Urban Data Applications Developer

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Posting Information:
This posting is for an existing vacancy.

The internal posting deadline for this position is April 30th, 2026, at 11:59PM

This position is contingent on funding.

Job Description:

Primary Purpose

At the Future Cities Institute, you will have the opportunity to apply your technical skills to projects that make a real difference in communities. This role is not just about coding or building visualizations, it is about creating tools that are actively used by municipalities, community partners, and industry to address critical challenges in housing, infrastructure, and mobility. You will be part of a collaborative environment where developers, researchers, and students work side by side, and you will see your work move quickly from concept to practice. Joining FCI means contributing to meaningful change while building innovative products at the intersection of technology and social impact. 

The Urban Data Applications Developer will directly contribute to FCI’s mission of shaping sustainable, inclusive, and resilient cities. The tools created in this role will help municipalities make transparent and evidence-based decisions on issues such as affordable housing, infrastructure investment, and sustainable mobility. By transforming data into accessible platforms, the developer will support community partners, policymakers, and researchers in tackling some of the most pressing urban challenges of our time. This is an opportunity to combine technical expertise with social purpose, ensuring that innovation in data and visualization leads to measurable impact on the ground. 

The Urban Data Applications Developer will take the lead in designing and delivering public-facing web tools, interactive maps, dashboards, and digital stories that make urban research accessible to broad audiences. This position is essential to supporting the work of FCI’s current and recent co-op students, ensuring consistency across the backend and front end of all FCI tools. The developer will work closely with research cluster leads, project leads, and faculty partners to ensure outputs are coordinated, reliable, and impactful. In addition, the role will contribute to developing an FCI Data Visualization Style Guide to establish consistency and best practices across all visualization artifacts.

Key Accountabilities

·       Design and build interactive dashboards, maps, web applications, and visualization tools that communicate urban data and research findings. 

·       Carry out data wrangling, cleaning, and analysis to ensure high-quality inputs for visualization and decision-support systems. 

·       Lead end-to-end development processes including design, coding, deployment, and documentation, ensuring products are reliable, reproducible, and user-friendly. 

·       Develop and maintain data pipelines and back-end systems to integrate geospatial, demographic, and municipal datasets.

·       Work with faculty, research cluster and project leads, students, and external partners to deliver products addressing real-world housing, infrastructure, and mobility challenges.

·       Supervise and mentor co-op students engaged in technical projects, providing direction, feedback, and skill-building support. 

·       Lead the creation of an FCI Data Visualization Style Guide to ensure consistency across reports, dashboards, and applications. 

·       Contribute to training and capacity-building workshops for both FCI staff and external stakeholders on the use of developed tools and visualization best practices.

·       Support grant proposals, technical reports, and research publications through high-quality data visualizations and digital products. 

·       Maintain code repositories, documentation, and open-source contributions to ensure the long-term sustainability and transparency of FCI outputs.  

Required Qualifications

Education

·       At least a Master’s Degree in computer science, software engineering, data science, architecture, GIS, or a related STEM discipline. 

Experience

·       Experience in web graphics, full stack development, and architecting and modeling web applications.

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities

·       Strong programming and analysis skills across three tech stacks: 

·       Data analysis: e.g., R, Python 

·       Business intelligence stack: e.g., Excel, PowerPoint, Power BI, Tableau 

·       Web-based data visualization stack: e.g., Node.js or Flask server-side; TypeScript with React, Vue, or Svelte for front-end development 

·       Proficiency in data visualization libraries and frameworks such as D3.js, Vega/Vega-lite, Plotly, or similar. 

·       Experience working with geospatial tools such as ArcGIS, Mapbox, and ideally libraries such as deck.gl for 3D visualization. 

·       Familiarity with modelling and simulation approaches for housing, infrastructure, or transportation systems is an asset. 

·       Experience with cloud platforms and containerization (AWS, GCP, Docker) is an advantage. 

·       Familiarity with AI tools for assisting in data cleaning, analysis, and development. 

·       Strong design and communication skills, with the ability to create clear, accessible user interfaces. 

·       Proficiency with design and prototyping tools such as Adobe Illustrator and Figma for static visualization and mockups. 

·       Ability to supervise and mentor students, fostering collaboration and skill development.  

Equity Statement
The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is coordinated within the Office of Indigenous Relations.
The University values the diverse and intersectional identities of its students, faculty, and staff. The University regards equity and diversity as an integral part of academic excellence and is committed to accessibility for all employees. The University of Waterloo seeks applicants who embrace our values of equity, anti-racism and inclusion.  As such, we encourage applications from candidates who have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized, including applicants who identify as First Nations, Métis and/or Inuk (Inuit), Black, racialized, a person with a disability, women and/or 2SLGBTQ+.
Positions are open to qualified candidates who are legally entitled to work in Canada.
The University of Waterloo is committed to accessibility for persons with disabilities. If you have any application, interview, or workplace accommodation requests, please contact Human Resources at [email protected] or 519-888-4567, ext. 45935.