Programmer/Analyst II

Summary

The Bioinformatics Research Laboratory (BRL) (http://genboree.org/site/) has an exciting Programmer Analyst II position within the Extracellular RNA Communication Consortium (ERCC) (https://exrna.org/), an NIH consortium focused on understanding the role of extracellular RNA (exRNA) and exosomes, and their potential use as biomarkers. A key part of the project is to develop advanced software methods for EV identification and characterization. The Programmer Analyst II will with collaborating laboratories at leading medical centers to develop and extend the Extracellular Vesicle (EV) Flow Repository and associated web-based tools. To develop these resources, the Programmer Analyst II will evaluate requirements and perform feasibility studies for new analysis applications using a variety of data, implement improvements to data submission pipelines, evaluate resource requirements for conducting computational analyses using various applications, and implement and test solutions while working closely with project team members to solicit user feedback. A goal for the software created by programmers will be their application to important biological and medical questions for publication in high impact journals.

Domain expertise in the biological sciences is not required but candidates must be proficient in Ruby and have employed it as part of their full-stack development experience, ideally in the form of Ruby-on-Rails applications. Proficiency in NodeJS will also be viewed favorably. Candidates must be able to design, implement, and test generic software solutions with an emphasis on reusability, as well as being able to extend an existing system. Successful applicants will present and discuss requirements, specifications, backend and UI designs, create necessary test data, test software, and prepare documentation.

We invite you to learn more about our benefits (bcm.edu/careers/benefits) including medical, dental, and vision insurance, tuition reimbursement, retirement plans, and more.

Job Duties

• Gathers, evaluates, and prioritizes requirements with project collaborators and stakeholders.
• Designs, implements, tests, and debug project resources and tools, and manage timelines in a team development environment.
• Ensures that project programs and tools are developed, tested and delivered on time.
• Designs web API and UI services to support data set analysis and presentation.
• Participates in the integration of high-volume ERCC data sets.
• Integrates tools and pipelines for genetic data analysis and visualization.
• Plays an important role in evaluating, developing, and implementing software within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded Extracellular RNA Communication Consortium.
• Focus will be web services, automated processing pipelines, and developing a data repository.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Management Information Systems, Information Technology, or a related field. Four years of related experience may substitute for degree requirement.
• Two years of relevant experience. 

Preferred Qualifications

• Must have a solid understanding and experience in programming, preferably in scripting languages.
• Have full-stack experience in Ruby or NodeJS and be able to design, implement, and test generic software solutions with an emphasis on reusability, and to extend an existing system.
• Must have knowledge and experience with development, compilation, and deployment in a GNU/Linux environment.
• Ability to contribute to and use shared object-oriented code libraries.
• Functional familiarity with one or more modern 3rd generation languages such as EcmaScript 5/6, as well as standard web technologies such as Ajax, CSS, HTML, REST APIs, JSON.
• Typical data processing pipelines will operate in a GNU/Linux environment and be implemented using programming languages such as Ruby, and NodeJS.
• Experience authoring web API services and front-ends will be a distinct advantage.
• Experience with document, graph, and relational databases is a plus.
• Must have excellent English-language communication skills, interpersonal skills, and be capable of working within a team of biologists and programmers.
• Contribute to system administration of in-house virtualized and non-virtualized IT assets as a minor duty will also be viewed favorably.