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Front-End Developer

Embl

Front-End Developer to join the Literature Services team at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), based at the Wellcome Genome Campus near Cambridge, UK.

The Literature Services team develops and operates Europe PMC , a major open research infrastructure providing access to biomedical and life sciences literature. Europe PMC contains over 47 million publications, including more than 12 million full-text articles, and connects the scientific literature with research data, grants, citations, persistent identifiers and text-mined biological information. The service supports millions of users and large-scale programmatic access to the scientific literature. What you will do You will have a key role in developing the user-facing Europe PMC service, creating fast, accessible and intuitive interfaces that enable researchers to search, navigate and understand a large and increasingly interconnected scientific literature corpus. Working closely with UX and product colleagues, back-end developers, data scientists and other members of the Literature Services team, you will translate user needs and designs into robust, reusable and maintainable front-end applications and components.

About Embl

  • EMBL-EBI, part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, is a worldwide leader in the storage, analysis and dissemination of large biological datasets.
  • We provide the global research community with access to publicly available databases and tools which are crucial for the advancement of healthcare, food security, and biodiversity.
  • Join a culture of innovation We are located on the Wellcome Genome Campus, alongside other prominent research and biotech organisations, and surrounded by beautiful Cambridgeshire countryside.
  • This is a highly collaborative and inclusive community where our employees enjoy a relaxed atmosphere.
  • We are committed to ensuring our employees feel valued, supported and empowered to reach their professional potential.
  • Watch this video to see how EMBL-EBI makes an impact.

Responsibilities

  • You will contribute to the ongoing evolution of Europe PMC's web architecture, helping us improve performance, accessibility, maintainability.
  • Designing, developing and maintaining responsive, accessible and high-quality web interfaces for Europe PMC.
  • Building reusable front-end components and contribute to a consistent design system across the service.
  • Translating UX designs, prototypes and user requirements into production-quality interfaces.
  • Developing interfaces for complex, data-rich functionality including literature search, filtering, article pages and research workflows.
  • Integrating front-end applications with APIs and other web services using structured data such as JSON.
  • Optimising front-end performance, including page loading, rendering and efficient delivery of web assets.
  • Developing automated tests and contributing to continuous integration and deployment practices.
  • Ensuring interfaces meet appropriate accessibility, usability and web standards.
  • Working collaboratively with software developers, UX/product specialists, data scientists and scientific colleagues as part of cross functional teams Participating in code review, technical design and architectural discussions.
  • Contributing to Agile development processes and the continuous improvement of Europe PMC.
  • Experience building reusable components and maintainable front-end architectures.
  • Design systems and component libraries.
  • Front-end performance monitoring and optimisation.

Requirements

  • Strong knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript and modern web development standards.
  • Experience developing responsive, cross-browser web applications using a modern front-end framework such as React, Vue or equivalent.
  • Experience integrating web applications with REST APIs and working with structured data such as JSON.
  • A good understanding of web performance and experience diagnosing and improving front-end performance.
  • Experience with automated testing and modern front-end testing frameworks.
  • Experience using source control, particularly Git, and collaborative software development practices.
  • Good understanding of web accessibility, usability and responsive design.
  • An understanding of interaction and visual design, with the ability to work effectively with UX specialists and translate designs into high-quality interfaces.
  • Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to work effectively with complex requirements and large, data-driven applications.
  • Fluency with AI-assisted coding and development tools as part of standard working practice Excellent communication and collaboration skills It would be advantageous to have additional experience in: Developing high-traffic or large-scale public web services.
  • Search and discovery interfaces or other complex data-intensive applications.
  • Agile development methodologies such as Scrum or Kanban.
  • Bioinformatics, scientific information services, scholarly publishing or open research infrastructure.

Pay

  • Grade 5 - Monthly salary from £3,452.05 after tax, plus generous benefits and financial allowances based on individual circumstances.
  • Excluding 12.99% personal pension and insurance contributions.
  • Next Steps / How to Apply * We plan to advertise the role for up to four weeks, with a scheduled closing date of Wednesday, 18th November .
  • However, if we receive a strong field of applications within the first two weeks, we may close the vacancy earlier.

Benefits

  • This role offers a hybrid working arrangement, with 1-2 days per week on site, including one designated team day to support collaboration and connection.
  • Grant-funded, 3-year fixed-term Staff Member contract.
  • Financial incentives: Monthly family, child and non-resident allowances, annual salary review, pension scheme, death benefit, long-term care, accident-at-work and unemployment insurances

Flexible working arrangements - including hybrid working patterns

  • Private medical insurance for you and your immediate family (including all prescriptions and generous dental & optical cover)
  • 30 days annual leave per year, in addition public holidays

Relocation package including installation grant (conditions apply)

  • Free shuttle bus to and from work, on-site library, subsidised on-site gym and cafeteria, casual dress code, extensive sports and social club activities (on campus and remotely)
  • On-site nursery, 10 days of child sick leave, generous parental leave, holiday clubs on campus and monthly family and child allowances
  • Benefits for non-UK residents: Visa exemption, education grant for private schooling, financial support to travel back to your home country every second year and a monthly non-resident allowance.
  • For detailed information please visit our employee benefits page here .

The advert will remain open for a minimum of two weeks, making Tuesday, 3rd November the earliest possible closing date. We therefore encourage you to apply as soon as possible. * Where can I find out more?

EMBL Literature Services

https://www.ebi.ac.uk/about/teams/literature-services/ Meet Our Hiring Manager – Melissa Harrison: https://www.ebi.ac.uk/about/jobs/career-profiles/melissa-harrison-team-leader-of-literature-services/ Why join us Do something meaningful At EMBL-EBI you can apply your talent and passion to accelerate science and tackle some of humankind's greatest challenges.

What else you need to know International applicants: We recruit internationally and successful candidates are offered visa exemptions. Please take a look at our International Applicants page for further information. EMBL is a signatory of DORA. Find out how we apply DORA principles to our recruitment and performance assessment processes here .

Diversity and inclusion

At EMBL, we believe that diverse teams drive innovation and scientific excellence. We encourage applications from candidates of all genders, identities, nationalities and/or any other diverse backgrounds.

How to apply

To apply please submit a cover letter and a CV through our online system. Applications will close at 23:59 CET on the date shown below. We aim to provide a response within two weeks after the closing date. Closing Date 18/11/2026