We have vacancies for a range of exciting projects to be run during the summer vacation for 2022.
July 2022 Update: the posts described on this page have now been filled. Details of recruitment for our autumn projects will appear on our website in September.
Details of the Posts
The projects will run across the summer vacation, starting in mid-June and lasting 13 weeks. All posts are full-time posts, requiring 35 hours per week of work.
The base pay rate is £10.36 per hour, with an additional holiday payment on top of this. Payment is made monthly in arrears.
It is expected that the projects will be run on campus but with some scope for flexible and hybrid working. Each team will set their own core hours when all team members must be present and available for work. Additional hours can then be worked at a time and place convenient to each team member.
The posts are open to any undergraduate student studying at the University of Manchester, including students who will graduate this summer. We especially welcome applications from groups of people who are under-represented in software engineering. We aim to recruit diverse teams for Imago, containing a mixture of experienced team members and inexperienced but talented junior team members. Working for Imago is a great way to bootstrap your personal portfolio and add some real development experience to your CV.
The Projects
Careloop
We have vacancies for 4 developers to work with academics from the Careloop team to help develop a new analytics platform for the data they collect from users of their mobile app.
Applicants should have strong development skills and an interest in applied machine learning. We expect this project to present some interesting technical challenges and therefore creative problem solving skills and persistence in the face of difficulties will also be useful.
Design Sprint Pilot
We have vacancies for 4 developers to help us create a new design sprint/technical spike facility for academics and entrepreneurs across the University. The project will involve carrying out design sprints/spikes for 3 early stage start-ups, selected by the Innovation Factory team. The team will also create training materials and other support documentation to allow future Imago teams to run successful design sprints with reduced warm up times.
This project will give experience in software discovery skills for the early stages of the commercialisation journey, including working with clients to understand their needs, and rapid prototyping of early stage solutions for trials with users.
Applicants should have an interest and skils in user experience, rapid prototyping and in how to run trials with users to gather useful objective data. Technical writing skills will also be of value.
Music in Mind Remote Design Sprints
We have vacancies for 4 developers to run a series of design sprints for Music in Mind Remote, a joint start up with (amongst others) the University of Manchester and Manchester Camerata.
This project will give experience in software discovery skills for the early stages of the commercialisation journey, including working with clients to understand their needs, and rapid prototyping of early stage solutions for trials with users.
Applicants should have an interest in and commitment to communicating effectively with clients, adopting their own vocabulary and minimising the need for technical jargon. Good UI/UX skills will also be needed, as well as strong development skills (especially those needed for rapid prototyping).
Flexible Learning Tools for Online Learners
We have vacancies for 4 developers to work with academics on the Higher Education Short Course Trial project, funded by the Office for Students. The project will feed into the UK Government’s Lifelong Loan Entitlement strategy.
The project will involve creating a web-based interface to our flexible learning materials, that enables learners to track their progress through the course, to set short term learning goals and to package learning materials on-the-fly for their use.
A mixture of front-end (UI/UX) and backend development skills will be needed for this project. Applications should also have a commitment to delivering a usable complete system that is reliable and easy to maintain by the end of the project, as this tool will go into immediate use following the end of the project.
How to Apply
The deadline for applications is: 5.00pm BST on Saturday, 21st May 2022.
To apply, e-mail Suzanne Embury (suzanne.m.embury@manchester.ac.uk) by the deadline, providing a covering letter and an up-to-date CV.
The covering letter should specify clearly which of the projects on offer you would like to apply for and what skills or experience you bring that would make you a great member of our team. You may apply for several (or all) of the projects in one application.
Your CV or covering letter can optional provide links to your personal portfolio of projects, to showcase your abilities.
Appointments to the posts will primarily be made on the basis of an interview, but in some cases we may make an offer based on the CV and covering letter alone.
Interviews for the posts will be held on 23rd, 24th and 25th May 2022. We’ll aim to let you know whether you have been shortlisted for a post or not by close of play on Sunday, 22nd May.
Employment with Imago is subject to the passing the standard rules on eligibility for work in the UK and willingness to comply with the University’s staff policies on ownership of IP and non-disclosure of confidential information.
Note: some of the posts we are advertising here are still going through the process of approval by the University and so may be subject to changes before the posts can begin.
More information about Imago can be found at imago.cs.manchester.ac.uk.