted by vendors such as search firms, staffing agencies, professional recruiters, fee-based referral services and recruiting agencies (hereafter “Agency”) to have been referred by the Agency free of charge. IMEC will not pay a fee to any Agency that does not have a prior written agreement with IMEC, validated by its HR department, in place regarding a specific job opening and allowing to submit resumes.
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