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

Mon May 6 02:11:07 PDT 2013

Tim do you know of any GIS Technician posts available around Gauteng.

________________________________
 From: Tim Sutton <tim at linfiniti.com>
To: Africa local chapter discussions <africa at lists.osgeo.org> 
Sent: Saturday, May 4, 2013 4:46 PM
Subject: [OSGeo Africa] Fwd: [ppgis] Job advert: Senior developer at the Extreme Citizen Science (ExCiteS) group (UCL)

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.

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-- 
Tim Sutton - QGIS Project Steering Committee Member (Release  Manager)
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Visit http://linfiniti.com to find out about:
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