Senior database engineer to support the MND Biobank /Netherlands ALS Center Utrecht • UMC Utrecht

The successful candidate is a skilled programmer with a MSc or PhD degree in (Bio)statistics, Informatics, Data science, Health Sciences, or a related field, shows initiative, and has a broad interest in medical research. You have demonstrated experience in the use of R, Stata, SQL, cloud based databases and good programming practices, such as review of scripts, version control, unit testing, strong SQL skills and deep understanding of RDBMS internals. Fluency in Dutch and English, both verbal and in writing, is required, as well as proficiency in data management /engineering and quality management of programming.

Neurology & Neurosurgery consists of six care lines. Instead of a division into departments and medical specialisms, the care lines are formed around the top-referred patient groups with the associated research lines. Within this research group, research is mainly conducted into the neuromuscular disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This group is among the international top in research in this field. In addition, clinical (medicine) studies are conducted, both sponsored and investigator-initiated.

You will work in a dynamic and esteemed team of researchers and clinicians, and participate in high impact research projects (genetics, phenotyping, imaging, lifestyle/environmental risk factors) of ALS.

You are an analytical person who has ample experience in programming and data database engineering. Quality and accountability are important for you. You have a proactive attitude with a can-do mentality, ability to work independently as well as in multidisciplinary teams.

 Tasks we expect you to be able to perform:

• Explore better alternative options compared to current database implementation (SQL Anywhere).
• Write and optimize complex queries, stored procedures, and indexing strategies.
• Ensure data security, integrity, and high availability.
• Develop backup and disaster recovery strategies.
• Monitor performance and fine-tune databases for speed and efficiency.
• Collaborate across teams on data imports and exports.

What we are looking for:

• 5+ years of experience as a database engineer.
• Strong SQL skills and deep understanding of RDBMS internals.
• Experience with cloud-based databases (AWS RDS, Google Cloud SQL, Azure SQL, etc.).
• Familiarity with NoSQL databases like MongoDB, Redis, or Cassandra.
• Experience in performance tuning and query optimization.
• Knowledge of scripting languages (Python, Bash, etc.).
• Strong understanding of data privacy and security best practices.
• Excellent communication skills and a team-first mindset.
• Fluency in Dutch and English, both verbal and in writing, is required.

• The function is up to 100% fte (salary scale 10 or 11 depending on PhD level and experience, max € 4818,- - €5166.- per month).
• Appointment is initially for a year with ability to prolong it upon a good evaluation.
• Year-end bonus of 8.3% and holiday allowance of 8%.
• Pension insurance with ABP. We take care of approximately 70% of the monthly contribution.
• 100% public transport reimbursement. Are you coming on foot, by bike or by car? You will then receive a reimbursement of € 0.18 per km (by car up to a max. of 40 km one way).
• Possibilities to develop yourself personally and professionally.
• The option to select additional employment benefits in exchange for gross salary, such as purchasing a bicycle and memberships.