Research Programmer II

University of Southern California•Los Angeles, CA

8d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Research Programmer II will join a multidisciplinary research team supporting large-scale studies that collect and analyze health, activity, and location data from wearable devices, including Fitbit and other fitness trackers. The role develops innovative software and data systems to support research and address scientific questions, working closely with researchers, IT staff, and other collaborators to turn research objectives into practical software and data solutions. Responsibilities include designing and implementing complex data collection systems; developing secure research portals and native mobile applications; managing large research databases; and creating analytical tools. Many projects involve new technologies and require software and infrastructure to be developed from the ground up. This is a grant-funded, three-year fixed-term position. A hybrid work arrangement is preferred, but remote work is possible.

Requirements

Master’s degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or a closely related discipline; a combination of education and relevant work experience may be considered equivalent.
At least three years of relevant programming experience.
Strong programming skills in Python and PHP.
Proficiency with MySQL and relational database management.
Ability to work independently on complex programming projects.
Experience working with large and complex research datasets.
Experience working with location or geospatial data.
Ability to analyze research requirements and translate them into effective software and data solutions.
Creativity and innovation in solving conceptual programming problems.
Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
Strong communication skills, including explaining technical concepts and solutions to researchers and other non-technical collaborators.
Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities and work effectively both independently and as part of a multidisciplinary research team.
Relevant work experience providing strong technical knowledge of programming and analysis, as well as senior or lead experience.
Ability to stand in for researchers as circumstances require.

Nice To Haves

Experience developing software to support academic or biomedical research.
Experience working with large databases, research datasets, and survey data.
Experience with Stata or other statistical analysis software.
Experience working with health, activity, wearable-device, or location data.
Experience developing mobile applications for Android and/or iOS.
Experience designing data collection systems and integrating data from external APIs and connected devices.
Creativity and innovation in solving complex conceptual programming problems.
Experience working collaboratively with researchers and multidisciplinary teams.
Five years of preferred experience.

Responsibilities

Collaborate with researchers to understand project goals, define technical requirements, and translate research objectives into software, data, and technology solutions.
Design, develop, maintain, and document software systems supporting complex, large-scale research data collection, including data from Fitbit and other wearable devices.
Develop and maintain secure research portals for accessing, managing, and downloading research datasets.
Develop, maintain, and test native Android and iOS applications for secure collection of health and activity data.
Design and maintain databases and data pipelines for large research datasets, ensuring data integrity, reliability, security, and appropriate lifecycle management.
Develop tools and analytical methods to answer research questions using health, activity, location, survey, and other research data.
Work with IT staff to deploy, maintain, and troubleshoot research software, databases, mobile applications, and supporting infrastructure.
Participate in designing and implementing new technologies and software systems to address emerging research needs.
Develop and maintain reproducible workflows, testing procedures, documentation, and technical standards for research software and data systems.
Support integration of data across research sources and platforms, including wearable and nearable devices, mobile applications, databases, and research portals.
Contribute to research projects through prototypes, data analyses, technical documentation, and support for research publications and presentations.
Apply creativity and innovation to solve complex programming problems and improve research workflows and data systems.
Communicate technical concepts clearly to researchers, IT staff, and interdisciplinary collaborators.
Provide technical guidance or mentorship to junior programmers and research staff.
Perform other related duties as assigned or requested.