The Mission and Vision
Field stations and marine laboratories (FSMLs) operate at a critical point in the research life-cycle, where logistics, data collection, and research practice converge. FAIR Station is a multi-year initiative to evole the existing UC Nature Reserve Application Management System (RAMS) into an open-source, interoperable platform to support research activity across its full life-cycle. While maintaining and improving RAMS' existing functionality within UC Nature, FAIR Station aims to expand the platform to support open research workflows, integration with persistent identifier systems and research repositories, and broader adoption across the global field station community.
The project is led by the UC Curation Center (UC3) at California Digital Library (CDL) and UC Nature in close collaboration with community partners. To provide flexibility and administrative support, FAIR Station is fiscally sponsored and administratively hosted by Code for Science & Society (CS&S), a nonprofit supporting open, community-driven digital infrastructure. Funding for this position is made possible by the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation.
Job Overview
The Senior Platform & Web Application Engineer will play a key role in advancing the technical evolution of UC Nature's RAMS as part of the FAIR Station initiative. Working in close partnership with the Product Manager and UC Nature stakeholders, this role will focus on expanding RAMS into a modular, API-forward, containerized platform designed for interoperability and reuse.
This position emphasizes thoughtful modernization of an existing production Rails application, addition of API capabilities to support open infrastructure integrations, all while maintaining continuity of service for current users. The role blends strong web application development with platform thinking, open-source practices, and sustainable architecture design.
The Senior Platform & Web Application Engineer contributes to the technical evolution of the FAIR Station platform, Working in close partnership with the Technical Lead, Product Manager, and UCNRS collaborators, this role will focus on expanding RAMS into a modular, API-forward, containerized platform designed for interoperability and reuse. The ideal candidate is comfortable operating with a high degree of autonomy, helping shape technical direction, evaluating tradeoffs, and guiding implementation across application, platform, and interoperability initiatives.
API & Open Infrastructure Integration
- Design and implement RESTful APIs to support integrations with external research infrastructure systems (e.g., persistent identifier providers, repositories, research workflow tools)
- Establish clear versioning, authentication, and documentation practices for public-facing APIs
- Ensure integration patterns are maintainable, well-documented, and aligned with open infrastructure best practices
Containerization & Deployment
- Support and implement transition to containerized (Docker-based) deployment environments
- Improve CI/CD workflows, observability, and operational reliability
- Contribute to deployment models that support both hosted and self-managed implementations
Collaboration & Delivery
- Partner closely with the Product Manager on roadmap sequencing and iterative delivery
- Collaborate with the RAMS development team and UC Nature domain experts to ensure technical decisions align with user workflows and long-term sustainability
- Address feature requests, usability improvements, and bug fixes in coordination with stakeholders
- Contribute to documentation and implementation guidance for future adopters
Open Source & Sustainability
- Contribute to maintaining RAMS as a public, open-source platform
- Support documentation and development practices that encourage sustainability and reuse
- Help ensure the platform remains lightweight, maintainable, and aligned with public-interest infrastructure principles
Platform Evolution & Technical Stewardship
- Shape the ongoing and long-term architectural evolution of the RAMS application toward modular, reusable design patterns
- Implement enhancements that support configurability and adoption beyond the UC system
- Maintain system stability while incrementally modernizing components
- Participate in architectural decision-making and documentation
- Provide technical leadership through design discussions, documentation, and mentorship
Qualifications & Skills:
Required
- Experience building and maintaining production web applications (e.g., Ruby on Rails or similar MVC frameworks)
- Strong backend and API design experience (RESTful services, versioning strategies, authentication/authorization patterns)
- Experience evolving and modernizing mature applications without disrupting existing users
- Experience containerizing applications (Docker) and deploying to cloud environments (e.g., AWS or comparable platforms)
- Experience contributing to or working within open-source software environments
- Strong documentation and communication skills; ability to collaborate effectively in a cross-functional, distributed team
- Demonstrated ability to work effectively in evolving environments, create clarity amid ambiguity, and independently drive technical initiatives from concept through delivery
Preferred
- Experience working in Ruby on Rails applications
- Experience designing software intended for reuse across institutions or organizations
- Experience integrating with external APIs or ecosystem platforms
- Familiarity with research infrastructure, scholarly communication systems, or open science ecosystems
- Passion for building awesome open source tools for the research community
- Experience working in grant-funded or public-interest technology environments
Success in this role
Within the first year, successful candidates will:
- Develop a deep understanding of the RAMS platform and field station workflows
- Contribute to modernization efforts across APIs, deployment, and operational practices
- Build strong working relationships with UC Nature, UC3, and community partners
- Take ownership of significant technical areas of the platform
- Help shape the long-term evolution of FAIR Station as open research infrastructure
Seeking to fill the position by August 1, 2026.
Code for Science & Society Values & Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)Statement
Code for Science & Society is an equal opportunity employer and considers all applications without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, marital or veteran status, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected status.
Pay: $120,000.00 - $130,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k) 4% Match
- Dental insurance
- Disability insurance
- Flexible spending account
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Vision insurance
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Oakland, CA 94610
