JOB TITLE: Lead Web Developer

UNIVERSITY OF LINCOLN

JOB DESCRIPTION

DEPARTMENT: CERD

LOCATION: Brayford Pool

POST NUMBER: TLR1016

GRADE: 6

DATE: September 2011 – fixed term for 18 months

Context

This post is established within the Centre for Educational Research and Development (CERD) to work as Lead Developer on the JISC-funded ‘Orbital’ project. The Orbital project has been funded to develop, implement and pilot a new infrastructure for managing research data at the university. Further information on the Orbital project can be found at: http://lncn.eu/t48

Working closely with colleagues in the ICT Online Services team and Library, CERD has been successful in leading a number of innovative research and development projects that improve the use of technology in higher education and the University of Lincoln in particular. The new post of Lead Developer will work alongside colleagues in CERD, ICT and the Library to build on this recent success and contribute to the delivery of the Orbital project objectives.

The role requires extensive knowledge of the web and its attendant technologies and the software development and analytical skills to put this knowledge to good effect. In particular, candidates for the role should have demonstrable experience as both a producer and consumer of RESTful web services for large data stores.

Job Purpose

The post will contribute to the design, development and implementation of a university-wide infrastructure for managing research data.

Key Responsibilities

The post-holder will make a significant contribution to the following project deliverables:

 A requirements analysis for a pilot research data management infrastructure.  Implementation plans for a pilot research data management infrastructure including a technical plan and a clear indication of the involvement of stakeholders including commercial partner users, Library administration staff and university researchers.

The post-holder will lead on the following project deliverables:

 Development and implementation of a set of web services, which re-use and develop our previous, JISC-funded work as well as other initiatives (e.g. SWORD and DataCite DOIs).  Documented source code will be made available under an open source license by the end of the project.  Development and implementation of mechanisms for managing and transferring data, including the use of MongoDB, OAuth, read/write RESTful APIs, SWORD2 interoperability, and integration with the administrative functions of EPrints.

The post-holder will be responsible for the overall technical lead of the project, including:

Service Delivery  Negotiate, agree, set and measure service levels in collaboration with key stakeholders.  Diagnose and resolve issues and support incidents within agreed service levels.  Lead on the resolution of faults, issues and problems, many of which are complex and technical in nature, liaising and coordinating stakeholders as needed.  Manage procedural changes to improve the continuity and availability of service, collaborating with key stakeholders and ICT colleagues to ensure the reliability, security, availability and efficiency of the delivered services.

Liaison and Networking  Collaborate with stakeholders, end users and other teams within ICT to gather requirements and agree query and report specifications and test plans.  Promote the work of the Project and broader Academic Computing across the University.  Forge relationships with users and user departments to facilitate collaborative working.  Manage and maintain user requirements, ensuring that changes are properly documented, managed and controlled.  Manage small project teams, including cross-ICT and inter-department projects, planning, coordinating and monitoring the work and the resources needed to achieve a successful conclusion.  Advise and influence team stakeholders to ensure project success.  Liaise with users and report progress during projects, highlighting risks and issues and escalating appropriately.  Provide training to technical staff within ICT.  Provide training to non-technical staff on reporting mechanisms and other data matters.

Query and Report Development  Manage the investigation of corporate data requirements.  Specify, develop, document and support queries and reports in line with requirements and service levels.  Manage amendments to queries and reports.  Develop request and report administration and management procedures, and the systems used to support this.  Manage report development projects in line with project management methodology, including planning, monitoring and control to ensure that reports are delivered with time, scope and budget constraints.  Manage report testing, including stakeholder coordination and sign-off.  Provide advice and training in the use of queries and operational reports and their delivery mechanisms.  Research and develop new ways of providing information with the aim of increasing completeness, accuracy, timeliness, relevance and accessibility of information, making decisions that influence how information is provided to the University as well as external bodies.

From time to time, as directed, the post holder will be required to mentor other project staff. The post-holder will be joined by a further developer from April 2012 and be expected to lead the development and implementation of the project deliverables.

The post-holder will also be expected to contribute to project workshops and attend relevant JISC Programme events.

Other Duties

Maintain confidentiality in respect of all areas of the job responsibilities and to be aware of current University policy on the Data Protection Act 1998.

Comply with the University’s health and safety and equality and diversity policies in the undertaking of the job responsibilities, and to observe other University requirements relevant to the duties of the post.

Undertake any staff development deemed necessary for the effective performance of duties assigned to the post.

Undertake such duties as may reasonably be requested and that are commensurate with the nature and grade of the post.

The postholder may be required to work the occasional evenings and weekends.

KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

INTERNAL

Project staff working in CERD, ICT, Library, School of Engineering

EXTERNAL

The JISC ‘Managing Research Data’ Programme of projects, Similar developers in the Higher Education sector, Hardware and software vendors. UNIVERSITY OF LINCOLN

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Job Title: Lead Web Developer Post Number: TLR1016 Date: September 2011

Selection Criteria Essential Where Evidenced (E) or Application (A) Desirable Interview (I) (D)

Knowledge, Training and Qualifications:

Graduate or equivalent E A

Awareness of developments in the IT industry D I

A good understanding of the HE Sector D I

Proven technical skills in databases and PC applications E A/I

A good understanding of web systems technologies E A/I

Familiarity with programming languages E A/I

Experience: Relevant previous experience in development and D A/I deployment of on-line services

Proven record of delivering results within a given D A/I timescale through sound experience of project management

Team working E I

Experience of web development languages (e.g. E A/I HTML/CSS/PHP/Ruby/Python)

Experience of the LAMP stack E A/I (Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP)

Experience of MongoDB Databases D A/I

Skills and Knowledge: Proven analysis and problem solving E A/I

Good written and verbal communications D A/I

Organisation and planning D A/I

E A/I Excellent Interpersonal E A/I Knowledge of modern web technologies and standards

Competencies & Personal Attributes: Ability to demonstrate creative and innovative ways of E A/I thinking Ability to work with minimum supervision E A/I Ability to work with students E A/I Ability to work with academic and support staff E A/I

Essential Requirements are those, without which, a candidate would not be able to do the job. Desirable Requirements are those which would be useful for the post holder to possess and will be considered when more than one applicant meets the essential requirements.