[OSGeo Africa] Fwd: [ppgis] Job advert: Senior developer at the Extreme Citizen Science (ExCiteS) group (UCL)

Tim Sutton tim at linfiniti.com
Sat May 4 07:46:18 PDT 2013 

Hi All

In case anyone is interested to go and work in London for a year, here is a
nice opportunity for FOSSGIS practicitiioners:

Regards

Tim

From: "Muki Haklay" <m.haklay at ucl.ac.uk>
Date: 4 May 2013 11:09
Subject: [ppgis] Job advert: Senior developer at the Extreme Citizen
Science (ExCiteS) group (UCL)
To: "Open Forum on Participatory Geographic Information Systems and
Technologies" <ppgis at dgroups.org>
Cc:

 Hi,****

Please forward this to suitable mailing lists.****

Thanks in advance!****

Muki****

**Senior Developer at the Extreme Citizen Science (ExCiteS) group (UCL)*****
*

We are looking for an experienced and talented Senior Programmer with
interest in open source geographic web technologies. The main duties and
responsibilities of the Extreme Citizen Science (ExCiteS) Senior Developer
will include, but not be limited to the redevelopment of a Community Maps
platform (www.communitymaps.org.uk) using open source and current
technologies. This system is used to support communities across the world –
from the Arctic to the suburbs of London and the Congo-basin – in
collecting information about their environment and act on the information
in ways that lead to positive change. The appointee will also provide
assistance in making decisions about technologies that will be used in
various projects with the ExCiteS group (see
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/excites/excitingsfolder), and basic knowledge in
managing the servers that will be used in deployment of the software is
necessary. The job includes collaboration and guidance of the software
development team which includes research assistants, MSc and PhD students
and postdoctoral fellows. ****

The appointee will have an opportunity to develop a portfolio of experience
in projects that lead to tangible social change, working within a diverse
team that bring knowledge from anthropology, geography, computer science,
human-computer interaction and other areas. As a result, the role will
include experimentation and exploration of new approaches and technologies.
Travel to professional and academic conferences, as well as field visits,
will be expected. The work environment is collaborative, supportive and
friendly with flexible working arrangements (see
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/benefits/employee_benefits.php).  ****

The post is available for immediate start and is for 1 year in the first
instance with an option to extend it a further year in agreement with
suitable appointee. This position falls within the occupation skills that
are eligible for work permit, and we welcome applications that will require
it.  ****

*Key Requirements*****

The candidate will have extensive experience working as a web developer,
ideally within standards-based projects and using Open Source technologies,
and will also be experienced with project management. They will have to
have knowledge of up-to-date, open source, spatial and non-spatially
enabled technologies and be able to quickly pick up and adapt to new
development environments, particularly as we wish to move into HTML5 and
mobile development, and base some of our technologies on open APIs. The
ideal candidate should be able to use object-oriented methodologies and
tools to analyse, design and implement software tools, as well as have
experience in designing and implementing API architectures to further
extend the current software systems. They will also need to have a solid
foundation in structures and standards, properly utilising code management
systems (such as GitHub), designing robust code in an easily extensible
way, and ensuring that the viability of solutions extend far beyond the
lifetime of the research projects themselves. It is imperative that they
are able to communicate technically complex information in an
understandable way.****

Salary (inclusive of London allowance) will be in the range of £40,216 -
£47,441 per annum****

Place of work: department of civil, environmental and geomatic engineering,
UCL, Gower street, London. ****

If you have any queries regarding the vacancy or the application process,
please contact Prof. Muki Haklay, m.haklay at ucl.ac.uk , +44 (0)20 7679 2745.*
***

For further details (see below) and to apply (closing date 4th June)
https://atsv7.wcn.co.uk/search_engine/jobs.cgi?owner=5041178&ownertype=fair&jcode=1331038
****

** **

*Further details *****

Job Title: Senior Developer at the Extreme Citizen Science group ****

Ref 1331038****

Further Details ****

Job Description – duties****

Title: Extreme Citizen Science Senior Software developers ** **

Department: Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering****

Base Location: UCL Bloomsbury Campus, London****

Reports to: Prof. Muki Haklay****

Works closely with: The various members of the Extreme Citizen Science
group and their research participants (
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/excites/team_members)****

Context: The Extreme Citizen Science research group was formed in 2011 by
Prof. Muki Haklay, Dr. Jerome Lewis, and Dr. Claire Ellul as an
interdisciplinary initiative to push the boundaries of how we use and
understand the world around us. The various projects that they are involved
in have this common thread, and as such, are being brought together under
one goal and one initiative to share resources and knowledge. Some of the
projects include Adaptable Suburbs (www.ucl.ac.uk/adaptablesuburbs);
Everyaware (http://www.everyaware.eu/); Intelligent Maps and others as
explained on our website (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/excites and
http://uclexcites.wordpress.com )****

The main web mapping platform that is to be used throughout the projects is
Community Maps (www.communitymaps.org.uk) developed by Mapping for Change (
www.mappingforchange.org.uk) and researchers at UCL. Mapping for change
(MfC) is a social enterprise owned by UCL and specialises in work involving
local communities in changing, developing or sustaining their environment
and in helping them make the links between local action and bigger national
and global issues through the application of mapping. MfC provide
participatory mapping services to communities, voluntary sector
organisations, local authorities and developers using a suite of innovative
tools for communication. During the 4 years of its operation, it has
reached out and supported various communities around the world, allowing
people to communicate their information through Community Maps. This
in-house developed, bespoke web map platform, based on open source
technologies, has enabled various projects to visualise complex issues, to
assess patterns of activities, action and needs , and continues to do so.
However, to keep up with the latest technologies and to meet the growing
demands of researchers and clients the platform will need to be re-written
to ensure cross-compatibility with the latest services and technologies.****

Main purpose of the job: The first role of the Extreme Citizen Science
Senior Developer will be to rewrite the Community Maps platform using the
latest open-source technologies to enable the platform to plug into further
research projects and keep up with the trends in technology (mobile app
development, integration into social media, realisation as an API for
further extensibility, linking to external APIs to offer social media
extensibility and linking to open data sources). They will need to quickly
adapt to shifts and demands that may arise within the research group, as
well as provide direction and expertise to developing and establishing
projects to ensure longevity and sustainability. We aim to open the API as
an open source and part of the role will be to manage the project and to
advocate its use, as well as to encourage further development. ****

Main duties and responsibilities: The developer will be responsible for
leading ExCiteS software development, occasionally supervising one or more
junior developers (e.g. MSc students), and closely collaborating with
ExCiteS and MfC team members to develop the software. The position will
require understanding of the business processes of ExCiteS and MfC and
ability to deal with demands and schedules of software delivery under tight
deadlines. ****

The following are core tasks within this role:****

• Iteratively and collaboratively develop a core product specification
document which details the abilities and characteristics of the software
system to be built****

• Develop and implement the core architecture of the ExCiteS software
platform****

• Consider and select from amongst a set of existing open source database
systems, general usage computational and data management libraries, and
geographical information systems to use as building blocks of the ExCiteS
platform****

• Design the system, implement it coordinate with other members of the team
such that it has fulfils the intended requirements and has the flexibility
to adapt to future use requirements which will appear over the long term.
This will include ability to deploy via stand-alone or web interfaces,
ability to connect to cloud computing services and the ability to integrate
with external systems and services.****

• Supervise and coordinate activity to manage the code and website to
present a coherent and inviting online presence****

• Develop, maintain, provide advisory and training materials and advisory
and training materials****

Person Specification****

Essential Criteria****

• Extensive experience as a software developer, which will be the main
element of this role.  This should also include managing other developers***
*

• Demonstrated experience in developing geographical web applications ****

• Knowledge of up-to-date, open source, spatial and non-spatial technologies
****

• Demonstrated ability to communicate technically complex information in an
understandable way****

• Experience of analysing, researching and solving complex IT problems.****

• Experience using Unix-based operating systems and Unix system tools and
utilities.****

• Experience in the use of a variety of Shell and scripting languages such
as Perl and Python.****

• Experience in working in a team of developers to build upon robustly
structured code****

• Experience in advising on and handling administration of various
equipment, servers, and technology****

• Experience in authoring specification documents as well as contributing
to grant proposals and bids****

• Experience in providing occasional technical support and managing servers
****

• Experience in educating and training junior staff, as the role will
include working with MSc and PhD students who contribute code to the common
platform****

• Proven ability to forge effective professional relationships at all
levels.****

• Proven ability to manage multiple concurrent tasks and activities,
working to deadlines and prioritising as appropriate.****

• Knowledge of software development best practise including testing,
documentation, version control etc.****

Desirable Criteria****

• Active participation and interest in the wider technological communities
(blogging, social media, etc.)****

• Experience with front-end development: HTML, JavaScript etc. ****

• Experience with commercial, geospatial technologies (ESRI, Oracle,
Windows Servers, etc.)****

• Experience in presentations, workshops and training sessions****

• Familiarity with participatory mapping technologies and datasets, such as
those used in OpenStreetMap ****

Personal attributes****

The ideal candidate will be organised, self-motivated, and innovative. A
professional attitude and cultural sensitivity is very important, as most
of the team, professionals, and participants we interact with are from all
over the world. We’re looking for someone who is genuinely interested in
working on projects that inherently think outside of the box. A positive
attitude, friendly disposition, and ability to work well within a team
environment will be vital.****

Environmental Statement****

All employees are expected to minimise waste, energy use and CO2 emissions
in as many aspects of their work as possible, to actively promote
recycling, to utilise technology to minimise travel and to keep up to date
on environmental issues and how they affect them and their department.
Please visit www.cege.ucl.ac.uk/green for the full policy.****

** **

The Open Forum on Participatory Geographic Information Systems and
Technologies is managed by www.iapad.org and hosted by www.ppgis.net.
You may register to French-, Portuguese- and Spanish speaking chapters of
this list via www.ppgis.net.
PGIS/PPGIS related bibliography is found
here<http://ppgis.iapad.org/bibliography.htm>
!
PGIS/PPGIS related literature is found
here<http://www.ppgis.net/ppgis_literature.htm>
!
Join us on LinkedIn<http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=131362&trk=anet_ug_grppro>
Follow us on Twitter <http://twitter.com/ppgis> and
Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/pages/PPGIS/119270464770217>

You are receiving this message because you are a member of the community Open
Forum on Participatory Geographic Information Systems and
Technologies<http://dgroups.org/groups/ppgis>
.

A reply to this message will be sent to all members of Open Forum on
Participatory Geographic Information Systems and Technologies.

Reply to sender <m.haklay at ucl.ac.uk> | Unsubscribe <leave.ppgis at dgroups.org>



-- 
Tim Sutton - QGIS Project Steering Committee Member (Release  Manager)
==============================================
Visit http://linfiniti.com to find out about:
 * QGIS programming services
 * GeoDjango web development
 * FOSS Consulting Services
Skype: timlinux Irc: timlinux on #qgis at freenode.net
==============================================
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/africa/attachments/20130504/0ddba36b/attachment-0001.html>

More information about the Africa mailing list