Systems Engineer

Reporting to the Head of Library Technology Services at Washington University Libraries, the Library Systems Engineer will be responsible for creating a customer-first approach to building and maintaining library services and applications supporting the University’s mission.  Platforms to be supported range from repository applications to resource discovery layers to related library systems, as well as emerging technologies in libraries such as data visualization platforms and instructional technologies.  As a member of the Library Technology Services team, the successful candidate will play a key role in the architecture, development, deployment, monitoring, maintenance, and troubleshooting of new and existing library applications.

Primary Duties and Responsibilites:

1. Lead the design, implementation and maintenance of library systems in collaboration with Libraries’ staff and campus stakeholders.

2. Gather requirements and develop specifications for library and research systems architectures, including Hydra, Fedora, Omeka, Primo, Wordpress, VMWare Vsphere, SAN disk array storage, and cloud storage.

3. Collaborate with campus-wide technology services to ensure proper implementation and management of hardware infrastructures, security policies and authentication/authorization procedures.

4. Participate in iterative testing and integration of user feedback throughout the development and implementation process.

5. Write and maintain documentation for systems architecture and application code for internal developers and the wider library development community.

6. Maintain awareness of national and international best practices and advances in library applications, frameworks, and implementations by actively engaging in library DevOps and research development communities (Samvera, Code4Lib, GIS, etc.).

7. Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field and 3 years’ experience, or equivalent mix of education and experience

• Experience with hardware virtualization environments such as VMware

• Strong experience with SQL, MySQL and related database platforms, including management and deployment

• Demonstrated experience with Unix/Linux, including basic administration and shell scripting

• Experience working with SAN disk array storage as well as protocols like NFS and CIFS

• Working knowledge of authentication and authorization technologies, including LDAP and Active Directory

• Ability to use a wide variety of open source technologies and cloud services such as Office365, Box and AWS

• Experience with automation/configuration management using either Ansible, Puppet, or Chef (Ansible preferred)

• Knowledge of security best practices and experience automating security patching

• Experience managing server-side technologies including Apache Solr, NGINX and/or Apache HTTP Server, Tomcat and/or Jetty, and Passenger

• A working understanding of code and script (PHP, Ruby, and/or Python)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience developing and implementing the Hydra Framework, especially Fedora

• Demonstrated experience with web-based development and software integration, for instance using REST APIs, and JSON or XML for data interoperability

• Experience with a repository system, such as Hydra, a CMS like Drupal, or an exhibit curation system like Omeka

• Familiarity with digital library metadata standards, such as Dublin Core, MARC, METS, EAD, and OAI-PMH

• Experience with hardware load balancing technologies and techniques

• Knowledge of at least one open source programming language and/or web framework (e.g. Ruby/Rails, PHP/Drupal, Python/WSGI, Java/Tomcat)

• Experience working in a large academic, cultural heritage, or research institution

• Commitment to Open Source Software projects

• Experience using Docker

• Experience with testing, continuous integration (TravisCI, CircleCI), and continuous deployment frameworks

• Experience with distributed version control, preferably Git/Github, for source code version con

Salary Range

The hiring range for this position is $59,612 - $77,532 annually.

Department Summary

The Washington University Libraries is comprised of 12 libraries on the university’s Danforth, West, and Medical School Campuses.  Reporting to the Vice Provost and University Librarian and in association with 3 campus partners, the libraries’ operate as a collaborative system in support of the research, teaching, and learning mission of the university.  The Libraries’ house more than 3.6 million books, journals, and other print materials; 2.5 million microforms; 50,000 AV titles; and have access to more than 65,000 electronic journals and more than 1.8 million e-books.  The libraries' 135 dedicated professional and support staff serve an increasingly diverse community and exemplify the libraries' commitment to meet the needs of faculty, staff and students for the present - and for years to come.

Benefits

• Retirement Savings Plan 

• 22 vacation days 

• 8 Paid Holidays 

• Sick Time 

• Tuition benefits for employee, spouse and dependent children 

• Free Metro Link/ Bus pass

• Free Life Insurance

• Health, Dental, Vision 

• Health Savings Accounts (HSA)

• Long Term Disability Insurance 

• Flex Spending Plan 

• Other Benefits