The Data Systems Analyst 3 will serve as leader for the information management component of two interdisciplinary, long-­term scientific research projects: the California Current Ecosystem Long-Term Ecological Research (CCE-LTER) program and the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) program. We are looking for a data manager and full stack developer who is an experienced data and information management professional with a full understanding of scientific community practices and supported research project data and information management best practices, standards, policies and procedures. The candidate should demonstrate competency in critical thinking to select methods and techniques in order to arrive at solutions in complex, heterogeneous data environments.

The Data Systems Analyst 3 will partner in leadership of information management efforts for a variety of smaller groups and laboratories affiliated with the CCE-LTER and CalCOFI programs. Manage the Ocean Informatics initiative that develops infrastructure across projects, supporting data curation, analysis, and delivery using web interfaces and web services for field-based, oceanographic programs. Manage, develop and maintain the technical infrastructure that exists to support long-term oceanographic research projects, which includes a number of complex databases, applications, websites and other various ancillary data management system components. Continually re-evaluate the current technical infrastructure to determine the need for system re-factoring and/or re-development as well as new developments to support evolving data management needs of research projects.

Oversee development and implementation of metadata, best practices, and standards development. Under general supervision, plan with respect to resources and technologies including software acquisition and hardware/platform support. Communicate regularly with the CCE-LTER and CalCOFI lead investigators. Contribute an Information Management section to an annual report to the National Science Foundation for the CCE-LTER program, and provide technical guidance on proposal texts and materials. Participate in the Information Managers network of the U.S. LTER program. Communicate with the national Environmental Data Initiative (EDI) office and the Biological & Chemical Oceanography Data Management (BCO-DMO) office. This position will provide technical guidance and give work direction to part-time employees, when funds are available to support them.

QUALIFICATIONS

• A Bachelor’s Degree in related area; and/or an equivalent combination of experience and/or training.
• Thorough knowledge of data management systems, practices and standards and full stack developer experience. Advanced understanding and experience with information environments including design and development of data systems and user interfaces as well as assessing and improving useability of them.
• Proven ability to carry out technical leadership of an information environment including its systems, resources, and participants. Experience in providing effective work­ direction.
• Familiarity with logical data design and data mapping or data conversion.
• Broad knowledge of metadata formats, languages and standards with the ability to apply transformations/translations to data and metadata for submissions to data archives and network data systems.
• Demonstrated experience with data and metadata standards and various file types (e.g. EML, XML, JSON, DarwinCore, ISO, NetCDF).
• Experience working in Linux command-line environment, including shell scripting, file and directory management, starting/stopping services, SSH and various other tasks. Linux system administration including backups, file restores, disaster recovery, automation, user maintenance, filesystem housekeeping, application installation and configuration, system security management, storage management, remote access via SSH, shell scripting, service management, command line use.
• Advanced programming ability in Apache, Python, PHP, SQL, Javascript, HTML, and CSS for a wide range of purposes including data processing and formatting, database loading and extraction and web development for data system interfaces.
• Proven ability designing, developing and maintaining relational database models and implementations, specifically MySQL, using industry best practices.
• Demonstrated experience working with version control systems for application development, specifically SVN and Git.
• Demonstrated experience with the administration and maintenance of file servers, database servers, application servers.
• Proven ability to prepare data models unassisted and to represent relevant information in abstract models.
• Strong analytical and design skills, including the ability to abstract information requirements from real-world processes to understand information flows in computer systems.
• Demonstrated strong critical thinking and problem solving skills. Ability to select methods and techniques in order to arrive at solutions in complex, heterogeneous data environments.
• Sufficient verbal and written communication skills for communicating project details (including goals, progress, future plans, infrastructure outlines, etc.) for various reporting requirements (annual reports, proposals, etc.) of government and other funding agencies.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate technical information to technical and non-technical personnel at various levels in the organization. Self-motivated and ability to work independently and as part of a team.