McGill University

Research Software Developer

Montreal Neuro. Full time

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Position Summary:

LORIS is a web-based data management software designed at the McGill Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (MCIN). The candidate will be contributing to the development and maintenance of LORIS and specifically to The Advanced Research Collaboration for Health Integration, Medical Exploration, and Data Synthesis (ARCHIMEDES) LORIS platform which delivers a multimodal informatics infrastructure to provide users access to curated and federated health data, with open-access repository and advanced predictive analytics functionality. The ARCHIMEDES Repository is an Open Science collection of biological samples, clinical information, imaging, and genetic data from patients with neurological disease as well as from healthy control subjects.  

Reporting to the Senior Software Developer, the candidate will support the design, development, testing, and maintenance of tools and pipelines on MCIN’s LORIS platform pertaining specifically ARCHIMEDES. This includes building new automated importers for diverse data types—such as clinical, imaging and behavioral data—originating from multiple internal and external research groups. Responsibilities include implementing new features, enhancing existing functionality, bug tracking and resolution, user support, and maintaining both frontend and backend components of the platform. The developer will also be expected to contribute to technical documentation and help ensure data integrity and standardization in alignment with FAIR and open science principles.


Primary Responsibilities:

  • Design, plan, implement, test, debug, and support software components for the ARCHIMEDES and LORIS platforms.
  • Develop automated pipelines for importing and validating diverse datasets (e.g., imaging, clinical, behavioral, genomic) from contributing researchers and institutions.
  • Implement new features/tools based on functional specs and community feedback.
  • Provide technical and user support to ARCHIMEDES data contributors, researchers, and affiliated projects.
  • Update and enhance ARCHIMEDES-specific modules, including dashboards, data visualizations, and user interface improvements.
  • Maintain and expand test suites to ensure software robustness and data reliability.
  • Develop, modify, and validate data instruments based on requests from researchers and project collaborators.
  • Maintain clean and traceable codebases and participate actively in the GitHub-based collaborative development workflow.
  • Follow and help refine best practices in LORIS software development and deployment.
  • Contribute to and maintain technical documentation relevant to ARCHIMEDES data ingestion and pipeline workflows.
  • Participate in regular team meetings, platform design sessions, and cross-project collaboration calls.
  • Support database version upgrades and participate in bug-fixing and regression testing.
  • Maintain ARCHIMEDES-specific code extensions and contribute to generalizable improvements back to the LORIS core.
  • Perform SQL-based data queries/reports to support researchers using ARCHIMEDES datasets.
  • Develop tools for assessing quality and integrity of data within ARCHIMEDES-hosted projects.
  • Contribute to protocol development and documentation supporting ARCHIMEDES’s standard operating procedures for data management.
  • Participate in bi-weekly deployments of new features, patches, and core updates.


Other Qualifying Skills and/or Abilities

  • University degree or related work experience in computer science, neuroscience or related field.
  • Experience with neuroimaging data processing.
  • Strong understanding of database systems, software development, and research infrastructure.
  • Excellent organizational, communication, and leadership skills.
  • Research or industry experience with relational database systems (SQL).
  • Expertise with web development (PHP, JavaScript/JQuery, Bootstrap, Apache).
  • Experience with non-relational database systems is an asset (NoSQL).
  • Experience with Unix/Linux operating systems.
  • Experience computing on large datasets is an asset.
  • Experience with version control systems (e.g. git, svn) and team-based development methodologies.
  • Strong programming skills and understanding of modern languages (Python, Perl).
  • Knowledge of HTML5, CSS3, Bootstrap and W3C standards.
  • Familiarity with academic research environments.
  • Experience using and developing REST APIs



As one of Montreal's Top Employers, here is what we offer:

  • Competitive benefits package (Health, Dental, Life Insurance) (if eligible)
  • Defined contribution pension plan (with employer contribution up to 10%) (if eligible)
  • Group Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) and Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA)
  • Competitive vacation policy
  • Two (2) personal days
  • Two (2) floating holidays
  • Nine (9) "Summer Fridays" - paid days off between the St-Jean Baptiste holiday and Labour Day
  • Paid time off over the December holiday period
  • Tuition waiver for regular employees and their dependents
  • Up to two (2) days of remote work per week where the position permits


Before applying, please note that to work at McGill University, you must be both authorized to work in Canada and willing to work in the province of Quebec at the campus where the position is based / located.

Knowledge of English: McGill University is an English-language university where day to day duties may require English communication both verbally and in writing. The level of English required for this position has been assessed at a level 2 on a scale of 0-4.

For a definition of our language proficiency levels, please click here.

Minimum Education and Experience:

Bachelor's Degree 3 Years Related Experience /

Annual Salary:

(MPEX Grade 04) $64,770.00 - $80,960.00 - $97,150.00

Job Profile:

MPEX-IST2R - Research Software Development - Professional 2

Hours per Week:

33.75 (Full time)

Supervisor:

Senior Research Software Developer

Position End Date (If applicable):

2027-01-04

Deadline to Apply:

2025-11-30

McGill University hires on the basis of merit and is strongly committed to equity and diversity within its community. We welcome applications from racialized persons/visible minorities, women, Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and persons of minority sexual orientations and gender identities, as well as from all qualified candidates with the skills and knowledge to productively engage with diverse communities. McGill implements an employment equity program and encourages members of designated groups to self-identify. Persons with disabilities who anticipate needing accommodations for any part of the application process may contact, in confidence, accessibilityrequest.hr@mcgill.ca.