Technology Advisor (Contractor)

Description

The Product Management Department within the Office of Publications and Databases at the American Psychological Association (APA) is seeking a highly qualified, experienced Technology Advisor specializing in functional and technology needs assessment with particular emphasis on surveying technology opportunities and documenting the results. The APA is interested in enriching and expanding the current researcher toolkit for the academic community, which includes researchers, undergraduate/graduate students, librarians, and others.  The APA seeks assistance in identifying and selecting new technologies that will serve as the foundation for new product concepts and enhancement initiatives. The Technology Advisor will guide the APA through the consideration of technology tools to help build and transform our current content alerting capabilities into a new breed of personalized researcher-based current awareness and alerting tools. The Technology Advisor should have knowledge of how academic researchers seek and use online information from a variety sources, e.g., publisher databases, online journals and books, conference papers, news, aggregator services, and Google/Google Scholar, etc.   The ideal candidate should have extensive experience in doing technology sweeps and providing recommendations about innovative technologies and/or partnerships and their effectiveness and deficiencies/limitations including costs (licensing vs purchase).  We want an open-minded and creative candidate who enjoys uncovering the best technological solutions and the most effective methodologies to help craft a better researcher workflow. The candidate must have an appetite for technology, be an avid digital consumer and understand market trends in the publishing industry.  Expert knowledge of emerging technologies and careful judgment is needed. It is important that the candidate be able to present his/her findings of the technology assessment to APA business partners/stakeholders, explain how the task was accomplished, and provide rationale for a recommendation to select one technology or one technology partner over another.

This is a 6-month contract opportunity.

Technical Skills

·      A bachelor’s degree in computer science, information science, design, or related technical field, or equivalent industry experience

·      Experience and skills in information systems, issues, and challenges, including development of technology solutions

·      Track record in conducting technology assessments and evaluating the effectiveness of various software tools

·      Ability to follow standard technology needs assessment protocols

·      5+ years experience within a design-focused environment or as a member of a design team or a front-end engineer working closely with designers

·      Familiarity with design and prototyping tools such as Adobe CC, Principle, Axure, Proto.io

·      Experience with alpha/beta (A/B) testing

·      Experience in designing and delivering Android or iOS mobile applications

Other Qualifications

·      A motivated self-starter who stays on top of current technology trends

·      Demonstrated initiative, sound judgment, and effective decision making

·      Strong critical thinking and analytical skills

·      Experience in academic publishing industry

·      Must be results driven and passionate about delivering innovative solutions