Job Description

Grade and Salary: Grade 7 - £37,694 - £47,389 per annum

Contract Type: Full Time (1 FTE), Open ended

Holiday Entitlement: 33 days annual leave, plus 9 buildings closed days for all full-time staff. Use our total rewards calculator:  https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/work/total-rewards-calculator.htm to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot-Watt University.

About the School

You will join the School of Mathematical & Computer Sciences at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. The department of Computer Science within the School is internationally renowned for its world-class research across a number of areas including theoretical computer science, robotics, natural language processing, programming languages, AI, data science and machine learning.

The department has an extensive portfolio of taught programmes, with many programmes taught on three campuses, Edinburgh, Dubai and Malaysia, with global course teams in charge of teaching courses. We also have teaching partnerships with organisations in China and Kazakhstan.

The School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences is committed to supporting family friendly work practices and part-time working options as part of our Athena Swan Silver award (see https://www.hw.ac.uk/schools/mathematical-computer-sciences/about/athena-swan.htm).

Purpose of the Role

We are looking for an assistant professor in theoretical computer science for our Edinburgh campus of Heriot-Watt University. This is a role where you are expected to spend 40% of your time on teaching and 40% on research, and 20% on administrative/leadership roles. Within your teaching duties you will be expected to be able to cover teaching in a range of topics, including courses on programming, logic, algorithms, and theoretical computer science. The ability to teach courses on databases is not a prerequisite, but would be very welcome.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

Reporting to the Head of School/Head of Discipline, responsibilities include:

1. Engaging in high-quality research in your area of expertise and in collaborative research aligned with the School and University Strategy
2. Writing and submitting grant proposals and securing research funding initially as Co-Investigator and then as a Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator. Be responsible for the management and execution of research projects involving academic and other (industrial, public sector, etc.) collaborators, including the School and the University’s wider research programmes
3. Disseminating research findings in publications in top-level conferences and journals within your field, and maintaining or building an international research reputation through contributions to the international research community (e.g. by serving as reviewer, referee, expert witness, conference chair, programme committee, editorship of a journal)
4. Participate in supervision and guidance of undergraduate, postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers
5. Teaching undergraduate, masters, and doctoral level courses

Essential Criteria

E1: A PhD in computer science or closely related field

E2: Track-record of high quality publications within theoretical computer science

E3: Enthusiasm and ambition to contribute to a world-class academic community, including attracting external funding

E4: Evidence of the ability to deliver excellent teaching in computer science (in a wide range of topics, see the list above)

E5: Good interpersonal and teamwork skills

Desirable Criteria

D1: Credible plans for the active pursuit of external funding

D2: The skills to supervise undergraduate and MSc projects

D3: A track record of teaching computer science courses well and enthusiastically (see the list of topics above)

How to Apply

Applications can be submitted until 23:55 (UK time) on Tuesday 23rd June 2026.

Interested applicants must submit via the Heriot-Watt on-line recruitment system: (1) a cover letter describing their interest and suitability for the post; (2) a full CV, including a list of publications; and (3) a 2 page summary where they discuss their plans and ambitions for both research and teaching.

Informal enquiries may be made to: Prof. Jurriaan Hage, j.hage@hw.ac.uk

At Heriot Watt we are passionate about our values and look to them to connect our people globally and to help us collaborate and celebrate our success through working together. Our research programmes can deliver real world impact which is achieved through the diversity of our international community and the recognition of creative talent that connects our global team.

Our flourishing community will give you the freedom to challenge and to bring your enterprising mind and to help our partners with solutions that can be applied now and in the future. Join us and Heriot Watt will provide you with a platform to thrive and work in a way that also helps you live your life in balance with well-being and inclusiveness at the heart of our global community.

Heriot-Watt University is committed to securing equality of opportunity in employment and to the creation of an environment in which individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised and otherwise treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities. Equality and diversity are all about maximising potential and creating a culture of inclusion for all.

Heriot-Watt University values diversity across our University community and welcomes applications from all sectors of society, particularly from underrepresented groups. For more information, please see our website https://www.hw.ac.uk/uk/services/equality-diversity.htm and also our award-winning work in Disability Inclusive Science Careers https://disc.hw.ac.uk/ .

We welcome and will consider flexible working patterns e.g. part-time working and job share options.

Use our total rewards calculator: https://www.hw.ac.ukes/about/work/total-rewards-calculator.htm to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot-Watt University.

About Heriot-Watt University

Heriot-Watt University has established a reputation for world-class teaching and leading-edge, relevant research, which has made it one of the top UK universities for innovation, business and industry.

Heriot-Watt University has five campuses: three in the UK (Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Orkney), one in Dubai and one in Malaysia. The University offers a highly distinctive range of degree programmes in the specialist areas of science, engineering, design, business and languages. Heriot-Watt University is also Scotland's most international university, boasting the largest international student cohort. business and languages. Heriot-Watt University is also Scotland's most international university, boasting the largest international student cohort.