Digital Library Access Engineer

Description

Digital Library Access Engineer, DLSS, Stanford University Libraries - 61042
Description

This is a 4 year, fixed-term position in the library’s Digital Library Systems and Services group, with the possibility for renewal. This position is a double posting at the 4P3 and 4P4 grades.

Stanford University Libraries is seeking an enthusiastic and talented software engineer to support infrastructure and services as part of its digital library, an internationally recognized technology program developing innovative solutions to advance teaching, learning and research at one of the world’s leading universities. We are a mission-driven organization that emphasizes open, collaborative work and community engagement within Stanford and with partner institutions around the world.

This position will be a key contributor to a dynamic team of technologists, architects and information professionals defining the library of the future. Come work in an agile-inspired, test-driven, team environment, balancing the rapid and incremental delivery of new features with operational robustness. Join us to realize the benefits of working with one of the most talented technology teams in Silicon Valley to support Stanford scholars in one of the nation’s most inspiring campus environments, in the heart of the beautiful Bay Area.

Duties and Responsibilities

Software engineering for the Stanford Digital Library’s discovery and delivery applications (60%). Work as part of the application development team on the Stanford Digital Library’s discovery applications, primarily using Ruby on Rails, solr, and javascript. Enhance SearchWorks (http://searchworks.stanford.edu) and other digital content delivery environments, including systems for managing and delivering archival content. As part of a team of digital library experts, enhance functionality, add data sources, and integrate external services to maximize access to library assets and value to patrons. Participate in the design and development of all levels of the “discovery stack”, including engineering for web, application, data store, search, data processing flows, user-centered design and analytics. Understand, apply and assist in the creation of access systems appropriate for different resource types (e.g., catalog records, archives, digital collections, full text, media, web harvests, research data) and different user needs.

Track and apply known and emerging best practices in digital resource access for both human and machine users, such as schema.org, RDF, linked data, and (web) analytics. (20%) Expand DLSS’s current web analytics program and propose new strategies for leveraging analytics data to improve discoverability of SUL content. Contribute to data modeling, transformations and engineering efforts to leverage and bridge both XML- and RDF-based metadata and object representations. 

Community Engagement (20%) Represent Stanford in digital library communities, particularly key strategic open source partnerships like Fedora, Hydra and Blacklight. Identify and adapt code that fits Stanford’s environment. Document and disseminate Stanford development and operational solutions to other adopters and potential code contributors. Track and apply industry best practices, tools and methodologies to Stanford digital library development and operations efforts.

Qualifications

Demonstrated experience with, or capacity to learn, Ruby on Rails for application development and for engineering in an enhanced framework, including plug-ins, engines and gems.
Demonstrated experience with, or capacity to learn, solr for indexing and searching of content.
Demonstrated experience in the development and delivery of software that meets requirements for quality,scale, and robustness in a large-scale production environment, incorporating heterogeneous hardware (storage, network, servers), dealing with issues of persistence, caching, bandwidth, I/O, load balancing, etc. at a large scale(high volume, large files, many instances).
Working knowledge of or ability to adopt and apply agile software development practices and test driven development principles.Ability to understand best practices for software development, and an ability to introduce and reinforce application of those practices in a team environment.
Demonstrated ability writing solid,simple, elegant code both independently and in a team-programming environment,and within schedule limitations.
Experience working collaboratively on a project from specification to launch; ability to work with multiple levels of staff, and within open source communities; good verbal and written communication skills.
A candidate at the 4P3 level will require three or more years relevant experience engineering applications or services in a data-driven software environment. At the 4P4 level, candidates must have seven or more years of relevant experience, and must have demonstrated senior-level contributions and/or leadership roles in analogous environments. 

Desired Skills

Prior experience in development support tools used in our environment is a plus: Git, Puppet, Tomcat, Capistrano,Hudson, JIRA, etc.
Prior success in working in an academic environment.; experience in the digital library community is a plus.
Familiarity with digital asset management and repository-related applications.
Experience contributing to community-based open source projects, including but not limited to those relevant to the Stanford Libraries’ digital library architecture.