Job Description

The Department of Biochemistry has an outstanding opportunity for Systems Analyst/Programmer 2 to join their team.

About this Opportunity

The purpose of this position is to provide additional technical capacity to support IPD's growing operational and technology needs. The role will help expand and maintain the IT infrastructure at the Institute and contribute to the development and maintenance of software applications that support laboratory operations, data management, and workflow management.

Position Complexities

The IPD IT team consists of only three staff members, two senior and one junior, who support approximately 350 Institute personnel. The team is responsible for managing a diverse technology environment that includes approximately 250 desktops, 100 laboratory instrument computers, and an offsite high-performance computing (HPC) cluster. In addition to infrastructure support, the team develops and maintains several custom applications that are essential to research and operational workflows. These systems require ongoing maintenance, enhancements, troubleshooting, security oversight, and user support while adapting to evolving business and research requirements.

Position Dimensions and Impact to the University

This position directly supports the technology infrastructure and software systems that enable IPD's research, laboratory operations, and administrative functions.

Key Responsibilities

This role is responsible for designing, developing and evolving an internal, web-based platform that supports the management of scientific data and research workflows at the IPD. Partnering with a small IT team, the Software Developer will build scalable tools to store, organize, and analyze data, while enabling efficient data exchange across core research groups and approximately 200 scientists. The platform will serve as a central hub for a data bioregistry as well as experimental datasets generated from biological assays, electron microscopy, X-ray crystallography and mass spectrometry. It will also support operational workflows such as protein production, peptide synthesis, sample and material tracking, and experiment coordination. The primary objective is to deliver a secure, intuitive, and efficient platform that empowers both internal researchers and external collaborators to access data and services, ultimately accelerating scientific discovery.

Create Design Specifications (30%):

• Collaborate with scientists at the IPD to define the project scope.
• Analyze user requirements to determine software functionality.
• Develop detailed design specifications for the system architecture.

Implement Software Specifications (50%):

• Develop and integrate software applications according to approved design specifications.
• Follow coding standards, best practices, and established development methodologies.
• Troubleshoot and resolve technical issues during the development process.

Test and Maintain Software (20%):

• Identify, diagnose, and correct software defects and issues.
• Maintain and enhance existing software systems by implementing updates, patches, and new features.
• Provide ongoing support to IPD stakeholders.

Required Qualifications

To be considered for this opportunity your application must demonstrate you meet both the minimum qualifications and additional qualifications listed below. Equivalent education and/or experience may substitute for minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license, certification, and/or registration.

Minimum Requirements

Applicants who do not meet these qualifications WILL NOT be forwarded to the Hiring Department

Bachelor's degree in computer science, informatics or life sciences, or equivalent experience and one year experience as a Systems Analyst/Programmer 1.

Additional Qualifications

• Strong proficiency in:
  • Building and maintaining public-facing web applications using PHP or Python
  • Object-oriented programming and clean code principles
  • Designing and interacting with SQL databases using abstraction layers/ORMs
  • Modern web technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) and frameworks
  • Web application security best practices (e.g., authentication, data validation, protection against common vulnerabilities)
• 2-3 years of hands-on experience with:
  • Integrated development environments (IDEs) and debugging tools
  • Git-based version control and collaborative workflows (e.g., branching, pull requests)
  • Developing applications that handle and process large datasets
• Demonstrated ability to:
  • Independently troubleshoot, debug, and resolve technical issues
  • Write maintainable, well-documented, and testable code
  • Collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams

Desired Qualifications

• Background / training in life sciences
• High attention to detail
• Proven ability to quickly learn and apply new technologies
• Ability to work as a part of a high-functioning and nimble team

Compensation, Benefits and Position Details

Pay Range Minimum:
$71,448.00 annual
Pay Range Maximum:
$96,096.00 annual
Other Compensation:

Benefits:
For information about benefits for this position, visit https://www.washington.edu/jobs/benefits-for-uw-staff/
Shift:
First Shift (United States of America)
Temporary or Regular?
This is a regular position
FTE (Full-Time Equivalent):
100.00%
Union/Bargaining Unit:
SEIU Local 925 Nonsupervisory