Position Title: Digital Corals IT Lead
Position Description
This is an interdisciplinary position supporting the Digital Corals (formerly Coral Reef Information System) project within NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program. The position will sit within the National Centers for Environmental Information, which houses NOAA’s environmental data archive, and one of the world’s largest open-source coral reef data repositories.
The Digital Corals project is responsible for the data stewardship and archiving of almost all of NOAA’s coral reef data. Scientists on the team provide their expertise to the archive in order to ensure FAIR data principals and are also responsible for maintaining NOAA websites, developing automations to keep archive processes running efficiently, and interfacing with different groups across NOAA to make data and information products more accessible to the public.
This role will serve as the IT lead for the team. More specifically, this position will be responsible for a wide variety of software development tasks, will be first in line for any IT infrastructure troubleshooting, and will be expected to communicate with IT staff regularly for a number of reasons, including code reviews and IT infrastructure troubleshooting.
This position will also support the team’s archiving efforts. The successful candidate will be able to review incoming data for adherence to best data management practices and NCEI standards. They should be able to automate a variety of quality checks and processing tasks on a number of different data types, transform and sanitize incoming data, and prepare it for upload to a number of web applications. This position will require the ability to communicate effectively and clearly as we are often in contact with the data providers and scientists about the state of their data.
Responsibilities
Independently create and develop software that automates archival tasks, creates XML metadata files, and improves data management workflows
Develop software applications without outside assistance
Gather stakeholder requirements, write code, gather feedback, and revise solutions
Submit code for IT security review
Update code based on best practices and security requirements
Serve as the technical lead for the team on IT-related initiatives.
Communicate professionally with a wide range of NOAA stakeholders including scientists, IT staff, and members of the general public
Maintain and update an aging code base
Create and update documentation for new and existing code
Monitor and maintain a variety of currently running processes
Present research findings at a variety of conferences and workshops
Review coral reef data for correctness and adherence to NCEI standards
Qualifications
Degree in Software Development, Data Science, Computer Science, or a related field.
OR: degree or coursework in an Ocean Science field
Intermediate to advanced level of experience in Python, including work with Pandas and data manipulation.
Experience with other programming languages: Perl, Java, Bash, PowerShell, R
In-depth knowledge of the secure software development lifecycle, including security best practices
Experience working in a Linux environment (Specifically RedHat/Rhel7 – 9) and automating tasks with bash scripts,
OR experience working with another command line interface
Familiarity with networking concepts and basic commands
Experience working with GitHub or GitLab in a shared code repository
Familiarity with data management best practices and experience applying them in real world situations
Independently researches and implements solutions to complex technical challenges
Actively seeks out opportunities to improve processes and workflows
Ability to navigate different and changing tech stacks as needed
Ability to communicate complex technical information clearly and concisely to both technical and non-technical audiences
Experience working with ArcGIS and geospatial data
Familiarity or understanding of XML metadata files and how to build and edit them with python or another programming language
Coursework in a scientific field or familiarity with ecological or coral data is a plus
To Apply
Interested applicants should submit a cover letter and CV to Rebecca Wenker at rwenker1@umd.edu. This position is available immediately, and applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.
