Internal Apps Developer

Kadence Americas is hiring an Internal Apps Developer to build and maintain the web apps our projects rely on. This individual will be responsible for managing all active project apps (typically 1-3 concurrently) from initial scoping through live deployment. A strong candidate should be comfortable gathering requirements from stakeholders, rapidly prototyping well-designed interfaces, and iterating effectively as projects evolve. Given that projects often kick off with limited lead time and require rapid development, this role is expected to lean heavily on AI.

Kadence Americas is the US arm of Kadence International, a global research firm founded in 1991. We collect human-generated training data (text, image, video and audio) for large technology companies. Every project needs its own tooling, and a bug in a collection app means bad data for a client.

You will join a team of about 14 and work directly with project leads and the head of the Data team.

What you’ll do

You will own the apps that enable internal staff to record project data simply and reliably.

• Gather requirements from project leads, internal teams and sometimes clients: ask the right questions, surface edge cases, and turn a rough brief into a clear scope.
• Prototype quickly, put a usable first version in front of users within days of kickoff, then iterate on their feedback as projects evolve. Once our template library exists, we expect standard apps to be produced within a couple days.
• Use agentic AI coding tools daily, and review, test and debug what they generate before it reaches participants or client data.
• Design the data layer behind each app (relational schemas, file and media storage, client-ready exports) and work closely with the Data Team on the backend pipelines it feeds.
• Build validation, quality checks and dashboards so project managers can track progress and catch bad data early.
• Design clean, intuitive interfaces and dashboards that people can use with little or no training.
• Protect participant data: role-based access, consent capture, secure storage, and a security review before each launch.
• Configure or extend off-the-shelf tools when they fit better than a custom build.
• Build reusable components, templates and documentation so each new project starts faster and someone else can maintain what you ship.
• Maintain live apps and fix problems quickly while data is being collected, often across several active projects at once.

What you’ll bring

You can direct an AI-assisted build from brief to live app, and you know enough about how apps are built to catch what the AI gets wrong.

Directing AI-assisted builds

• Turning a rough brief into a short spec, a data model and acceptance criteria before you start prompting.
• Breaking a build into steps, managing context, and noticing when the model has drifted, invented something or gone in circles.
• Verifying output with tests, known-answer checks and review, rather than trusting a working demo.
• Taking over by hand when the AI is stuck.

Visual and interface design

• Strong visual design and UX judgment: clear hierarchy, consistent layout, sensible chart choice and restraint.
• The ability to turn a rough brief into a clean, intuitive interface that people can use without training.
• Skill at directing AI toward good design: setting standards, reviewing generated UI critically, and iterating until it looks and works right.

Knowing how apps are built

You do not need mastery of a specific framework. You do need to understand each area below well enough to direct it, review it and spot what’s missing.

• Data model: schemas, constraints, and SQL good enough to spot a fan-out join or a bad aggregation.
• Access control: authentication, roles and permissions, and what each type of user can see.
• File and media handling: uploads, private storage, signed links and large files.
• Validation and data quality: input checks, deduplication and client-ready exports.
• Personal data: consent capture, retention, deletion and secrets management.
• Front end basics: form flows, error states, mobile-first layouts and accessibility.
• Deployment and operations: hosting, repeatable deploys, logging and monitoring.
• Reading code: comfortable reading and reasoning about code in at least one mainstream language, such as Python or Javascript.

Engineering practice

• Version control (Git) and code review habits.
• Basic automated testing, including checking that AI-written tests actually test something real.
• Documentation that lets a teammate maintain your apps.

• 3+ years building and shipping software or data applications, or an equivalent portfolio.
• Clear communication with non-technical colleagues: you ask good questions of a rough brief and explain trade-offs plainly.
• Comfort managing several active projects at once, prioritizing across stakeholders with competing deadlines.

Nice to have

• Experience with AI training data, data labeling or annotation workflows, and tools such as CVAT, Label Studio or Labelbox.
• Capturing audio, video or image data in the browser or on mobile.
• Experience with privacy rules for personal and biometric data (GDPR, CCPA, Illinois BIPA).
• Background in data visualization or analytics engineering, such as SQL modeling and dashboards.

Who thrives here

You will do well here if you ship quickly without treating speed as permission to skip verification. Our apps need to be reliable enough to run a live study, not polished enterprise software.

• You would rather ship something useful on Friday than something perfect next month, and you know which corners never get cut: consent, access control and data integrity.
• You can start from a rough brief, fill the gaps with smart defaults, and ask the questions that matter.
• You treat AI tools as a force multiplier, and you read and understand every line that ships.
• You care about data quality, because bad data negatively impacts clients.
• You enjoy variety and can juggle several active projects at once: a new project, a new modality and a new problem every few weeks.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Pay: $95,000.00 - $105,000.00 per year, * 401(k)

• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance