Software Engineer

The Department of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences is searching for a Software Engineer to join their team.  Reporting to the Senior Clinical Administrative Director II, the Software Engineer will work closely with the department’s Research Programmer, Operations Manager, and Psychiatry Leadership Team to develop, operate, and maintain software and IT systems, in support of clinical operations. 

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Designing and coding software and processes from scratch in a network environment.
• Communicating with leaders and reviewers to develop specifications.
• Integrating many services and systems to process health information and support treatment, in a compliant and ethical manner.
• Performing application administration and sysadmin-type tasks.
• Troubleshooting, analyzing, and modifying existing software and systems.
• Performing quality assurance on changes made to software and systems.
• Safely adding features to code for which there is little documentation. 
• Analyzing data to answer a variety of questions, which could include questions related to psychiatric treatment outcomes, improving clinical operations, or business planning.  
• Proactively and diligently protecting data to minimize and control privacy and security risks.
• May work as a team member on large operational process improvement projects or work independently on projects of lesser scope but which require competency in programming, analysis, and project management.  
• Taking the initiative to use more advanced methods, or suggest alternatives, when appropriate or ethically required.

Required Qualifications:

• At least 3 years of experience in a role doing primarily software or web development, or engineering.
• Bachelor's or higher degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering (software, systems, or other), Informatics, Information Science, Mathematics, Software Development, Statistics, or Web Development, or a degree in a field that intensively uses quantitative or computing methods (such as neuroscience).
• Experience leading a software development team in full-time, paid position.
• Demonstrable experience in developing server-side software according to secure coding principles.
• Experience configuring computer systems at the demonstrable level of a power user or higher.
• Demonstrable intermediate or greater programming ability with at least two programming languages, including Python.
• Demonstrable beginning or greater programming ability with at least one programming language used with a statistical software package (not excel), such as R.
• Experience with writing thorough and clear written responses to a variety of stakeholders. 
• Demonstrable ability and willingness to do tasks involving a command-line interface. 
• Experience with Web design; demonstrable intermediate knowledge of HTML
• Ability and willingness to be assertive and suggest corrections perceived to be necessary, even when it is inconvenient to do so, while maintaining collegiality and respect
• Experience with a software development methodology or SDLC
• Experience with software analysis and design

Preferred Qualifications:

• 3 or more years of paid full-time experience as a software developer, or engineer, in a healthcare setting
• Master’s degree in computer science or related field.
• Experience creating REDCap projects
• Experience handling and safeguarding health data with personal identifiers and familiarity with compliance requirements in clinical settings
• Skilled in both software (including Web application) development and statistical analysis.
• Experience setting up, configuring and hardening servers.
• Significant experience developing with a LAMP or LAMP-like stack.
• Experience with both backend and frontend development technologies and techniques, including Ajax.
• Experience with UX design
• Intermediate or greater programming ability with at least one language used in a statistical software package.
• Experience generating graphics programmatically
• Advanced programming ability with at least one language

• Has developed and managed an SQL database.

Minimum Education: Bachelor's degree, Combined work experience and education as equivalent 

Minimum Experience: 3 years of paid full-time experience

Minimum Field of Expertise: Intermediate computer programming ability with more than one language; Linux or Windows power user

USC is one of the world’s leading private research universities with approximately 48,500 students from all 50 states and boasts one of the largest international student bodies in the country. USC is located in the heart of Los Angeles, a culturally rich metropolitan city with a large ethnic and economically diverse population and is close to both beach and mountains with wonderful outdoor recreation opportunities. The mild temperatures along with the city’s average of 329 days of sun per year makes Los Angeles a wonderful city to live and work.

USC strongly values diversity, equity, and inclusion and is committed to equal opportunity in employment. We prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, veteran status, marital status, or any other legally protected status. All genders, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities, veterans, bicultural/multicultural and bilingual/multilingual individuals are encouraged to apply.

The annual base salary range for this position is $106,615.86 - $132,881.65. When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, federal, state and local laws, contractual stipulations, grant funding, as well as external market and organizational considerations.

Minimum Education: Bachelor's degree Addtional Education Requirements Combined experience/education as substitute for minimum education Minimum Experience: 2 years Minimum Skills: Two years’ experience with programming and documentation procedures, methods and operator instructions. Experience conducting unit/performance tests, systems integration and user acceptance. Demonstrated experience with one or more relevant programming languages, able to gain needed contexts for domains. Comprehensive knowledge of architecture, design and development of software solutions. Excellent organization, planning, analytical and problem-solving skills. Ability to provide technical expertise and creative solutions while aligned to organizational objectives and customer needs. Experience weighing economic costs and values objectively, supporting coworkers on a project basis, and contributing to discussions in a civil manner. Excellent written and oral communication skills, able to provide both detailed information as well as summaries to varied audiences. Substantial knowledge of security concepts, familiarity with secure code development techniques, and understanding of scalable and automated solutions. Ability to build strong, positive working relationships and rapport with diverse groups of team members. Preferred Education: Bachelor's degree Or Bachelor's degree Or Bachelor's degree Preferred Experience: 4 years Preferred Skills: Four years’ experience in IT/programming. Proficiency with Python, Javascript, C/C++, Java, Ruby and/or other advanced programming languages. Experience with Unix/Linux programming and/or administration. Experience in higher education.