Senior Software Engineer

The University of Southern California (USC), founded in 1880, is located in the heart of downtown L.A. and is the largest private employer in the City of Los Angeles. As an employee of USC, you will be a part of a world‑class research university and a member of the “Trojan Family,” which is comprised of the faculty, staff, and students that make the university a great place to work.

The USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences is seeking a part‑time, fixed‑term, talented and collaborative Senior Software Engineer in the Psychology Department. The largest and oldest of the USC schools, USC Dornsife functions as the academic core of the university, offering courses and advancing knowledge across the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.

The Senior Software Engineer will join our interdisciplinary research team in building an interactive, online learning platform designed to supplement key components of the proven Pathways‑to‑Success intervention program for 8th graders. This platform will provide an alternative to the classroom activities for classes lacking teachers and for students who have missed a session or multiple sessions with an accessible digital environment to program to engage the core activities and experience the take‑homes of these sessions.

You’ll focus on two main responsibilities:

Developing a scalable, user‑friendly web application in close collaboration with researchers, subject matter experts, engineers, and a UI/UX designer.
Maintaining and improving the existing Pathways‑to‑Success teacher resource website.

• Collaborate closely with researchers, engineers, and a UI/UX Designer to align technical development with user needs, program goals, and content structure.
• Translate wireframes and prototypes into a functional, scalable web application with intuitive navigation, clear workflows
  , and collaborative features.
• Coordinate with the UI/UX Designer to ensure seamless design‑to‑development handoff and high implementation fidelity.
• Maintain and improve the existing Pathways‑to‑Success teacher resource website
  , focusing on backend maintainability and performance.
• Implement observability tools (logs, metrics) and write documentation and unit tests to support debugging, transparency, and long‑term collaboration.
• Support ongoing user research and usability testing
  , iterating based on feedback and analytics to enhance design and functionality.
• Ensure the platform adheres to accessibility standards
  , is fully responsive
  , and maintains a consistent visual and interaction design system
  .

• Bachelor's or advanced degree in computer science or computer engineering.
• 5+ years of professional experience in software development.
• Strong proficiency in the following Frontend technologies:
  Typescript, React, Redux
  .
• Strong proficiency in Backend technologies:
  Node.js
  .
• Solid experience working with SQL databases
  .
• Skilled in using debugging and development tools such as Chrome Dev Tools and Postman
  .
• Demonstrated experience managing end‑to‑end web applications, with a solid understanding of backend API best practices and server maintenance
  .
• Basic proficiency with UI/UX design tools (e.g.,
  Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD
  ) and prototyping tools (e.g., InVision, Axure, Framer).
• Familiar with responsive design principles and web accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG).
• Exposure to business intelligence platforms like Metabase or Tableau is a bonus.

• Familiarity with the Pathways‑to‑Success program, including the core intervention design and the key active ingredients meant to be invoked by each session.
• Proficiency with tools specific to our stack:
  Material UI, Fastify.js, Postgre
  
  SQL, Metabase.
• Experience conducting and synthesizing insights from user research and usability testing.
• Strong grasp of interaction design, user flows, and information architecture.

• Strong communication skills
  , with the ability to engage effectively with non‑technical stakeholders.
• Proven track record in designing learning platforms and/or intuitive, user‑friendly web applications
  .
• A co…