Software Developer

Harvard University - Cambridge, MA

Full-time - Entry Level

Remote - Cambridge, MA

Educational Services

About the position

Join our team of researchers, engineers, and designers to shape the future of biomedical research! The HIDIVE Lab in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School is funded to develop data visualization tools and user interfaces for multiple national and international cell atlas projects such as the Human BioMolecular Atlas Program (HuBMAP), the Cellular Senescence Network (SenNet), the Human Tumor Atlas Network (HTAN), the Kidney Precision Medicine Network (KPMP), and the Human Cell Atlas (HCA). You will participate in the full software development life cycle for the cell atlas projects that we are involved in such as the HuBMAP Data Portal (portal.hubmapconsortium.org). You may also contribute to our team's spatial data visualization tools, such as Vitessce. Under the guidance of more senior developers on our team, you will implement client-side user interfaces and visualization tools using state of the art web development technologies. Your primary focus will be on developing user interface components and implementing them following well-known React.js workflows. You will ensure that these components and the overall application are robust and easy to maintain. You will coordinate with teams working on different layers of the infrastructure. You will be using automated testing, CI/CD, packaging, and documentation techniques to ensure high quality of our software. We value diversity, creativity, and initiative in a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary work environment. The HIDIVE Lab has an international reputation for creating high-impact data visualization tools and we are driven to solve the most challenging design and engineering problems in biomedical data science. We would love to have you on our team!

Responsibilities

• Participate fully in software development life cycle
• Develop and support scalable, maintainable, and testable software systems to meet business requirements
• Participate in team conversations and efforts on improving and advancing software development excellence
• Collaborate with computational biologists, UX designers, and other software developers to deliver constant incremental value for scientists without compromising on software quality
• Abide by and follow the Harvard University IT technical standards, policies, and Code of Conduct

Requirements

• Minimum of two years' post-secondary education or relevant work experience
• Deep knowledge of one or more of the following technologies: Typescript, React, Javascript, Python
• Hands-on experience with GitHub or other collaborative version control systems

Nice-to-haves

• Familiarity with search engines (e.g., Lucene/Elasticsearch/OpenSearch) and graph databases (Neo4j) is desirable
• Experience with data visualization, data portals, or software development in support of academic research across spatial scales at the level of tissues, cells, and proteins is desirable
• Familiarity with development of open source Python or R software packages, server-side components, and data-processing scripts (regular expressions/JSON schema) is helpful
• Understanding of single-cell biology and the application of technologies that enable multi-omics investigation at the level of cells is helpful but not required

Benefits

• Paid Time Off: 3-4 weeks of accrued vacation time per year (3 weeks for support staff and 4 weeks for administrative/professional staff), 12 accrued sick days per year, 12.5 holidays plus a Winter Recess in December/January, 3 personal days per year (prorated based on date of hire), and up to 12 weeks of paid leave for new parents who are primary care givers.
• Health and Welfare: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits, disability and life insurance programs, along with voluntary benefits. Most coverage begins as of your start date.
• Work/Life and Wellness: Child and elder/adult care resources including on campus childcare centers, Employee Assistance Program, and wellness programs related to stress management, nutrition, meditation, and more.
• Retirement: University-funded retirement plan with contributions from 5% to 15% of eligible compensation, based on age and earnings with full vesting after 3 years of service.
• Tuition Assistance Program: Competitive program including $40 per class at the Harvard Extension School and reduced tuition through other participating Harvard graduate schools.
• Tuition Reimbursement: Program that provides 75% to 90% reimbursement up to $5,250 per calendar year for eligible courses taken at other accredited institutions.
• Professional Development: Programs and classes at little or no cost, including through the Harvard Center for Workplace Development and LinkedIn Learning.
• Commuting and Transportation: Various commuter options handled through the Parking Office, including discounted parking, half-priced public transportation passes and pre-tax transit passes, biking benefits, and more.