Research programmer - games, simulations, public policy

We are hiring a research programmer to help us define and shape a new generation of tools and processes that better public policy. Fields of View is an interdisciplinary group with diverse life and work experiences and each piece of our work is informed by these.

About The Work
A programmer at Fields of View wears many hats. The nature of our work means that projects span from complex simulations to data heavy interfaces to lightweight web apps. As a programmer you'll be expected to contribute to all these in varying capacities. Broadly, you will be :

• Designing, developing and documenting Django/Python based web apps for our simulations and other policy related tools
• Developing high fidelity components that interface with various data sources for our digital games
• Developing single and multiple dimension visualisation tools
• Involved in testing (using manual and/or automated means) our simulations and games

As our work is cutting-edge, in terms of both design and research, the programmer has to have the ability to quickly adapt; therefore a strong base in first principles is a must. Here's a quick snapshot of our most recent work

• Developed a visualisation tool for Bangalore's bus transport agency BMTC using GTFS specifications to get a better sense of route intersections, timings and coverage
• In conjunction with the local government of Chennai, developed and deployed an agent based simulation tool,SIMULOGUE, to help its various agencies plan in a more integrated manner
• Developed a game, Cantors World, to help students and policy makers understand and refine measures of development, growth and progress. This game uses real data from over 100 countries spread over 20 years provided by the UN
• Developed Phoenix, a distributed and modular agent based simulation platform, to help us refine and push the state of the art in approaches to using tools like these

About You
We are looking for someone with solid, strong fundamentals in Python or Ruby with knowledge of JAVA or C# for infrastructure code. You should have written a web application using bare metal techniques or used a mature framework like Django or Rails. We expect you to know how to connect to and use databases like PostgreSQL and/or MySQL using high performance libraries.

You'll have a leg up if you also have development experience in Java and/or C++. Bonus points also if you have proficiency in using various GIS tools, have exposure to various simulation tools like NetLogo, AnyLogic, MATSIM etc, have contributed to open source projects and can in a pinch do basic server admin work.

Our work by nature is complex, so we don't expect you to know everything on day one, but you should have the ability to grasp things quickly and have a voracious appetite for reading and imbibing the latest research and techniques.

Given the small nature and diverse nature of our team, you should be comfortable explaining deep technical concepts to those who may not be as technology aware as you. Our work has real world consequences and we expect you to fight for and commit to your ideas. We challenge our assumptions and approaches constantly and you must be able to take feedback dispassionately.

Why Work at Fields of View

• We have collaborations with Indian and international universities, and you get access to cutting edge research in data and policy.
• Depending on your interest, you will contribute to research papers, and we have published in major journals.
• Your work will contribute to applications in addressing social problems.
• The portfolio of projects done at Fields of View have paved the way for our colleagues to pursue masters/Phd courses

The Application Process
Please mail with your CV and a few words about why you want to work with us. Women are strongly encouraged to apply.

We will review your application and setup a quick phone call. The phone call acts as a good way to introduce yourself and for us to let you know a bit more about our work. This call will be followed up with an assignment.

The assignment will involve a cross section of the kind of work you'll do with us — from research to drawing up a quick concept note to actually coding. You take as much time as you want to complete the assignment, but we've noted that it takes on average about 7 days to finish.

If we like your approach to the assignment (and your code sample), we invite you to spend a day with us. You can pepper us with more questions and get to know the rest of the team. Once this is done, and if you like us and we like you, we will extend an offer within 3 days.

Other Notes

• Fields of View is a non-profit organisation.
• The position is based in Bangalore
• Our office is in JP Nagar, close to Rangashankara