XML Applications Developer at Northeastern University

The Northeastern University Libraries are pleased to announce a cluster of new positions as part of our growing research and development activities in the fields of digital humanities and digital libraries. The Libraries are undertaking an ambitious agenda in support of emerging digital humanities and quantitative social sciences research efforts at Northeastern. With the launch of a new digital repository service and an increasing number of major grant-funded projects, the Libraries are deeply engaged with the university’s research mission.

These positions will work as part of a team that includes the staff of the Digital Scholarship Group and Library Technical Services to develop and expand support for digital scholarship, digital repository services, discovery tools, and other critical library services. We are looking for technically confident, fast learners who are equally comfortable with collaborative development, thoughtful experimentation, and critical system support. Team members have opportunities to participate in grant-funded research, collaborate on cutting-edge digital scholarship projects, and lead the development of new tools and systems. If you are interested in exploring new ways that technology can support research in the humanities and social sciences, we would like very much to hear from you.

The XML Applications Developer develops and maintains XML applications in support of the Digital Scholarship Group (DSG) and faculty projects affiliated with the DSG, with major focus on the TEI Archiving, Publishing and Access Service (TAPAS) and the Women Writers Project. He or she provides programming and systems analysis for the design, development and documentation of complex research tools across a wide range of projects. The XML Applications Developer will be responsible for designing, developing, testing and deploying new technologies, tools and resources to extend and enhance digital content and services, developing application programming interfaces (APIs) to facilitate multiple submission and access pathways. He or she writes and/or modifies code and conducts quality assurance on code contributed by other developers, and performs related duties as necessary. He or she works collaboratively with library colleagues as well as colleagues in ITS and across campus, and participates in an ongoing evaluation of emerging academic and library technologies. This is a 2-year position with the possibility of extended funding.

Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 2-3 years of XML development experience.
  • Demonstrably strong working knowledge of XML/XSL and Xquery.
  • Ability to work in an API environment and experience developing REST-based services.
  • Knowledge of RDF and linked data structures and applications.
  • Strong analytical and problem solving skills and the ability to formulate options, develop, and recommend solutions.
  • Creativity in problem solving to independently resolve numerous technical issues arising in a constantly changing work environment, and analytical skills and judgment to extrapolate from one situation to another and to make appropriate decisions in a dynamic work environment.
  • Demonstrated experience with Unix, Unix utilities, device handling, data storage, and basic UNIX administration.
  • Strong understanding of information organization and retrieval technologies used to organize, store, and access digital content.
  • Experience with programming best practices, including test-drive development and design patterns.
  • Knowledge of current web development standards and cross platform compatibility and accessibility techniques.
  • Experience with Open Source software.
  • Excellent oral and written skills to communicate with technical and non-technical individuals and prepare project documentation to support training and best practices encoding guidelines.
  • Strong interpersonal skills; ability to work successfully in a collaborative environment.
  • Experience with IT in a higher education setting desirable.
  • Experience working on complex humanities data desirable.

Original and more detailed job ad: https://neu.peopleadmin.com/postings/29980.

Tim Lepczyk

Writer, Technologist, and Librarian.

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