Software Engineer (AI-Augmented) - .NET, Vue.js and Cursor

Science advances fastest when researchers can collaborate across boundaries - institutional, geographic, and disciplinary. Research Topics are how Frontiers makes that happen: themed, peer-reviewed article collections where leading researchers from around the world propose a theme, invite contributors, and curate the resulting work into an openly accessible body of knowledge - free for anyone, anywhere to read and build upon.

We are looking for a Senior Full-Stack Engineer with a strong backend lean to join the team that builds and evolves the platform powering this experience. You will work on the Research Topic Management (RTM) application - a distributed .NET system with Vue/Nuxt frontends, SQL Server-heavy data operations, Github/Azure DevOps-driven deployments, and async integration workflows connecting multiple internal services.

This is a senior role where autonomy, ownership, and technical leadership are central. You will own complex backend systems and full-stack features end-to-end - from specification refinement and architectural decisions, through implementation, to production monitoring and incident resolution. You will work on real production systems where SQL performance, distributed reliability, and integration correctness matter daily.

We have fully embraced AI-based spec-driven design, integrating AI throughout the entire software development lifecycle - using skills, rules, multi-agent workflows, and automation for code review, testing, and code analysis. From specification to implementation, AI tooling shapes how we architect, build, and iterate, making us faster, more deliberate, and focused on what matters most. This isn’t an experiment. It’s how we work.

Your work directly enables researchers worldwide to collaborate, publish openly, and push science forward.

Science advances fastest when researchers can collaborate across boundaries - institutional, geographic, and disciplinary. Research Topics are how Frontiers makes that happen.

Each Research Topic is a themed collection of peer-reviewed articles built around an emerging or critical area of science. Leading researchers from around the world propose a theme, invite contributors, and curate the resulting work - transforming scattered individual efforts into a coherent, openly accessible body of knowledge. When complete, every collection is published as a free ebook, available to anyone, anywhere.

These are not just publications. They are communities of researchers working together toward answers that matter: healthier lives, a more sustainable planet, a deeper understanding of the world we share.

The Research Topic Management (RTM) application is the platform that makes this possible at scale. It supports the full lifecycle - from the moment a researcher proposes a topic, through editorial coordination, contributor recruitment, and submission tracking, all the way to publication and closure. RTM gives the teams behind Frontiers the tools they need to turn a scientific idea into open, lasting knowledge - one collection at a time.

Responsabilities

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable, high-performance web applications using .NET, Vue.js, and Nuxt.
• Modernise and replace legacy systems - including migrating older Angular applications to our current Vue and Nuxt stack.
• Own full-stack projects end-to-end, from specification refinement through delivery to production monitoring.
• Collaborate with product managers, architects, and cross-functional teams to gather requirements, assess technical feasibility, and determine the best implementation strategy.
• Work effectively within a multinational, cross-functional team to deliver software aligned with business needs.
• Write clean, maintainable, and efficient code, and uphold engineering best practices across the team.
• Ensure the quality of delivered solutions through robust testing and review.
• Optimise applications for performance, scalability, and responsiveness.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex technical challenges across distributed systems.
• Leverage AI tooling to raise the quality, speed, and consistency of engineering work.
• Stay current with emerging technologies and bring fresh thinking to keep our stack modern.
• Maintain a business-oriented mindset, focused on delivering measurable outcomes for end-users.

Requirements

• 5+ years of software engineering experience, with deep expertise in .NET Core / .NET Framework.
• 3+ years of hands-on experience with modern frontend frameworks (Vue 3 a plus) - and a solid command of the fundamentals: JavaScript, CSS, and HTML are a must.
• Strong expertise in Vue.js (Vue 2 and Vue 3), with a solid grasp of state management, component-based architecture, and best practices for building scalable front-end applications.
• Strong expertise in SQL Server: performance tuning, indexing strategies, query optimisation, and troubleshooting production issues.
• Extensive experience designing and implementing REST APIs.
• Experience or strong interest in applying AI to product features and engineering workflows.
• Experience owning complex, distributed system architectures.
• Solid understanding of microservices and micro-frontend concepts.
• Comfortable working in Kanban.
• Collaborative, with proven autonomy and ownership, and able to thrive in a hybrid environment.

Nice to have skills

• Experience with Nuxt.
• Experience with GraphQL (strong SQL knowledge transfers well here).
• Experience with NoSQL databases.
• Experience with RabbitMQ and/or Kafka.
• Experience with containerization platforms (e.g. Docker, Kubernetes).
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions and/or Azure DevOps).

Benefits

• We prioritise office presence and emphasise in-person collaboration, but also offer appropriate adjustments where needed, in line with company policy
• Pension fund at 5% by Frontiers
• Private medical insurance and life insurance
• Flexible benefit scheme (Cobee) and Discount platform access
• 29 days of holidays
• Up to 3 paid volunteering days each year
• 24/7 confidential Employee Assistance Programme (wellbeing, mental health, legal & financial support)
• Learning & development support via the Frontiers Learning Hub

Frontiers actively embraces diversity and is a safe and welcoming workplace. Recruitment is free from discrimination - including based on race, national or ethnic origin, age, religion, disability, sex, gender identity or sexual orientation. With employees from more than 50 different nations, our diversity creates vibrant teams and constantly challenges us to appreciate multiple perspectives.