System Software Engineer

About the Role

At imec, the System Software Engineering team develops software that enables cutting-edge hardware and technology prototypes across diverse application domains. Working at the intersection of software, hardware, data, and scientific research, we help transform innovative ideas into integrated systems and demonstrators.

As a System Software Engineer, you will work in multidisciplinary project teams with software, electronics, hardware, and system engineers. You will design, develop, integrate, and maintain system-level software for complex engineering and research environments. Your work may cover system control, hardware interfacing, data acquisition, automation, data processing, and user-facing applications.

We are looking for a hands-on engineer with a strong scientific or engineering background, an analytical mindset, and a passion for solving complex problems through high-quality software. You can bridge the gap between scientific research, system engineering, and software implementation, while collaborating openly and taking pride in your role as a software engineer.

What you will do

• Design, develop, test, and maintain software for advanced engineering and research systems.
• Translate complex technical needs into robust, scalable, and maintainable software solutions.
• Develop software for system control, hardware interfacing, data acquisition, automation, and data processing.
• Contribute to software architecture, design reviews, algorithm development, and technical decision-making.
• Collaborate closely with multidisciplinary teams to integrate software with hardware and complete systems.
• Promote software quality through testing, code reviews, continuous integration, and sound engineering practices.
• Document solutions and actively contribute to knowledge sharing across the team.

Who you are

• A master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related scientific or engineering discipline.
• Professional software development experience and strong programming skills in C++, Python, and/or C#.
• Solid knowledge of software engineering principles, software architecture, object-oriented programming, algorithms, data structures, and computational efficiency.
• Strong analytical thinking and a structured approach to problem-solving.
• Experience with Git, testing practices, and modern software development workflows.
• Clear communication skills and the ability to collaborate effectively in multidisciplinary teams.
• A commitment to creating reliable, maintainable, and high-quality software.

Nice to Have

• Experience with embedded systems, hardware interfacing, instrumentation, or real-time systems.
• Knowledge of LabVIEW for instrumentation, automation, or test systems.
• Experience with Rust and/or Go.
• Desktop application development experience with Qt, WPF, WinUI, or similar technologies.
• Knowledge of signal processing, image processing, machine learning, or scientific computing.
• Experience with AI-assisted development tools and agentic software engineering workflows.
• Experience with Docker, CI/CD pipelines, and DevOps practices.
• Familiarity with Agile development, Jira, and Confluence.