Software Engineer

Reich Lab at UMass Amherst

The Reich Lab at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is looking for a full-time software engineer to work remotely for 12 months with the potential to extend, depending on available funding. This is a fully benefited position, with some schedule flexibility. The anticipated start date is late August 2020. Annual salary will depend on qualifications and will range from $80,000 – $95,000/yr. The software engineer will be directly involved in collaborative COVID-19 forecasting with top research labs in the U.S. and the Center for Diseases Control (CDC). Specifically, this engineer will be responsible for maintaining and assisting in the development of the COVID-19 Forecast Hub, a dynamic global collaborative research initiative. Infrastructure includes a static website, an interactive D3 visualization, an active GitHub repository set up with continuous integration, and an SQL database backend. The successful candidate will also participate in maintaining web-based infrastructure for other lab projects. The Reich Lab is committed to inclusion and equity. We strive and are committed to removing barriers to employment that are faced by equity-seeking groups. We encourage (but do not require) members of these groups to self-identify as such in their cover letters.

Specific job duties:

– Maintaining and enforcing data quality standards in a collaborative GitHub repository – Maintaining and developing new features for our current D3 forecast visualization (viz.covid19forecasthub.org/) – Using a continuous integration server to automate parts of all of our data pipeline – Database maintenance – Designing and developing front-end web pages for lab projects

Required qualifications:

– Experience using Python, git/GitHub, JavaScript, D3.js, and HTML/CSS. – Ability to prioritize workload and the flexibility to manage multiple tasks. – Excellent communication, interpersonal and organizational skills.

Preferred qualifications:

– Experience using Node.js, R, and SQL. – Experience configuring and maintatining continuous integration servers (e.g. TravisCI or GitHub Actions). – Experience supervising employees.

Led by PI Nicholas Reich and based in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the Reich Lab focuses on developing statistical methods and tools for data arising from infectious disease settings. In 2019, we were designated as a CDC-funded Influenza Forecasting Center of Excellence.

We use statistics, data science, and epidemiology to gain better understanding of the complexities of infectious disease dynamics. Our work has been featured in the New York Times, FiveThirtyEight, the Economist, and the Boston Globe, and on National Public Radio and PBS NewsHour.

With active funded projects from the NIH and CDC, the Lab is involved in independent and collaborative research efforts. Our collaborators include the Influenza Division at the US CDC, the Dengue Branch of the CDC in Puerto Rico, the Infectious Disease Dynamics Working Group and Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins, the Thai Ministry of Public Health and National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC), the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Children's Hospital Colorado, and the Veterans Health Administration branches in New York City and Iowa City.

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