Software Developer, Office of the Vice President for Research

About the role

The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) is seeking a Software Developer to join the Research IT (RIT) team. We are a small, collaborative team that supports the IT and Research Enterprise needs of the OVPR and university stakeholders, and we actively seek customer-oriented and intellectually curious colleagues from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. As a Software Developer, you will design, maintain, and improve secure, reliable, and user focused applications that support research administration activities. This position serves as a critical bridge between technical infrastructure and research operations, ensuring that databases, integrations, web-based applications, and reporting tools are efficient, accurate, and aligned with project and organizational needs.

Responsibilities

• Research, analyze, design, develop, and test software solutions using appropriate technologies, ensuring functionality, performance, and adherence to established best practices.
• Write custom code, configure software packages, and analyze and debug moderate to complex logic in Java, Python, Microsoft, and AI-assisted (e.g. Copilot, Claude Code, ChatGPT Codex) development tools.
• Provides daily operational integrity, updating and troubleshooting for production services in a timely fashion. Consistently define and refine scope of operations and ensure integrity and reliability of applications.
• Evaluate and configure software tools, including emerging AI/automation solutions, to support and integrate research administration processes. Provide technical consulting and respond to error reports, problems, or questions. Write and maintain functional and technical specifications.
• Work with the team to determine business requirements and system objectives; investigate available software configurations and capabilities; accurately scope projects and tasks; collaborate with business analysts to identify opportunities to improve business processes through automation, AI-assisted solutions, application enhancements, and system integrations.

Required Qualifications

• At least one year of experience in systems design, analysis and programming.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze, test, and debug complex code.
• Proven track record of successful project delivery in prioritized time frames.
• Excellent verbal, interpersonal, and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively and collaboratively in a team-oriented environment.
• Demonstrated initiative to learn new skills, programming languages, and systems.
• Strong organizational skills with attention to detail.
• Demonstrated experience in the following programming languages: PHP, Python, JavaScript.
• Demonstrated experience with relational databases, specifically Microsoft SQL Server (writing SQL queries, working with database schemas, and data manipulation).
• Experience with Version Control Systems (Git) and core web technologies (HTML/CSS).
• Experience with command-line interfaces (CLI) and shell environments (such as Bash or PowerShell) for routine development, file manipulation, and script execution.
• Experience with AI-assisted (e.g. Copilot, Claude Code, ChatGPT Codex) development tools.
• Experience with Web Frameworks (such as Laravel, CodeIgniter, or Spring Boot).

Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field.
• More than three years of experience in systems design, analysis, and programming in a university environment.
• Demonstrated experience with MySQL or PostgreSQL.
• Exposure to or familiarity with enterprise relational database management systems (RDBMS) such as Oracle, or institutional research/higher-education enterprise data sources (e.g., Kuali Research or Huron Research Suite).
• Experience writing automated scripts or data pipelines for backend data processing and system maintenance.
• Experience writing technical documentation.

Benefits

• 100% employer-paid basic medical coverage
• Retirement contributions
• Paid vacation and sick time
• Paid holidays
• Eligible for hybrid telework

Pay

$70,000 + depending on qualifications

Schedule

40 hours per week, Monday–Friday. May work around standard office conditions. Occasional weekend, overtime, and evening work to meet deadlines.

Working Conditions

Repetitive use of a keyboard at a workstation. May work around standard office conditions. Occasional weekend, overtime, and evening work to meet deadlines.