Software Engineer in Physics Simulation (IT-CE-PSE-2026-167-GRAP)

Description

The role sits in the Physics Software Engineering section of the Computing for Experiments group in the IT department, focused on performance software engineering for high energy physics data simulation.

The work is part of NextGen, a joint effort between the LHC experiments and the research and computing departments. It studies how high-performance computing architectures can be used in simulation and processing of data, with the upcoming High Luminosity LHC data-taking phase in view.

Collision simulation is one of the largest users of computing resources in the experiments. Future simulations will need more statistics, accuracy and complexity while staying within the forecast computing budget, so simulation throughput must rise significantly.

You will join a team of software engineers and physicists working on Monte Carlo event generation, with a focus on the Madgraph suite. The work sits between theoretical physics and computer science, restructuring data structures, parallelising workflows and scheduling tasks to make use of current hardware, guided by experimental analysis needs and the latest theory predictions.

Training in data science, programming languages, software engineering and computing architectures is available through various programmes if you are interested.

Responsibilities

• Profile existing simulation code bases and design ways to raise their throughput.
• Apply current software engineering methods to exploit GPUs, modern CPUs and heterogeneous compute platforms.
• Work with theory, experimental physics and software engineering experts across the organisation and internationally.
• Mentor and supervise students on software development tasks and projects.

Requirements

• Proficiency in modern C++ up to C++23, GPU programming with CUDA and HIP, and Python for scripting, analysis and tooling is essential.
• Knowledge of hard scattering processes and the perturbative order of their matrix element calculations in Monte Carlo event generators is strongly desirable.
• Familiarity with Fortran is an advantage.
• A PhD in theoretical or particle physics is preferred, or a Master's degree with equivalent work experience and a strong background in numerical simulation.
• Experience with computing hardware accelerators and modern architectures, including heterogeneous compute platforms.
• A proven record in performance software engineering for simulation applications in C++ and GPU languages such as CUDA or HIP.
• Knowledge of current profiling tools for heterogeneous computing architectures.
• Experience with the Madgraph event generator as a developer or user is highly valued.
• You are fluent in English. You speak and write English or French and are willing to learn the basics of the other language.
• You have a professional background in theoretical or particle physics or a related field, and either a Master's degree with 2 to 6 years of professional experience after graduation, or a PhD with no more than 3 years of professional experience after graduation.
• You have never held a fellow or graduate contract with the company.

Conditions

The contract runs 24 months, with a possible extension to 36 months at most.

Working hours are 40 hours per week, with hybrid working.

Target start date is 01-January-2027.

Stand-by duty may be required, as may work at night, on Sundays and on official holidays, when the organisation's needs call for it.

Applications close on 13.11.2026 at 23:59 CET.

Job reference IT-CE-PSE-2026-167-GRAP, field of work Information Technologies, benchmark job 200020 - Computing Engineer.

The company values diversity and inclusion.

Benefits

• Monthly net stipend of 6,372 Swiss Francs or 7,004 Swiss Francs, depending on your degree.
• 30 days of paid leave a year plus 2 weeks of annual closure.
• Health insurance covering you, your spouse and children, plus membership of the pension fund.
• Monthly family, child and infant allowances depending on your circumstances.
• Relocation package with an installation grant and travel expenses, depending on your circumstances.
• Option to extend the contract up to 36 months.
• On-the-job and formal training, including language classes.