Clinical Fellow – LIT Python Developer

Suffolk University is a private, urban university located in the heart of downtown Boston. Our college green is the Boston Common and we are steps from dozens of historic sites including the Old State House, Faneuil Hall, City Hall and the Massachusetts State House. We have no real boundaries to our campus—Boston and Suffolk blend together.

Suffolk has been committed to creating an exceptional learning experience since 1906. Our vision is to be recognized as a dynamic institution that fosters engaged learning, rigorous scholarship, innovative thinking, and community collaboration across disciplines. We will ensure that Suffolk graduates are versatile and prepared for modern society and the new world market. We will provide rich curricula, experiential learning opportunities and professional mentoring through increased collaboration with alumni and community partners. We will recruit, mentor, and support a diverse faculty of teacher-scholars who are passionately committed to preparing our students to be leaders in the global community. We will inspire investment in a Suffolk community that is built on ethical, forward-thinking leadership, teamwork, and cooperation.

We compete for the best talent. We are an equal opportunity employer committed to a diverse community. We are actively seeking applicants from groups that might be under-represented because of race/color, gender, religion, real or perceived disability, national origin or LGBTQ status. As part of our commitment we encourage you to complete the demographic portion of the application in addition to submitting your cover letter and resume/CV as it will assist us in targeting our recruitment efforts.

Please note that Suffolk University conducts background checks as a condition of employment.

We are also committed to the well-being of our employees. Our terrific benefits package for benefits-eligible positions include, but are not limited to:

• Generous paid time-off programs and commitment to work-life balance
• Tuition free course benefits in the College of Arts and Sciences and in the Sawyer Business School for employees with additional tuition benefits for spouses, domestic partners, and children
• Top-notch well-being care available through Harvard Pilgrim Medical/Delta Dental and a Flexible Spending Account
• Pre-tax commuter benefit
• Employee Assistance Program that provides employees and their family members with initial assessment, referrals and short-term counseling for personal and work challenges
• Discounted home and auto insurance

Description

Applicants must have at least 2 years of relevant experience in software development and engineering and a demonstrated ability to write production code. Bachelor of Science or Master in Computer Science, data science, logic, statistics (or a related field) preferred, or equivalent experience in software development. Other required qualifications include: 1-2 years of familiarity with Python; experience developing production code in collaboration with other developers or subject matter experts; experience writing and communicating about technical information; experience working with data, databases, and data structures. Applicants should work well in a team environment and be willing to learn the Docassemble framework.

Experience in one or more of the following is preferred, but not required:


• Experience with representation of legal rules, law as code, or logic
• Basic familiarity with legal research
• Data validation
• Familiarity with JavaScript / jQuery
• Working with version control software
• Writing reports for a non-profit
• Experience with XML
• Experience with Postgresql
• Experience with Docassemble


Position Description: The Developer will work primarily within Suffolk Law School’s Legal Innovation and Technology Lab (LIT Lab), which is located both within Suffolk’s nationally ranked Clinical Programs and the Law School’s nationally recognized Legal Innovation and Technology (LIT) Institute. The LIT Lab provides legal tech and data science consulting services to organizational clients, while also engaging in independent research and product development. The LIT Lab enrolls and works with a broad range of students each semester for experiential and seminar course credit. The LIT Lab also employs students on grant or work-study funding.

The LIT Python Developer position is a temporary, 11-month grant funded position. This position will be 100% remote, but applicants must be authorized to work in the United States. The goal of the grant is to develop a national standard for connecting a docassemble-based form automation platform to courts’ electronic dockets in multiple jurisdictions. The grant will likely involve implementing the Electronic Case Filing standard (ECF) for the Tyler Technologies platform.

As time permits, the Developer will also assist with documentation, testing, and adding support for related features to the core docassemble platform. Depending on skills and interest, that may involve writing question/answer-based software apps in docassemble, adding improved interactive elements in JavaScript, or additional Python backend support to help automate forms for our partner jurisdictions.

The work will include:


• Back end development in Python
• Developing and documenting a data interchange standard, or filling in gaps in an existing XML or JSON-based data interchange standard (most likely the existing OASIS XML ECF standard)
• Writing API documentation for Python code
• Writing reports
• Writing tests
• Interpreting and coding software to meet a specification
• Working with and manipulating data in SQL or NoSQL databases


The LIT Python Developer will report directly to Professor Sarah Boonin, Director of Clinical Programs. For projects related to the LIT Institute, the Fellow will report to Assistant Dean Gabe Teninbaum, Assistant Dean of Innovation, Strategic Initiatives, & Distance Education. As a member of the LIT Lab, the LIT Fellow will work closely with Practitioner in Residence and LIT Lab Director, David Colarusso and Clinical Fellow Quinten Steenhuis. The developer will have the benefit of mentorship and supervision by the Lab’s experienced staff of developers, attorneys, and academics.

This position will begin as soon as possible. The Developer position is a full-time, 11 month temporary appointment.

Equal Opportunity: Suffolk University does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, religious creed, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, age, genetic information, or status as a veteran in admission to, access to, treatment in, or employment in its programs, activities, or employment.

Suffolk University is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. The University is dedicated to the goal of building a diverse and inclusive faculty and staff who contribute to the robust exchange of ideas on campus, and who are committed to teaching and working in a diverse environment. We strongly encourage applications from groups historically marginalized or underrepresented because of race/color, gender, religious creed, disability, national origin, veteran status or LGBTQ status. The search committee is especially interested in candidates who, through their research, teaching, service and/or experience, will contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community.

Required Application Documents:

Cover Letter, Resume or CV, List of three references, Code sample (if you do not have any representative code you are able to share, please apply and we will find alternatives)