The EPA Environmental Research and Business Support Program has an immediate opening for an EPA Application and Database Developer with the Office of Research and Development at the EPA’s Research Triangle facility in Raleigh-Durham, NC.

The Office of Research and Development at the EPA supports high-quality research to improve the scientific basis for decisions on national environmental issues and help EPA achieve its environmental goals. Research is conducted in a broad range of environmental areas by scientists in EPA laboratories and at universities across the country.

The Toxicity Assessment Division (TAD) is one of three health divisions of the National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL) within ORD/EPA.  TAD is located on EPA’s Main Campus in Research Triangle Park, NC.  The Toxicity Assessment Division addresses toxicological mechanisms and responses for target organ systems using multiple strategies related to (1) chemical screening and prioritization, including assessing in vivo predictive value of in vitro tests and test methods development and interpretation; (2) chemical-specific and mixtures toxicity assessment, including hazard identification and dose-response characterization; (3) development and use of animal models of disease; and (4) evaluation of specific assumptions and hypotheses generated by systems biology models in collaboration with the Integrated Systems Toxicology Division. 

NHEERL Researchers across the Agency are involved in research on engineered nanomaterials and nanoinformatic methods. The Neurotoxicology Branch within TAD, in collaboration with the Research Cores Unit of NHEERL, is seeking a candidate to provide application development and programming support for NHEERL’s dynamic, database-driven applications related to the creation and maintenance of an engineered nanomaterials database. The selected candidate will work with other members of NHEERL’s software development team to create new applications as well as maintain existing code bases. Extensive on-the-job training will be provided on current databases and the existing code-base. He/she will be a member of a multi-disciplinary research team and will be trained to support the development, programming, testing and maintenance of multiple applications requiring access to chemical and biology databases that provides a foundation for all nanomaterial and nano-related programs.

Application and Database Programming responsibilities shall include:

• Working directly with data owners to curate raw data for entry into MySQL database,
• Creating new applications and scripts to interact with a MySQL databases,
• Maintaining existing code and scripts that may or may not access databases, and
• Participating in team code reviews, maintaining records of meetings, correspondence, and action documents, and maintain a system to track projects in progress.

Communications-related responsibilities shall include:

• Participating as a member of a multi-disciplinary research team,
• Interacting with other members of the development team as well as EPA scientists, and
• Documenting code and database development efforts.

The selected candidate may be asked to present work performed in the course of their work as a poster or presentation at a scientific conference or other forum.

Location: This job will be located EPA’s Research Triangle facility in Raleigh-Durham, NC.

Salary: Selected applicants will become temporary employees of ORAU and will receive an hourly wage of $20.65 for hours worked.

Travel: Occasional overnight travel may be required.

Expected Start Date: The position is full time and expected to begin October 2016. The initial project is through May 14, 2017, followed by up to four (3) 12-month optional periods.

Working Conditions: 

The selected applicant shall be supervised by a mentor who will provide day-to-day direction, as well as coach, advise, counsel and review his/her work.  The work will be in a laboratory setting and is expected to involve exposure to hazardous elements.

For more information, contact EPAjobs@orau.org. Do not contact EPA directly.

Eligible applicants must:

• Be at least 18 years of age and
• Have Bachelor’s Degree in computer science/engineering, bioinformatics, computational biology, information science or a closely related field of study from an accredited university or college within the last 24 months and
• Be a citizen of the United States of America or a Legal Permanent Resident.

EPA ORD employees, their spouses, and children are not eligible to participate in this program.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Work Experience, and Education

The applicant shall possess:

• Experience programming in at least one modern general purpose programming language such as Perl, Python, C++, or Java,
• Coursework or equivalent work experience with database platforms such as MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL,
• Strong written, oral and electronic communication skills,
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications (i.e., Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook),
• Experience with Unix or Linux operating system,
• One year or more experience with basic software development , and
• One year or more experience with basic database development.

How to apply:

Submit application and supporting documents by clicking on Apply Now button.

For more information, contact EPAjobs@orau.org. Do not contact EPA directly.

• Citizenship: LPR or U.S. Citizen
• Degree: Bachelor's Degree, Master's Degree, or Doctoral Degree received within the last 24 month(s).
• Minimum Overall GPA: 2.00
• Discipline(s):
  • Computer, Information, and Data Sciences (16 )
  • Earth and Geosciences (21 )
  • Engineering (27 )
  • Environmental and Marine Sciences (14 )
  • Life Health and Medical Sciences (45 )
  • Mathematics and Statistics (10 )

I certify that I am at least 18 years of age; a recent graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in computer science/engineering, bioinformatics, computational biology, information science or a closely related field of study from an accredited university or college within the last 24 months; a citizen or a Legal Permanent Resident of the United States of America; and not a current employee of EPA ORD or the spouse or child of an EPA ORD employee.