Software Lead

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How to Apply

A cover letter is required for consideration for this position. In order for the Career Portal system to accept a cover letter, please include a cover letter as the first page of your resume document. The cover letter should specifically address why you are interested in this position and describe specific skills and experiences you have and directly relate them to the responsibilities of, and qualification for, this position. 

Job Summary

Working at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research (ISR) means being a part of a team committed to discovery and understanding. It means working for the world?s largest academic social science survey and research organization, and doing work that really matters social science in the public interest. This position is in the Technical Services Group (TSG) within the Survey Research Operations (SRO).  SRO is the operations branch of the Survey Research Center (SRC) at the ISR.


In TSG, we are passionate about leveraging technology to drive success and we are looking for an exceptional Software Lead to join our talented team.  You are a highly skilled and experienced Software Lead that enjoys solving challenging problems as a team. We design, develop and support software that supports the entire data collection process. This is a hybrid position, and you will be based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Why Work at Michigan?

Benefits at the University of 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 eligible family members, and plan for a secure future. https://careers.umich.edu/benefits/

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

Responsibilities*

Architecture, Development and Technical Leadership

  • Design and implement the technical architecture for our software products
  • Ensure software solutions are secure, testable, scalable, maintainable and extensible
  • Design software with the understanding of impacts to database performance
  • Partner with DevOps on CI/CD pipeline design
  • Conduct code reviews and lead adoption of coding standards
  • Research and recommend emerging technologies
  • Troubleshoot and resolve urgent customer technical issues

Collaboration and Mentoring

  • Advocate for coding standards to ensure high-quality code and maintainable software
  • Collaborate with our stakeholders to understand business requirements and translate them into technical specifications
  • Foster a collaborative and inclusive team culture

Required Qualifications*

  • Bachelor's Degree in a quantitative field such as Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or Applied Mathematics
  • Working experience as a Software Lead
  • 7+years of experience in software development in .NET, C#, Java, and Python
  • 7+ years of experience designing, implementing and testing a diverse set of software applications, platforms and technologies
  • Strong proficiency in Angular, React, node.js
  • Experience in SQL Server relational database design and development or other database technologies such as SQLite, Oracle
  • Expertise in areas of design patterns, application architecture, platform architectures, secure software lifecycle and distributed systems
  • Strong proficiency with building DevOps CI/CD pipelines
  • Excellent technical communication skills with an emphasis on fostering collaboration, accountability and high performance
  • Experience working in Agile frameworks

Desired Qualifications*

  • Master's degree in computer science or software engineering preferred
  • Experience with Cloud computing and designing high throughput microservices
  • Experience with CQRS design pattern and event sourcing
  • Hands on experience building CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps

Work Schedule

Monday-Friday, days. 

Work Locations

This position offers a hybrid schedule option following an initial period of orientation.

Modes of Work

Positions that are eligible for hybrid or mobile/remote work mode are at the discretion of the hiring department. Work agreements are reviewed annually at a minimum and are subject to change at any time, and for any reason, throughout the course of employment. Learn more about the work modes.

Additional Information

The Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan seeks to recruit and retain a diverse workforce as a reflection of our commitment to serve the diverse people of Michigan, to maintain the excellence of the university, and to ground our research in varied disciplines, perspectives, and ways of knowing and learning. 

Background Screening

The University of Michigan conducts background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer and may use a third-party administrator to conduct background checks. Background checks are performed in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Application Deadline

Institute for Social Research job openings are posted for a minimum of fourteen (14) calendar days. This opening may be removed from posting boards and filled any time after the minimum posting period has ended.

U-M EEO/AA Statement

The University of Michigan is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.