Back-End Developer

Civic Minded is a new organization (LLC) that has been established with a goal of improving transparency in legislative policy in the United States. The organization is seeking a Back-End Developer to work hand-in-hand with the founder to build out a bare-bones prototype web platform. This initial phase is anticipated to last about 3 months focusing on a narrow geographic scope and functionality over finesse.

Job Title: Back-End Developer

Employment Type: Contract / Freelance / Part-Time (30-35 hrs/ week)

Location: Remote

Duration: Short-Term Prototype Project (3-4 months)

Key Responsibilities:

Technical

• Integrate APIs (e.g., Open States, Legistar, ProPublica) to fetch legislative data
• Set up backend infrastructure (basic database, data caching, serverless if possible)
• Normalize and store data in a lightweight, queryable structure (either SQL or NoSQL)
• Build APIs to expose relevant data to a simple front-end (e.g., RESTful or GraphQL)
• Implement unbiased summaries using off-the-shelf summarization models (e.g., Hugging Face Transformers)
• Deploy to a free-tier cloud service (e.g., Render, Vercel, or Heroku)
• Deliver documentation for API usage and data pipeline
• Build with an eye towards facilitating potential expansion

Communication/Coordination

• Regular (daily) communication with the founder on timelines, planning, hurdles, opportunities, inspirations, costs, frustrations- you name it
• This phase is focused on learning, this will require the person in this role to embrace the learning experience while helping to bridge the gap for their non-technical (founder) counterpart/employer

Experience Desired:

• 2–4+ years in back-end development (basic front end principles will be helpful)
• Experience with API integration and JSON data parsing
• Familiarity with serverless architecture or Firebase/Vercel, and free-tier cloud platforms
• Bonus: NPL or AI summarization models

Role Details

• Initial role will be for 3-4 months on a part-time (30-35 hours per week) basis
• The output of this role will be considered as commissioned/directed work-for-hire (compilation /contribution to a collective work) for Civic Minded LLC.

Application process:

• Provide a CV of no more than 2 pages (specifying the work you were responsible for in each portfolio item)
• Include portfolio/links for works you have developed (front end, back end, linking external sources, etc)
• In the email body, include one or two sentences about why you would be an enthusiastic fit for this role
• CVs and portfolio links should be sent to Contactus@becivicminded.com ; CV reviews and interviews will be rolling, but an ideal start date would be early July 2025.