[Hiring] Software Developer @Harvard University

Role Description

We are seeking a Software Developer with 1-3 years of professional software development experience who wants real ownership of production software and meaningful exposure to biomedical research. Under the guidance of senior developers, you will help integrate a natural-language conversational AI system for exploring biomedical metadata and visualizations into biomedical data portals, including developing APIs and packages to move visualizations in and out of these systems. You will work with researchers, designers, and engineers to build tools that allow scientists to efficiently query, visualize, and understand complex biological data through natural language and direct interaction with visualizations.

This role offers an opportunity to develop software at the intersection of AI, scientific discovery, and interactive data visualization - contributing to widely used biomedical data resources and community tools.

Core Responsibilities:

• Develop and maintain web-based software for biomedical data discovery and visualization.
• Participate fully in the software development life cycle across multiple concurrent projects.
• Identify, triage, and resolve software bugs and performance bottlenecks using browser developer tools across multiple browsers and devices to ensure a seamless, high-performance user experience.
• Write tests and documentation, and maintain reliable, open-source code.
• Participate in code reviews, issue tracking, and iterative product development.
• Contribute to utility tools for metadata management and file format handling for genomic, single-cell, and bioimaging data (e.g., VCF, BAM, BigWig, BED, OME-NGFF, Zarr, SpatialData, etc.).
• Containerize workflows using Docker or similar tools for portability and reproducibility.
• Deploy, monitor, and maintain cloud-based services supporting lab software and data portals.
• Collaborate with researchers and domain experts to translate scientific needs into software features.
• Contribute to academic publications, technical reports, and documentation for both lay and specialist audiences.
• Stay current with emerging technologies in data visualization, AI, software development, and computational data science.
• Abide by and follow the Harvard University IT technical standards, policies, and Code of Conduct.

Qualifications

• Minimum of two years’ post-secondary education or relevant work experience.
• 1–3 years of professional software development experience.
• Proficiency in JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, shell scripting, and modern web frameworks (React, Vue).
• Familiarity with REST/GraphQL APIs, CSS, and component-based design patterns.
• Experience with automated testing, version control (e.g., GitHub), and collaborative software development workflows.
• Strong problem-solving and communication skills.
• Working knowledge of automated testing, version control (e.g., GitHub), and package distribution (e.g., npm, PyPI).
• Experience with Vitessce, Gosling, D3.js, or similar visualization libraries.
• Familiarity with WebGL/WebGPU or emerging visualization trends is a plus.
• Familiarity with LLMs, natural-language interfaces, and AI-powered development tools to improve efficiency and enhance metadata-driven applications.
• Background in bioinformatics data formats, molecular biology, or genomics/single-cell/spatial biology data.
• Experience contributing to open-source projects is a strong plus.

Requirements

• This is a 1 year term position from the date of hire, with the possibility of extension, contingent upon work performance and continued funding to support the position.
• Standard Hours/Schedule: 35 hours per week.
• Harvard University is unable to provide visa sponsorship for this position.
• All interviews will be conducted remotely using a video conferencing platform.
• Due to the high volume of applications, we may not always be able to reach out right away, but you can track your status anytime through the Careers@Harvard portal.

Benefits

• Generous paid time off including parental leave.
• Medical, dental, and vision health insurance coverage starting on day one.
• Retirement plans with university contributions.
• Wellbeing and mental health resources.
• Support for families and caregivers.
• Professional development opportunities including tuition assistance and reimbursement.
• Commuter benefits, discounts and campus perks.