Developer (Data and Usage Analytics)

Description

The Digital Public Library of America seeks a full-time Developer to support large-scale processing and analysis of descriptions of and usage data about open access materials from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. This position will be directly involved in improving DPLA’s ingestion and extract, transform, and load processes, in addition to helping develop processes and platforms to identify usage patterns of content aggregated by DPLA across user-facing platforms, social media, and APIs.

We are seeking a curious and enthusiastic individual who recognizes both their technical strengths and areas for growth, who can help us work effectively to further DPLA’s mission to bring together the riches of America’s libraries, archives, and museums, and make them freely available to all. A belief in this mission, and the drive to accomplish it over time in a collaborative spirit within and beyond the organization, is essential.

Responsibilities

Reporting to the Director for Technology, the Developer:

• Improves DPLA’s metadata ingestion and ETL processes to generate RDF metadata and address data quality issues at scale in a repeatable manner over time.
• Implements hooks and workflows for data collection, analysis and reporting on data quality and usage metrics throughout DPLA’s infrastructure.
• Collaborates closely with internal and external stakeholders in data management and reuse of DPLA content, including the DPLA Data Services Coordinator, DPLA engagement and use staff, and staff at DPLA partner institutions.
• Actively contributes to the development of staff- and partner-facing tools for data analysis and business intelligence.
• Performs other related duties and participates in special projects as assigned.

As a member of the DPLA Technology Team, the Developer:

• Contributes to design, development, testing, integration, support, and documentation of user-facing applications and back-end systems.
• Supports content management policies, process, and workflows, and contributes to the development of new ones.
• Collaborates with internal and external stakeholders in planning and implementation of applications supporting DPLA’s mission, strategic plan, and special initiatives.
• Maintains knowledge of emerging technologies to support the DPLA’s evolving services.
• Embodies and promotes the philosophy of open source, shared, and community-built software and technologies.
• Ensures both high quality and reasonable throughput in data processing.
• Brings creative vision around possibilities for work with data that we haven’t yet imagined.

Requirements

• 5+ years professional experience in software development or a related discipline.
• A proven ability to build large, reliable, and scalable infrastructure.
• Experience with data integration to support analytics and business intelligence.
• Demonstrated experience with REST API design.
• Demonstrated experience working effectively in a team environment and the ability to interact well with stakeholders.
• Desire and enthusiasm about learning new toolsets, programming languages, or methods to support software development.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Excellent problem-solving and organizational skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with extract-transform-load workflows with varying input sources.
• Broad experience and understanding of analysis and aggregation of metrics from heterogenous sources, including usage analytics
• Experience developing visualizations, dashboards, or other user-facing tools to support business intelligence.
• Advanced knowledge of semantic web technologies such as RDF, SPARQL, and LDP, and semantic enrichment and reconciliation processes.
• Demonstrated experience with standards, data models, and protocols including Dublin Core, MODS, METS, MARCXML, IIIF, OAI-PMH, OAI-ORE, and ResourceSync.
• A successful history of working effectively in a geographically-distributed organization.

This position is full-time. DPLA is a geographically-distributed organization, with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. Ideally, this position would be situated in the Northeast Corridor between Washington and Boston, but remote work based in other locations will also be considered.

Like its collection, DPLA is strongly committed to diversity in all of its forms. We provide a full set of benefits, including health care, life and disability insurance, and a retirement plan. Starting salary is commensurate with experience.

About DPLA

The Digital Public Library of America strives to contain the full breadth of human expression, from the written word, to works of art and culture, to records of America’s heritage, to the efforts and data of science. Since launching in April 2013, it has aggregated more than 13 million items from 2,000 institutions. DPLA is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit.

To apply, send a letter of interest detailing your qualifications, resume and a list of 3 references in a single PDF to jobs@dp.la. First preference will be given to applications received by July 15, 2016, and review will continue until the position is filled.