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Visiting Research Programmer

Visiting Research Programmer

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Job Location: Illinois Date Created: 10-02-2013

Position Available: The expected start date is as soon as possible after the closing date. These are two full-time visiting academic professional appointments in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Library Software Development Group. To date, two years of funding have been secured for one position; one year of funding has been secured for the second position. Positions may be extended or become permanent dependent upon future funding. Duties and Responsibilities: As part of a team of software developers and library faculty and staff, the persons in these positions will develop software programming for projects related to web discovery, access, preservation, digitization, education, and other library-related initiatives. Many of these initiatives are nationally prominent and funded by agencies such as IMLS, Mellon and NEH. These individuals will undertake modifications to improve accessibility, write scripts and process data for importing records, fix bugs and implement new requests as they occur, and participate in the design, development, testing, and evaluation of library software applications and databases. These individuals report to the Manager of Library IT Software Development Group (SDG), and in a grant environment, to the Principal Investigator or the Library lead on the project. Detailed job duties include but are not limited to the following: • Working with project stakeholders and senior programming staff to gather and analyze re-quirements for projects, and design approaches to meeting project requirements; • Working independently or as a member of a small team, responsibility for implementing the approved recommendations, especially for in-house development, but also for customi-zation or integration of purchased and open source software; • Fixing bugs or developing feature enhancement requests for the projects as they occur; • Applying best practices in various software development methodologies, including version control, automated testing and code refactoring, and leveraging appropriate programming frameworks and technical architectures to the requirements and proposed solutions; • Supervising student hourly or graduate assistant employees on work assignments; Environment: The University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign is one of the preeminent research libraries in the world. With more than 13 million volumes and significant digital re-sources, it ranks second in size among academic research libraries in the United States and first among public university libraries in the world. As the intellectual heart of the campus, the Li-brary is committed to maintaining the strongest possible collections and services and engaging in research and development activities in pursuit of the University’s mission of teaching, schol-arship, and public service. The Library currently employs approximately 90 faculty and 300 aca-demic professionals, staff, and graduate assistants. For more detailed information, please visit . The Library consists of multiple departmental libraries lo-cated across campus, as well as an array of central public, technical, and administrative service units. The Library also encompasses a variety of virtual service points and “embedded librarian” programs. The Software Development Group (SDG) consists of a dedicated corps (8.5 APs) of permanent and visiting information technology specialists, programmers, and student employees engaged in the development of software applications and systems in support of the mission of the Uni-versity of Illinois Library. The SDG staff also provides programming and technical support for grant-funded research and development projects in the Library. At their request, Library faculty who are engaged in software development or related activities are also considered adjunct members of the SDG. SDG developers work closely with Library faculty and staff to gather re-quirements, design, customize, and implement a wide variety of software applications, web ser-vices, and technical infrastructure, and provide support for grant-funded research projects. Op-portunities to investigate topics, techniques, skills, methods, and procedures of benefit to library projects and to develop professional skills may be available (5-10% of time, as determined with supervisor) as are opportunities to participate in other research grant projects in the Library. Qualifications: Required: Bachelor’s Degree; Solid understanding of core Web technologies; HTML, JavaScript, and CSS on the client Experience developing and deploying one or more rele-vant programming/scripting languages: Ruby, PHP, VB/ASP, Java, or .NET, or similar object-oriented language; Understanding of SQL relational databases; Some understanding of XML; Demonstrated ability to accurately convert client requirements and specifications into working code; Ability to work independently or under only general direction; Excellent oral and written communication skills. Preferred: Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field; Master’s degree or equivalent professional experience in Library and Information Science, Com-puter Science or related field; Experience with library commercial and open-source software tools, including relational databases, client/server and internet architectures, and information retrieval systems for searching and browsing; Experience in developing and coding interactive, data-driven Web applications in Ruby on Rails, .NET, and/or Java; Experience working in a UNIX/Linux command-line environment/ Linux Web and/or Windows Web development expe-rience, both on the server and client; Experience using current software development method-ologies and tools, such as agile and scrum, test driven development, source control and version-ing, and code refactoring; Experience working with library software development in an academ-ic library setting; Experience working with library metadata and interoperability standards (e.g., PREMIS, MARC, MODS, Dublin Core. OAI-PMH, schema.org). Experience with related tools and technologies (e.g., XSLT, XML schema, schema management and databases). Motivated and creative problem solver; Self-starter; proactive; resourceful; naturally inquisitive; desire to con-tinuously improve; Salary: Salary is competitive and is commensurate with experience and credentials. These are visiting academic professional positions. Terms of Appointment: Twelve month appointment; 24 work days of vacation per year, 11 paid holidays, 12 days annual sick leave (cumulative) plus an additional 13 days (non-cumulative) per year if necessary; health insurance, requiring a small co-payment, is provided to employees (coverage for dependents may be purchased); participation in the State Universities Retirement System, which includes several private options, is compulsory (8% of staff member’s salary is withheld and is refundable upon termination); newly hired university employees are covered by the Medicare portion of Social Security, and are subject to its deduction. Campus and Community: The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a comprehensive and major public land-grant university (Research Level 1) that is ranked among the best in the world. Chartered in 1867, it provides undergraduate and graduate education in more than 150 fields of study, conducts theoretical and applied research, and provides public service to the state and the nation. It employs 2,000 faculty members who serve 26,000 undergraduates and 10,000 graduate and professional students, approximately 25% of faculty receive campus wide recognition each year for excellence in teaching. More information about the campus is available at www.uiuc.edu. The University is located in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana, which have a combined population of 100,000 and are, situated about 140 miles south of Chicago, 120 miles west of Indi-anapolis, and 170 miles northeast of St. Louis. The University and its surrounding communities offer a cultural and recreational environment ideally suited to the work of a major research in-stitution. More information about the community can be found by visiting http://illinois.edu/about/community/community.html Apply: Apply online at https://jobs.illinois.edu/ Attach letter of application and complete re-sume, including names, addresses, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses of three (3) refer-ences to: Cindy Kelly, Head, Library Human Resources, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1408 W. Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801. For questions, please call: 217-333-8169. Deadline: In order to ensure maximum consideration, applications and nominations should be received by October 15, 2013. Illinois is an Affirmative Action /Equal Opportunity Employer and welcomes individuals with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and ideas who embrace and value diversity and inclusivity. www.inclusiveillinois.illinois.edu

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