How to Apply

A cover letter is required for consideration for this position and should be attached as the first page of your resume. The cover letter should address your specific interest in the position and outline skills and experience that directly relate to this position. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

Please forward your materials to Professor David Jurgens at [email protected].

Job Summary

The School of Information is looking for an Intermediate Research Programmer (Full Stack) to develop an interactive website that uses large language models to classify postsecondary coursework by topic and demonstrates applications to higher education policy topics such as transfer coursework, trends in course-taking, and identifying emerging topics taught in college courses. The ideal applicant has a strong software development background, (i) understands how back-end systems are supported by and connected to relational and non-relational (NoSQL) databases, and (iii) is skilled at building user- or customer-facing web applications. This position is both an excellent opportunity for a career programmer to work in an independent and fast-paced environment as well as for technical individuals who aim to gain further experience in the fields of Public Policy, Education, and AI.

Reporting to an Associate Professor of Information, the successful candidate would be joining a dedicated team of researchers that includes Dr. Annaliese Paulson (Brown) and Prof. Kevin Stange (Michigan), who have built the research software to support the website functionality.

Who We Are

The School of Information is a progressive, interdisciplinary professional school that offers five academic programs. UMSI delivers innovative, elegant, and ethical solutions connecting people, information, and technology. The school was one of the first iSchools in the nation and is the premier institution studying and using technology to improve human-computer interactions. Our school mission is to create and share knowledge so that people will use information - with technology - to build a better world.

Responsibilities*

• Full-Stack Development: Collaborate with cross-functional teams to design, develop, and deploy scalable and high-performance software solutions, including backend and frontend web components.
• Open Source Contribution: Actively participate in the development and evolution of an open source annotation tool framework, contributing code, and enhancements, and collaborating with the broader developer community.
• Code Reviews and Collaboration: Participate in code reviews, provide constructive feedback, and collaborate with team members to maintain code quality and standards.

Required Qualifications*

• A Bachelor's degree or higher in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field or equivalent combination of education, certification and experience.
• Strong knowledge and demonstrated experience with full-stack technologies, including React and Python. Familiarity with Huggingface is a plus.
• Ability to develop stand-alone websites that can be run locally offline. Familiarity with developing and packaging python libraries is a plus.
• Understanding of software development methods (e.g. git, versioning, releasing, bug tracking) and core software engineering functions (e.g. APIs, refactoring).
• 1-3 years of professional experience, more experience is an asset.

Modes of Work

Positions that are eligible for hybrid or mobile/remote work mode are at the discretion of the hiring department. Work agreements are reviewed annually at a minimum and are subject to change at any time, and for any reason, throughout the course of employment. Learn more about the work modes.

The team typically works standard business hours. There are regular meetings for which attendance is expected. Beyond that, specific work hours are flexible and negotiable. The team is distributed on the East Coast but primarily at the University of Michigan. Remote work is possible and can be negotiated based on the projects and the candidate's needs, though in-person is preferred. Any approved remote work must occur within the United States.

Additional Information

NOTE: Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Hours are expected to fluctuate based on the availability of work.

Background Screening

The University of Michigan conducts background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer and may use a third party administrator to conduct background checks.  Background checks are performed in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

U-M EEO Statement

The University of Michigan is an equal employment opportunity employer.