Data Curation Specialist (2 positions)

Description

Positions Available: The expected start date is as soon as possible after the closing date.  These are 12 month, 100% time Academic Professional positions with the new Research Data Service program headquartered at the University Library.

Duties and Responsibilities:  The Research Data Service seeks innovative, collaborative, and service-oriented professionals for two Data Curation Specialist positions. The candidates will advance the campus’ Research Data Service program (http://researchdataservice.illinois.edu) by directly partnering with researchers and units to manage, curate, publish, and archive research data. This is an exciting opportunity to play a pivotal role in enabling world-class, data-driven research.

Specific areas of activity include but are not limited to:

• Advise and assist researchers in adoption and adaptation of best practices for the management of research data;
• Utilize experience working with different qualitative and quantitative data types and formats including numeric, geospatial, image, and video, etc. to effectively steward data;
• Advise and assist in development of workflows for the creation of metadata and provenance information for datasets from a variety of campus research efforts;
• Perform format assessment and migration support;
• Provide expert analysis of technical requirements; identify and recommend potential software and tools for data re-use, management, and curation;
• Assist researchers in preparation and deposition of datasets into institutional or discipline-specific repositories

The positions will require the ability to identify and prioritize needs, establish protocols, and creatively problem-solve both independently and as part of a team.  The candidates will play an important role in the campus’ new Research Data Service at the University Library by interfacing with campus researchers, data service librarians, and the Research Data Service group.  This will include participating in continued planning and development of campus-wide services, tools, and infrastructure for research data as well as applying information science curation, preservation, and archiving principles.

Environment: Headquartered in the University Library, the Research Data Service is a partnership between the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, the Library, GSLIS, CITES, and NCSA.  The service provides the Illinois Research Community with the expertise, tools, and infrastructure necessary to manage and steward research data.

Qualifications:
Required:

• Bachelor’s degree
• Two years’ experience working in an academic research environment OR an advanced degree in an informatics-oriented or research-oriented discipline
• Data management experience
• Ability to communicate effectively with researchers from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects at once, to set priorities, meet deadlines, and work in teams

Preferred:

• Advanced degree in an informatics-oriented or research-oriented discipline
• Two or more years of professional experience managing research data including compliance with funding agency requirements
• Familiarity with database or repository structure and development
• Demonstrated ability to identify and vet resources and tools for data sharing, analysis, and archiving

Salary: Salary is competitive and commensurate with credentials and experience.

Terms of Appointment: 100% time. Twelve-month appointment; 24 annual vacation days; 11 annual paid holidays; 12 annual sick-leave days (cumulative), plus an additional 13 sick-leave days (non-cumulative) available, if needed, each year; health insurance requiring a small co-payment is provided to employee (with the option to purchase coverage for spouse and dependents); required participation in State Universities Retirement System (SURS) (8% of annual salary is withheld and is refundable upon termination), with several options for participation in additional retirement plans; newly-hired employees are covered by the Medicare portion of Social Security and are subject to its deduction.

Campus & Community: The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a comprehensive and major public land-grant university (Doctoral/Research University-Extensive) 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 3,000 faculty members who serve 31,000 undergraduates and 12,000 graduate and professional students; approximately 25% of faculty receives campus-wide recognition each year for excellence in teaching. More information about the campus is available at www.illinois.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 Indianapolis, and 170 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 institution. For more information about the community, visit: http://illinois.edu/about/community/community.html or http://www.ccchamber.org/.