Applications Programmer Senior

Summary

The JustIn team seeks a Mobile Application Developer to join an interdisciplinary group developing a framework for adaptive mobile health (mHealth) intervention research. JustIn is a software project co-sponsored by the Data Science for Dynamic Intervention Decision Making Center (d3c) within the University of Michigan (U-M) Institute for Social Research, the U-M School of Information, and Michigan Medicine. The vision for JustIn is a modular, configurable codebase that enables researchers to select and compose reusable software components, substantially reducing the time and effort required to build, deploy, and maintain mobile health applications for research. This work grew out of a shared frustration with the cost, complexity, and limited sustainability of bespoke software development for mHealth studies.

We are seeking a front-end developer with particular strength in UX and mobile development and an interest in building applications that support behavior change, applied learning sciences, and data-driven interventions. The team develops primarily in the MERN (MongoDB, Express.js, React, Node.js) stack using TypeScript. While this role will work across the stack, it will focus heavily on React and React Native, implementing configurable, customizable, and reusable mobile UI components. Experience with wireframing and prototyping tools such as Figma is desirable. The developer will also contribute to core platform capabilities, including data collection (often via third-party APIs), intervention logic, and study configuration.

Mobile health applications frequently require dynamic content, complex data integrations, and interactive data visualizations. JustIn aims to provide robust, reusable packages to support these needs across diverse research contexts. This position involves writing code that is maintainable, extensible, and performant, with careful attention to mobile usability, accessibility, security, data synchronization, and research data integrity. The developer will engage with version control, automated testing, documentation, and continuous integration practices to ensure the platform remains reliable, scalable, and suitable for use across multiple research studies.

We are seeking a developer who enjoys working across the full lifecycle of application development - from prototyping and iteration through implementation and cross-platform deployment - and who is motivated by seeing their work used in real-world research settings. In this role, the developer will contribute directly to the JustIn framework and collaborate closely with research partners to build and adapt mobile research interventions using JustIn.

The JustIn team is led by Dr. Mark Newman (Professor of Information, School of Information, and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, College of Engineering). The project applies modern software engineering practices in support of cutting-edge data science methodologies and innovative behavioral science approaches to enable a new generation of flexible, research-ready mHealth technologies. The team is committed to human-centered design, and values collaboration across technical and research disciplines. Prior experience developing mobile health, digital health, or research-oriented applications is valued but not required.

For more information, please visit our website:

This is a hybrid position, with the expectation of attending weekly meetings in person, but with flexibility around where everyday tasks are performed.

Responsibilities*

• Design, develop, and maintain mobile applications and reusable components for the JustIn framework.
• Implement front-end features using React and React Native, with attention to usability, configurability, maintainability, performance, and accessibility.
• Work with other members of the JustIn team to ensure integration of front-end features with the framework back-end, including contributing to back-end functionality as needed.
• Collaborate with data scientists, behavioral scientists, and designers to translate research requirements into robust technical solutions.
• Participate in all stages of the development process, including requirements gathering, technical design, implementation, testing, and deployment.
• Contribute to code reviews, documentation, and shared development standards.
• Support iterative improvement of the platform based on researcher and participant feedback.

Required Qualifications*

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience
• Intermediate candidates are expected to have two to five years of professional mobile and/or web application development experience
• Senior candidates are expected to have five to seven years of professional mobile and/or web application development experience
• Strong skills in React and/or React Native development.
• Familiarity with modern back-end development.
• Experience with version control systems (git)
• Experience building and maintaining production-quality mobile or web applications.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work effectively on an interdisciplinary team.
• High degree of self-organization and ability to manage tasks independently.

Why Work at Michigan?

In addition to a career filled with purpose and opportunity, the University of Michigan offers a comprehensive benefits package to help you stay well, protect yourself and any eligible family members and plan for a secure future. Benefits include:

Generous time off

A retirement plan that provides two-for-one matching contributions with immediate vesting upon meeting eligibility requirements

Many choices for comprehensive health insurance

Life insurance

Long-term disability coverage

Flexible spending accounts for healthcare and dependent care expenses

.

Underfill Statement

Openings may be filled at the Intermediate or Senior level depending on match with opportunity, your depth and breadth of experience and qualifications.

Positions at the Senior level will be filled at $90k-$k salary range

Positions at the Intermediate level will be filled at the $70k-$85k salary range.