A cover letter is required for consideration for this position and should be attached as the first page of your resume. The cover letter should address your specific interest in the position and outline skills and experience that directly relate to this position.

The laboratory of Dr. Dawen Cai in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, seeks a Research Lab Specialist Associate to support cutting-edge research in microscopy image management and processing for neural circuit mapping and brain genetic profiling. The successful candidate will be responsible for the design, development, and maintenance of the laboratory's research web platform, including its architecture, AI inference integration, and production deployment. The backend infrastructure utilizes FastAPI, SQLModel, PostgreSQL, and Pytest for testing. The frontend is built with React, TypeScript, Chakra UI, and Playwright. Experience with Docker, GitHub Actions, and Traefik for DevOps and deployment is highly desirable. Familiarity with AI-assisted development tools is beneficial.

Primary responsibilities include: developing and maintaining the laboratory's research web platform, with a FastAPI backend and a React/TypeScript frontend. The position involves designing and implementing REST APIs with automated documentation, integrating and operating AI model inference services, writing and maintaining comprehensive unit and integration test suites, and managing production deployment, CI/CD, monitoring, and reliability. The candidate will collaborate closely with laboratory personnel to ensure scalable, maintainable code and reliable software delivery.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with demonstrated ability to work effectively in a collaborative research environment

• Strong proficiency in Python; experience with FastAPI framework preferred

• Proficiency in React and TypeScript for frontend development

• Experience with relational databases, particularly PostgreSQL

• Solid understanding of containerization with Docker

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or related field, or equivalent demonstrated experience

• Minimum 1 year of software development experience or equivalent demonstrated through open-source contributions or significant project work

Michigan Medicine conducts background screening and pre-employment drug testing on job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent job offer and may use a third party administrator to conduct background screenings.  Background screenings are performed in compliance with the Fair Credit Report Act. Pre-employment drug testing applies to all selected candidates, including new or additional faculty and staff appointments, as well as transfers from other U-M campuses.

Job openings are posted for a minimum of seven calendar days. The review and selection process may begin as early as the eighth day after posting. This opening may be removed from posting boards and filled any time after the minimum posting period has ended.

The University of Michigan is an equal employment opportunity employer.

About University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

A great university is made so by its faculty and staff, and Michigan is recognized as one of the best universities to work for in the country. The Michigan culture is known for engaging faculty and staff in all facets of the university to create a workplace that is vibrant and stimulating.For two consecutive years, the Chronicle of Higher Education has placed U-M in its "Great Colleges to Work For" survey. In particular, the university earns high marks for strong relations between faculty and administrators, a collaborative system of governance, strong pay and benefits, and a healthy work/life balance.

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