Software Developer

Harvard University FAS Human Resources; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Harvard Medical School's HIDIVE Lab seeks a Software Developer with 1–3 years of professional experience to own production software and contribute to biomedical research.

You will collaborate with researchers, designers, and engineers to integrate AI-powered visualizations, build APIs, and ensure robust, scalable data portals.

This role sits at the intersection of AI, biomedical data, and interactive visualization, offering hands-on impact across life sciences.

Qualifications

• Minimum of two years of 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 technologies.

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 across browsers and devices.
• Write tests and documentation, and maintain reliable, open-source code.
• Participate in code reviews, issue tracking, and iterative product development.
• 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.

Skills

JavaScript/TypeScript

Python

Shell scripting

Modern web

Tools

Docker

Job description

Company Description

By working at Harvard University, you join a vibrant community that advances Harvard's world-changing mission in meaningful ways, inspires innovation and collaboration, and builds skills and expertise. We are dedicated to creating a diverse and welcoming environment where everyone can thrive.

Why join Harvard Medical School?

Harvard Medical School's mission is to nurture a diverse, inclusive community dedicated to alleviating suffering and improving health and well-being for all through excellence in teaching and learning, discovery and scholarship, and service and leadership.

You’ll be at the heart of biomedical discovery, education, and innovation, working alongside world-renowned faculty and a community dedicated to improving human health. This is more than a job - it’s an opportunity to shape the future of medicine.

Join our team of researchers, engineers, and designers to shape a future in which humans and AI collaborate to solve the most challenging biological and medical problems!

About the Department of Biomedical Informatics

The HIDIVE Lab in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School conducts research at the interface of human and artificial intelligence. We create methods and tools that enable humans and machines alike to interact with and generate insights from biomedical data, combining state-of-the-art biomedical informatics, data visualization, and AI/ML techniques across the full spectrum of biomedical data. An overview of recent publications of the lab can be found on Google Scholar.

We value diverse viewpoints, creative thinking, and bold initiative in a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary work environment. The HIDIVE Lab has an international reputation for creating high impact data visualization tools and we are driven to solve the most challenging design and engineering problems where biomedical data, humans, and AI meet. We would love to have you on our team!

Job 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

Basic Qualifications:

• Minimum of two years’ post-secondary education or relevant work experience

Additional Qualifications and Skills:

• 1–3 years of professional software development experience.
• Proficiency in JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, shell scripting, and modern web