Python Automation Developer – Build/Higher Education Research & Gmail Outreach Tool

I am looking for an experienced **Python automation / full-stack developer** to build a private, reusable system for automated higher-education contact research and Gmail outreach. This is a **one-time software development project**. The goal is to have the system built, tested, deployed, documented, and handed over so it can operate independently on an ongoing basis after completion. The application should automatically identify relevant academic decision-makers from publicly available college and university webpages, such as deans, department chairs, program directors, and similar academic leaders. Target job titles and academic disciplines should be configurable. For each contact, the system should collect and maintain information such as: * Institution * Contact name * Title * Department/program * Professional email address * Source webpage * Date discovered * Contact/outreach status A major requirement is **duplicate prevention and exclusion management**. The application must maintain a historical database and automatically check whether an institution, individual, email address, or department has already been contacted or should not be contacted before outreach occurs. The system should support configurable statuses such as blocked, do not contact, previously contacted, cooldown, invalid contact, and eligible for outreach. The application should integrate with an existing dedicated Gmail account using Google OAuth/Gmail API. For qualified contacts, it should be capable of automatically: * Creating a personalized email * Selecting an appropriate editable template * Inserting contact/institution information * Attaching a CV/resume * Sending the email through Gmail * Recording when and to whom the email was sent The expected volume is relatively low and highly targeted, approximately **30–50 emails per month**, typically around 1–2 messages per day. This is not a bulk-email or mass-marketing system. The system should also include configurable safeguards such as: * Maximum emails per day/month * Cooldown periods * Maximum contacts per institution or department * Confidence threshold for automatic sending * Ability to pause automated sending * A “Needs Review” queue for questionable or duplicate contacts I would also like a simple private administrative dashboard where an authorized user can: * Review/search contacts and institutions * Correct contact information * Add or remove exclusions * Mark duplicates * Modify target titles/disciplines * Edit email templates * Change automation settings * View outreach history * Export the contact database/history to Excel or CSV The contact-discovery and outreach process should be capable of running automatically on a configurable schedule. The system should be built as a maintainable application rather than a one-time scraping script. I am open to recommendations regarding the technology stack, but experience with the following would be helpful: * Python * Web scraping/data extraction * BeautifulSoup, Scrapy, Playwright, or similar * Databases * Gmail API / Google OAuth * Scheduled/background automation * Web-based admin dashboards * Data cleaning and deduplication * Excel/CSV export ### Important Handoff Requirement This system must continue operating after the development engagement ends. At completion, I will need: * Complete source code * Database/schema * Deployment/configuration files * Administrator access * Installation/deployment documentation * User documentation * Gmail/API configuration instructions * Backup/recovery instructions * A list of any third-party services or recurring costs The completed system should **not depend on the developer’s personal accounts, servers, API keys, or subscriptions after handoff**. Please include in your proposal: 1. How you would approach the project technically. 2. Examples of similar automation, scraping, CRM, or Gmail API projects you have completed. 3. Your recommended technology stack. 4. How you would handle the fact that college/university websites have different structures. 5. How you would prevent duplicate contacts and duplicate outreach over time. 6. Any third-party services or recurring costs you anticipate. 7. Confirmation that all source code and documentation will be provided at handoff. 8. Your proposed fixed-price cost and milestone structure. I am specifically seeking a developer to **build and hand over the completed automation system**, not an ongoing lead-generation or email-management service.