iOS Developer (Embedded at UCLA Kasari Lab)
Company: SKIES (Visual Choices AAC)
Location: Los Angeles, CA (Onsite)
Type: Full-time, 6-month contract
Compensation: $65k ($130k annualized)
Start Date: January 2027
About the Role
3% of children are autistic. 30% of them at age 9 remain minimally verbal: a handful of single words, never put together into a sentence.
The Kasari Lab at UCLA, one of the top autism research groups in the world, has developed a play-based intervention that helps minimally verbal autistic children. Over 24 weeks, many make real gains in communication and social connection. However, because it combines assistive tech setup with play improvisation, it is challenging to deliver and is not yet standard practice.
You will build Visual Play, an app that takes pieces of this intervention (and others) and makes them easier for regular clinicians to use while playing with a child. You will be embedded in the lab from day one, paired with an implementation lead who spends their weeks with clinicians. You will own the app end-to-end.
Visual Play is funded by an NIH SBIR award to SKIES, a small Pasadena company started by Caltech alums. We make Visual Choices, one of the most-used communication apps for early communicators. This is a six-month Phase I project; if the prototype works, Phase II follows, and so does the product.
Requirements
An ideal candidate:
- Is comfortable being close to, and taking feedback from, researchers and clinicians.
- Has shipped real native iOS apps.
- Uses AI as a force multiplier, but understands the code it produces and is not dependent on it.
- Builds large and complex, yet maintainable, systems.
- Is resourceful, motivated, and tenacious.
- Is a calm, respectful presence in a research lab.
Logistics
- Location: In-person at UCLA, five days a week.
- Interview Process: Includes a 60-minute collaborative coding session (no AI assistants allowed).
How to Apply
- More Information: https://skieslearn.com/ndbi/jobs/developer
- Contact: julius@skieslearn.com