Research Engineer, Software development for Supercritical Fluids

715_25_CASE_PTG_RE1

Research Engineer, Software development for Supercritical Fluids (RE1)

Wednesday, 31 December, 2025

Reference: 715_25_CASE_PTG_RE1

Job title: Research Engineer, Software development for Supercritical Fluids (RE1)

About BSC

The Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) is the leading supercomputing center in Spain. It houses MareNostrum, one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe, was a founding and hosting member of the former European HPC infrastructure PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe), and is now hosting entity for EuroHPC JU, the Joint Undertaking that leads large-scale investments and HPC provision in Europe. The mission of BSC is to research, develop and manage information technologies in order to facilitate scientific progress. BSC combines HPC service provision and R&D into both computer and computational science (life, earth and engineering sciences) under one roof, and currently has over 1000 staff from 60 countries.

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We are particularly interested for this role in the strengths and lived experiences of women and underrepresented groups to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights in science and IT research. In instances of equal merit, the incorporation of the under-represented sex will be favoured.

We promote Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, fostering an environment where each and every one of us is appreciated for who we are, regardless of our differences.

If you consider that you do not meet all the requirements, we encourage you to continue applying for the job offer. We value diversity of experiences and skills, and you could bring unique perspectives to our team.

Context And Mission

The design of next-generation aerospace propulsion systems increasingly relies on the accurate modelling of supercritical fluids, which play a central role in advanced liquid-rocket engines, high-pressure combustors, and novel propulsion cycles. Operating at transcritical and supercritical conditions introduces complex thermophysical behaviours, strong property gradients, pseudo-boiling phenomena, non-ideal mixing, and non-linear heat-transfer mechanisms, that must be understood and predicted to meet future performance, efficiency, and emissions targets.

With the rapid expansion of computational power, numerical simulation has become an indispensable tool for studying these regimes. Access to state-of-the-art supercomputers and GPU-accelerated architectures enables unprecedented resolution of supercritical injection, mixing, and combustion. This technological shift requires the development of new models, robust numerical methods, and HPC-oriented software capable of exploiting emerging Exascale systems.

The primary objective of the position is to develop and integrate a multi-physics modelling framework for supercritical fluids, suitable for aerospace propulsion applications and optimized for large-scale simulations. The work will involve:

• Formulating accurate thermodynamic and transport models for supercritical and transcritical fluids
• Implementing robust algorithms for handling steep gradients and non-ideal effects
• Supporting advanced parallel computing strategies, including OpenMP/MPI hybridization and GPU acceleration
• Ensuring portability and performance across diverse HPC architectures
• Validating the models against experimental data from high-pressure injection and mixing rigs

This position offers the opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge developments at the intersection of aerospace engineering, computational physics, and high-performance computing, with direct relevance to future propulsion technologies.

The research team that the applicant will be involved is the Propulsion Technologies Group at CASE Department of BSC. The team is a multidisciplinary group with researchers from all disciplines and with strong background in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The team is involved in many EU and industrial projects related to this topic, where the successful activities and the publications on highly ranked scientific journals give the proved expertise.

Key Duties

• Develop computational libraries for supercritical fluids
• Test libraries in reactive CFD test cases
• Interact with other members of the group to evaluate their library needs

Requirements

• Education
• The candidate should hold (or be close to completion of) a Master's Degree in Aerospace or Aeronautics Engineering with specialization in propulsion.
• Essential Knowledge and Professional Experience
• General knowledge of fluid mechanics, combustion chemistry and programing (Python) are expected (0-4 years' experience, at a university student level with some internship experience)
• Additional Knowledge and Professional Experience
• Computational skills (Linux, Latex) and parallel programming for HPC are not necessary, but will be considered an asset.
• Fluency in English and Spanish.
• Competences
• Ability to work independently and make decisions

Conditions

• The position will be located at BSC within the CASE Department
• We offer a full-time contract (37.5h/week), a good working environment, a highly stimulating environment with state-of-the-art infrastructure, flexible working hours, extensive training plan, restaurant tickets, private health insurance, support to the relocation procedures
• Duration: Open-ended contract due to technical and scientific activities linked to the project and budget duration
• Holidays: 22 days of holidays + 6 personal days + 24th and 31st of December per our collective agreement
• Salary: we offer a competitive salary commensurate with the qualifications and experience of the candidate and according to the cost of living in Barcelona
• Starting date: 01/01/2026

Applications procedure and process

All applications must be submitted via the BSC website and contain:

• A full CV in English including contact details
• A cover/motivation letter with a statement of interest in English, clearly specifying for which specific area and topics the applicant wishes to be considered. Additionally, two references for further contacts must be included. Applications without this document will not be considered.

Development of the recruitment process

The selection will be carried out through a competitive examination system ("Concurso-Oposición"). The recruitment process consists of two phases:

• Curriculum Analysis: Evaluation of previous experience and/or scientific history, degree, training, and other professional information relevant to the position. - 40 points
• Interview phase: The highest-rated candidates at the curriculum level will be invited to the interview phase, conducted by the corresponding department and Human Resources. In this phase, technical competencies, knowledge, skills, and professional experience related to the position, as well as the required personal competencies, will be evaluated. - 60 points. A minimum of 30 points out of 60 must be obtained to be eligible for the position.

The recruitment panel will be composed of at least three people, ensuring at least 25% representation of women.

In accordance with OTM-R principles, a gender-balanced recruitment panel is formed for each vacancy at the beginning of the process. After reviewing the content of the applications, the panel will begin the interviews, with at least one technical and one administrative interview. At a minimum, a personality questionnaire as well as a technical exercise will be conducted during the process.

The panel will make a final decision, and all individuals who participated in the interview phase will receive feedback with details on the acceptance or rejection of their profile.

At BSC, we seek continuous improvement in our recruitment processes. For any suggestions or comments/complaints about our recruitment processes, please contact recruitment [at] bsc [dot] es.

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Deadline

The vacancy will remain open until a suitable candidate has been hired. Applications will be regularly reviewed and potential candidates will be contacted.

OTM-R principles for selection processes

BSC-CNS is committed to the principles of the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers of the European Commission and the Open, Transparent and Merit-based Recruitment principles (OTM-R). This is applied for any potential candidate in all our processes, for example by creating gender-balanced recruitment panels and recognizing career breaks etc.

BSC-CNS is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. We are pleased to consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or any other basis protected by applicable state or local law.

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