Research Analyst/Software Developer - Tisch College

This is a limited term position ending June 30, 2021, with possibility of renewal. This is a grant funded position and is not eligible for severance pay.

The Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life prepares Tufts students to become active citizens and community leaders. As the only university-wide college of its kind, its mission is to engage Tufts students in meaningful community building, public service experiences, and transformational learning. It conducts and supports groundbreaking research on civic and political participation and forges innovative community partnerships. Tisch College is a national leader in civic education, whose model and research are setting the standard for higher education's role in civic engagement.

MGGG (The Metric Geometry & Gerrymandering Group) is a working group that studies applications of geometry and computing to U.S. redistricting. MGGG pursues cutting-edge research on the redistricting problem and builds publicly accessible tools and resources to help citizens and community groups better understand districts and their consequences. Founded in 2016-17, MGGG partners with civil rights organizations to strengthen the quantitative toolkit for protecting voting rights in the U.S.

This is a full-time, grant funded, 6-month term position with the possibility of extending beyond 6 months if additional funds become available. The Software Developer/ Research Analyst conducts research and supports a range of projects and activities simultaneously. Reporting to the MGGG Director, the Developer/Analyst will work as part of the MGGG team on research products and activities, and in collaboration with a broad array of professionals, will help to build the software tool Districtr and the technical infrastructure needed to produce research and support reform efforts in voting rights and redistricting. Willingness to learn new skills across problem domains is a must.

Basic Requirements:

• 2 to 3 years of related experience.
• Fluency with Python.
• Web development, including modern front-end HTML/CSS/JavaScript development.
• Experience delivering tested, high-quality code.
• Experience with GitHub (or equivalent) and continuous integration practices.
• Demonstrated interest in social and racial justice.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree.
• Experience in high education.
• Experience writing unit tests with pytest.
• Experience handling geospatial data using geopandas/shapely and pandas.
• Back-end development in Flask or another Python framework.
• Database experience.
• UI/UX background.
• Effective verbal, written and interpersonal skills.
  

An employee in this position must complete all appropriate background checks at the time of hire, promotion, or transfer.

Equal Opportunity Employer - minority/females/veterans/disability/sexual orientation/gender identity.