Extreme Citizen Science (ExCiteS)

Extreme Citizen Science (ExCiteS)

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Opportunities within ExCiteS

Job Opportunity: Senior Developer at the Extreme Citizen Science (ExCiteS) group

Department: Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering

Salary: £40,216 - £47,441 per annum (inclusive of London allowance)

Closing Date: 4 June 2013

Apply here

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 here). 

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.

Further Details

To apply for the vacancy please click on the ‘Apply here’ link below or on the top of the page.

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

Apply here