Research Engineer (1-year contract), SMU Urban Institute

COMPANY DESCRIPTION Singapore Management University is a place where high-level professionalism blends together with a healthy informality. The 'family-like' atmosphere among the SMU community fosters a culture where employees work, plan, organise and play together - building a strong collegiality and morale within the university. Our commitment to attract and retain talent is ongoing. We offer attractive benefits and welfare, competitive compensation packages, and generous professional development opportunities - all to meet the work-life needs of our staff. No wonder, then, that SMU continues to be given numerous awards and recognition for its human resource excellence. RESPONSIBILITIES The SMU Urban Institute, launched in early 2024, is a university-level research institute dedicated to advancing an interdisciplinary research agenda. Leveraging SMU's strategic position as a dynamic management university in Singapore's city centre, the Institute aims to make a meaningful impact through the study of Asian cities. We are currently seeking individuals with specific skillsets to support the various ongoing research projects at the Institute. We are seeking a Research Engineer (RE) to work with the Lead PI and the Co-PIs on a project investigating the feasibility of outdoor lane-level road navigation and indoor pedestrian navigation solutions. The job scope involves: • Software Implementation: creating deployable software modules from GNSS/RTK correction algorithms, integration of positioning outputs into indoor and outdoor maps, user interface development. • Field Testing & Data Collection: assist in deploying and testing navigation solutions, conduct indoor testing across varied venues (shopping malls, MRT stations, bus interchanges), process GPS and other navigation traces for analysis. • Documentation & Reporting: maintain clear technical documentation of implemented systems, support preparation of project reports and milestones. • Data Management: follow SMU Research Data Management policies and project data-handling arrangements. • Collaboration: work closely with PhD students, postdoctoral fellows, and Co-PIs to ensure software implementation correctly reflects research intent, liaise with stakeholders and technical counterparts in government agencies as needed for data access and testing. • Other duties as assigned. QUALIFICATIONS • Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Information Systems, or a closely related field OR a Bachelor's degree in a relevant field with minimum 2 years relevant working experience. • Proficiency in at least one mobile development stack (e.g., Android/Kotlin/Java, iOS/Swift, or cross-platform frameworks such as Flutter/React Native) and/or modern web development (JavaScript/TypeScript, React/Vue, backend frameworks such as Node.js, Python Flask/Django). • Basic understanding of GNSS/GPS concepts, or willingness to quickly learn RTK correction concepts and satellite positioning fundamentals. • Familiarity with version control (Git), basic DevOps/deployment practices, and API integration. • Strong problem-solving skills and ability to work independently with moderate supervision, translating high-level research goals into concrete engineering deliverables. • Good communication skills to liaise effectively with academic researchers and external partners. • Organized and detail-oriented, particularly regarding accurate data collection and documentation for ground-truth comparison and reporting purposes. • Willingness to conduct field testing (e.g., riding in test vehicles, visiting multiple indoor sites such as malls and MRT stations) as part of validation work. • Familiarity with sensor APIs (Wi-Fi scanning, Wi-Fi RTT, IMU/accelerometer-gyroscope data) is highly desirable. OTHER INFORMATION #LI-XL1 Please note that your application will be sent to and reviewed by the direct employer - Singapore Management University