Project Hapines

AI/Software Developer — Nursing Simulation Platform (Part-Time Contract)

A University School of Nursing | Remote-friendly | Part-time contract, 8-12 hrs/week

About Project HAPINES

Project HAPINES (History and Physicals in Nursing Education Systems) is an AI-powered clinical simulation platform that teaches nurse practitioner students how to take a patient history, reason through differential diagnoses, and write competency-mapped assessments and plans — aligned to the AACN/NONPF Essentials. Built at a university and already in use with students.

This position is funded through a federal grant — a real, active project already in use with students. Contract renewal beyond each initial 3-month term is contingent on performance and continued project needs.

The Role

We're looking for a coding expert to work directly with our small research team to optimize and extend the HAPINES platform — someone who's comfortable with both traditional software engineering and applied AI/LLM work, and who wants to build something real that's already in use with students.

What You'll Do

• Optimize performance, reliability, and cost-efficiency of the existing AI patient-simulation and grading engine
• Work with LLM APIs (e.g., Claude, OpenAI) to improve conversational realism, scoring consistency, and prompt reliability
• Improve and extend the faculty dashboard and competency-mapping/analytics features
• Debug, refactor, and document existing code as the platform scales to more students and institutions
• Collaborate closely with the PI and the technical team, and other developers on architecture and feature decisions
• Help evaluate hosting/infrastructure choices (AWS) for cost and performance
• Create avatars to interact with

What We're Looking For

• Strong software engineering fundamentals — comfortable across backend, frontend, and databases
• Real experience working with LLM/AI APIs and prompt design, not just theoretical familiarity
• Ability to read and improve an existing codebase, not just build from scratch
• Self-directed — this is a small team; you'll need to work well with limited day-to-day oversight
• Comfortable working within an academic/research environment and timeline

Nice to Have

• Experience with healthcare, EdTech, or simulation/training platforms
• Familiarity with FERPA or other student-data privacy considerations
• Experience with LMS integrations (Canvas, LTI) or SSO
• Interest in health professions education or nursing/clinical workflows

Contract Details

• Hours: 8-12 hours/week
• Structure: Initial 3-month contract, with the option to renew in 3-month increments for up to 24 months total, contingent on performance and project needs
• Start date: September 15, 2026
• Compensation: $100-150/hour x 8-12 hours/week
• Location: Remote-friendly; occasional availability for team check-ins with university-based collaborators preferred
• Work product/IP: This is a work-for-hire arrangement — code and materials developed under this contract are owned by the university, consistent with standard university and state-grant IP terms. In most cases contractors will be able to reference this work in a portfolio; exact terms will be confirmed in the contract itself.

How to Apply

Complete the short application form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfGZpGumdGNlp1ieZF3-53W3eJhFoLB5SzKDwPKjfISxHBREQ/viewform

The form asks for your name, email, resume, a GitHub/code portfolio link, a short statement of interest, your experience with LLM/AI APIs, and confirmation of availability starting September 15.