Prototype Developer

Program: ED/IES Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), Phase IA
Engagement: Contract, part-time
Rate: $70 to $95 per hour, contingent on award
Position: Remote, U.S. only (U.S. citizen or permanent resident)

ApplyA structured application with a short work sample, about 30 to 40 minutes.
ReviewEvery application is read against the criteria below. You will hear back within five business days.
ConversationA 30-minute technical call about the prototype.
Build estimateReview the specification and estimate the Phase IA build: scope, time, and cost. About 10 to 15 hours, unpaid.
ProposalNamed on the submission for technology development.

The project

ORFF Maestra LLC is preparing a proposal to the U.S. Department of Education's SBIR program for an assessment reasoning and training platform for school-based speech-language pathologists. It implements TTL-MSM, a decision framework for the disorder-versus-difference determination in school eligibility evaluations.

The framework is fully specified in writing. Phase IA is a nine-month project: build the first working prototype, then pilot it with practicing school SLPs working constructed case profiles. No students or student records are involved in Phase IA.

The team includes a university research lead, who runs the pilot study, and the Project Director, who wrote the framework.

Project Director: Sybrey “Sunny” L. Callwood, CCC-SLP. The next ED/IES SBIR Phase IA solicitation has not yet been released.

The role

Before submission, review the specification and estimate the prototype build (scope, timeline, and cost) for the proposal's development plan and budget.
If funded, build the Phase IA prototype over the nine-month performance period as a web application clinicians use in a browser, with privacy and security built in from the start.
Fix issues that surface when clinicians test it during the pilot.
Be named on the proposal for technology development.

Strong candidates bring

Full-stack web development, with at least one application shipped to real users
Experience building for protected data (FERPA, HIPAA, or similar): access controls, encryption, and audit logging
Experience delivering a defined scope on a fixed timeline and budget
Experience building from a written specification for clients who are not engineers
Education technology or health technology experience (preferred)

Compensation

$70 to $95 per hour, contingent on award. If funded, the build runs about 15 to 20 hours a week over nine months, roughly 450 to 600 hours.

Before submission, the specification review and build estimate take about 10 to 15 hours and are unpaid.

How applications are reviewed

Each application is read against the same five criteria.

Criterion	What we look for
Build experience	You have shipped a web application and can describe what you built and your role in it.
Privacy by design	You plan for FERPA-protected student data from the first build, not as a later fix.
Precision	You can implement written rules exactly as specified and show that they work.
Realistic scoping	Your sense of what fits in nine months and a lean budget holds up.
Capacity	You can provide an estimate before submission and meet the nine-month commitment.

Apply

All fields are required unless marked optional. Questions: sybrey@orffmaestra.com

About you

Full name

State of residence

I am a U.S. citizen or permanent resident (green card holder), and I would perform this work in the United States.

Current or most recent roleTitle and organization, or independent.

Link to your workGitHub, a portfolio, LinkedIn, or a shared résumé. Please check that it opens without signing in.

Experience and capacity

Describe one web application you built that handled personal or sensitive data: what it did, the stack, and your role.About 100 to 200 words.

Can you review the specification and provide a build estimate within the next six weeks?

Yes No

If funded, can you commit part-time for nine months?

Yes Unsure No

Work sample

The prototype is designed to support school SLPs through three steps: choosing which sources of evidence to gather for an assessment and seeing what they cover (a public version is at callwoodslp.com/matrix); coding each source as supporting disorder or difference and combining the codes with a fixed rule (a public version of the table is at callwoodslp.com/table); and getting feedback on the reasoning in the clinician's written determination.

The rules for each step are already written down in detail. What does not exist yet is software.

The Phase IA pilot uses constructed cases, but the finished product will handle student records protected by FERPA. What would you build into the prototype from the start so the product is ready for student data later, and what would you leave until then?About 150 to 250 words.

Part of the prototype applies fixed written rules, such as combining coded sources against a threshold. How would you build and test that logic so it does exactly what the specification says?About 100 to 200 words.

What stack would you choose for a nine-month prototype that clinicians use in a browser, and why? What would you avoid?About 100 to 200 words.

One last thing

Where did you hear about this role? Optional.

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