Software Engineer - Research & Development

Contribute to the design, development and evaluation of the CollabXAI software architecture and TRL4 prototype.

Develop and maintain the central CollabXAI codebase, including backend services/APIs, web-based user interfaces, database functionality, SME/agent registration, project management and model-update workflows.

Develop and maintain a lightweight local software agent capable of operating within participating SME environments and communicating securely with the central platform.

Implement secure communication and software components supporting privacy-preserving model-update exchange and secure aggregation. Support integration of AI/federated learning components developed by the AI Engineer into the end-to-end CollabXAI platform.

Contribute to authentication, access control, logging, error handling, system monitoring and other security-related platform functionality.

Undertake software engineering research and experimentation using C#, .NET/.NET Core, ASP.NET Core, REST APIs, Blazor, SQL, Azure and related technologies.

Design and execute unit, integration and end-to-end tests using structured test cases, initially within the project testbed and subsequently during pilot deployment.

Measure and document system behaviour, including communication latency, reliability, workflow completion, errors and relevant performance indicators.

Support deployment and technical evaluation of the prototype within participating SME environments during the pilot stage.

Plan and prioritise own work and resources within the research project framework in order to achieve agreed research objectives and development milestones.

Write up technical results and prepare software architecture, API, deployment and testing documentation for the research team and relevant stakeholders.

Contribute to project reports, research publications, demonstrations and dissemination materials.

Work closely with the Project Lead, AI Engineer, Pau&Co and participating SME partners to translate research and user requirements into appropriate software functionality.

Present development progress, demonstrations and technical findings to the research team and relevant project stakeholders.

Contribute, where appropriate, to academic/professional publications, project demonstrations and dissemination activities.

Participate in relevant internal and external project meetings and networks to share findings and good practice.

Proactively and effectively engage with quality assurance procedures to ensure that University and project standards are upheld.

Collaborate with academic colleagues and project partners on prototype development, evaluation and future technical directions.

Actively participate as a member of the CollabXAI research team and collaborate closely with the AI Engineer to integrate software and AI components.

Maintain clear technical documentation and use appropriate version-control and collaborative software-development practices. Contribute to project meetings, technical reviews, demonstrations and pilot activities as required.

This role is only open to current Manchester Met students who meet the criteria below.

Currently studying at Manchester Metropolitan University in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Cyber Security, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, or a closely related discipline , preferably at final-year undergraduate, Master’s or PhD level.

Strong programming skills in C# and .NET/.NET Core .

Experience of developing software using object-oriented programming and modern software engineering principles.

Experience with REST APIs and relational databases/SQL .

Ability to undertake research by preparing, setting up, conducting and recording the outcomes of software experiments and testing.

Proficiency in relevant software development tools, including Git/version control and an appropriate IDE such as Visual Studio or VS Code .

Sufficient breadth or depth of software engineering knowledge to work effectively within an established research team.

Experience of presenting and communicating complex technical information clearly, both orally and in writing.

Ability to prioritise work independently and as part of a team in order to meet agreed development milestones.

Ability to write clean, maintainable and appropriately documented code.

Strong understanding of software and application security principles.

Experience with ASP.NET Core and Blazor .

Experience with Microsoft Azure or other cloud platforms .

Knowledge of distributed systems, federated/collaborative learning or privacy-preserving computing.

Knowledge of authentication, access control, secure APIs and secure software development.

Experience with automated testing, CI/CD, containerisation or software deployment.

Experience developing distributed/client-server applications.

A strong interest in cybersecurity, trustworthy AI and secure distributed AI systems.