Research Engineer in Digital Humanities – User Interface Development (1 Year)

Contexte et atouts du poste

The position is funded within the research project BACK IN TIME , hosted at Inria (Nancy, France) , within the Caramba team (LORIA) . The project aims to develop the first open-source software dedicated to the automated cryptanalysis of historical encrypted documents (15th–19th centuries), at the intersection of cryptography, artificial intelligence, history, and digital humanities.

The Research Engineer will work in a highly interdisciplinary environment, in close collaboration with cryptographers, historians, and experts in digital humanities and AI. The software developed in the project is primarily intended for non-technical end users , especially historians and archivists, making usability, accessibility, and methodological transparency central concerns.

The position offers a unique opportunity to contribute to an internationally visible project combining cutting‑edge computational methods with humanities research, within a public research institution committed to open science and open‑source software.

Mission confiée

Assignments :

The Research Engineer will be responsible for the design, development, and implementation of the final user interface of the BACK IN TIME software platform.

In particular, the engineer will:

• Design a user-centered interface adapted to the needs and practices of historians and researchers in the humanities.
• Translate complex computational processes (transcription, cryptanalysis, statistical analysis) into clear, guided, and interpretable user workflows.
• Act as a key interface between technical developers and end users, ensuring that methodological choices are understandable and documented.
• Contribute to workshops, user testing sessions, and feedback collection with historians and archivists.
• Participate in the overall software architecture discussions to ensure coherence between backend developments and frontend usability.

For a better knowledge of the proposed research subject :

See our website

Collaboration :

The recruited person will be in connection with Almanach team in Paris, who works in computer vision.

Responsibilities :

The person recruited is responsible for the final interface.

Steering/Management :

The successful candidate will report to Michael Mera (experienced project engineer) and Cécile Pierrot (cryptography researcher and project leader). They will also collaborate with Inria's SED (experimentation and development department) and benefit from the technical expertise of its staff.

Principales activités

• Design and development of a web-based user interface for the BACK IN TIME software.
• User experience (UX) and usability design, with a strong focus on digital humanities standards and research practices.
• Collaboration with researchers to define functional specifications and usage scenarios.
• Documentation of the interface and contribution to user guides and tutorials.
• Participation in interdisciplinary meetings and workshops related to the project.

Compétences

• Proven experience in digital humanities , research software engineering, or human-centered computing.
• Strong skills in web interface development and user experience design.
• Ability to work in interdisciplinary research contexts and to communicate with non-technical users.
• Experience with open-source research software is a strong asset.

Avantages

• Subsidized meals
• Partial reimbursement of public transport costs
• Leave: 7 weeks of annual leave + 10 extra days off due to RTT (statutory reduction in working hours) + possibility of exceptional leave (sick children, moving home, etc.)
• Possibility of teleworking (after 6 months of employment) and flexible organization of working hours
• Professional equipment available (videoconferencing, loan of computer equipment, etc.)
• Social, cultural and sports events and activities
• Access to vocational training
• Social security coverage

Rémunération

From €2692 gross/month depending on experience and qualifications