Detailed Job Listing:
JOB FAMILY: MANAGERIAL AND PROFESSIONAL
STARS Requisition: 93961BR
University Job Title: IT, Systems Engineer 3
Department Job Title: Research Application Developer
Grade: GS-3i
Work Model: Hybrid
Position Focus:
The Research Application Developer is an integral member of the Yale School of Management (SOM) Behavioral Lab research staff with primary responsibility for developing research-specific applications to facilitate data collection for Marketing and Organizational Behavior faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students, translating study ideas into working code. Reports to the Senior Associate Director, Initiative on Leadership and Organization with a dual report to the Manager for Application Development.
Executes all phases of the application development process, including gathering requirements, designing readable code, carrying out unit testing, generating usable documentation, managing data storage, and supporting and maintaining projects post-deployment. Develops both the front-end and back-end aspects of each application and ensures the secure and accurate collection of data from end users into a database.
This position is responsible for project management of applications developed through third-party vendors. Gathers requirements, holds meetings with stakeholders, and coordinates with supervisors to establish new projects. Manages the vendor relationship through regular meetings and ensures that any projects are delivered successfully with respect to budget and timeline. Responsible for maintaining the final product delivered by the vendor and works with the vendor to resolve any critical issues.
Essential Duties:
- Develop and maintain study-specific applications, along with supplementary web services or processes, for the purpose of accurately and securely collecting various forms of response data from users.
- Consult regularly with Marketing and OB researchers to gather and validate requirements, utilizing existing knowledge of psychological experimentation and behavioral science.
- Translate gathered requirements into readable, well-documented code.
- Adhere to modern standards of ethical and secure data collection outlined by the Yale Central Institutional Review Board (IRB).
- Manage all other aspects of application development, including creating design specifications, mapping out data flows and structures, managing data storage, performing unit testing, troubleshooting, deploying the application, and monitoring end user feedback.
- Troubleshoot and maintain existing projects, upgrade and modernize when necessary.
- Perform complex systems analysis and programming tasks requiring advanced techniques. Define system objectives and prepare systems design specifications to meet user requirements and satisfy interface demands.
- Provide routine daily maintenance, code review and updates of existing sites and applications of all sizes.
- Manage technical projects for the Marketing and OB researchers that are developed through third-party vendors, maintain and support final deliverables.
- Launch projects by gathering requirements, meeting with stakeholders, interfacing with other Yale SOM departments, reviewing potential bids, and selecting a correct vendor for the task.
- Work with external vendors during the discovery and requirements gathering process to provide information about the needs of the requested application and background information about Behavioral Lab research operations.
- Coordinate with Yale SOM IT for compliance and integration.
- Ensure that ongoing projects stay on budget and on time by regularly meeting with external vendors and reviewing progress.
- Maintain and support the final deliverables provided by external vendors, including coordinating user acceptance testing (UAT) generating documentation for end users, resolving critical bugs, and managing and monitoring the application post-deployment.
- Develop non-study-specific applications to support staff and lab operations when necessary.
- Contribute technical knowledge and expertise to the staff to help streamline and improve lab operations.
Required Education & Experience:
Bachelor’s degree and four years of experience or equivalent education and experience.
Required Skills & Abilities:
- Extensive proficiency with front-end development including UI/UX design, HTML5/CSS, JavaScript, and jQuery.
- Proficiency with server-side development including PHP and Node.js.
- Proficiency with relational databases (e.g. SQL) and non-relational databases (e.g. MongoDB).
- Ability to leverage knowledge of psychological experimentation and behavioral psychology to translate research ideas into working code.
- Solid analytical skills with ability to assess complex problems and translate them into a functioning solution.
- Exceptional communication skills; clear and quick responsiveness, ability to provide accurate progress updates, ability to communicate about programming with a non-technical audience. Professional demeanor and discretion.
- Ability to work collaboratively with researchers and staff. Ability to work independently.
- Ability to establish and maintain strong working relationships within the Behavioral Lab, SOM and broader Yale communities.
- Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, adjust priorities, and consistently meet deadlines.
Preferred:
Master’s degree and education in research psychology or related field. Knowledge of SQL under SQL Server, MySQL, Postgre; knowledge of NoSQL solutions such as Redis, Memcached or equivalent. Experience working with Java, PHP, Python, other current software development platforms. Deployment knowledge of Jenkins, Ansible, CircleCL. Familiarity with common statistical platforms, including SPSS, Stata, and R, and advanced Excel.
Competencies:
- Customer Service Focus – Listening carefully to and understanding customers’ needs and proactively responding to those needs in a consistent and timely manner.
- Teamwork/Communication – Working cooperatively to achieve common goals. Support cooperation, collaboration and the sharing of information.
- Product Excellence – Provide the best quality product available and continuously upgrade standards to maintain quality.
- Leadership – Provide direction and motivation to others through communication, modeling appropriate behavior, optimism and high achievement
- Innovative – Openness to new ideas and their implementation. Ability to react and adapt to changing situations appropriately.
- Strategic Thinking – Recognize opportunities, identify critical, high pay-off activities and prioritize them to attain goals.