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Programmer Analyst

Johns Hopkins University, MD
Job Level
Mid-level position
Post Date
08/11/2017
Job Category
Programmer / Developer, Analyst
Sector
  • Systems / Operations
Job Status
Areas of Responsibility
  • Software
Link to Job Posting

General Description

If you love to program and care about data and cities, we want to talk to you. We are the Johns Hopkins University Center for Government Excellence and we help governments use data to make informed, effective decisions and improve people's quality of life. We do this by providing specific guidance on managing data, opening it up to the public, using it to measure performance, and mining it for insights. We work primarily with mid-sized US cities through the What Works Cities program, and currently work with more than 80 cities domestically and a handful outside the US. Our results-driven team is small, nimble, collaborative, and diverse.

 

About the Job

How can you become a part of this work? We have a variety of technologies we use to help us do this work, and need someone who can help us refine our own tools as new challenges arise. As our first dedicated programmer on the team, you will help us realize our vision for success developing, enhancing, and maintaining solutions to support the cities we work with, the data we need to analyze, and the tools we need to integrate. Below are the kinds of work you can expect to do on a day-to-day basis:

  • Design, build, and support custom tools to support the data flow, analysis, and visualization needs of our projects
  • Maintain, adapt, and improve existing technical infrastructure to increase organizational awareness and efficiency using custom, open source, and purchased applications
  • Optimize, secure, and enhance the GovEx data management infrastructure in collaboration with our Chief Data Scientist
  • Collaborate with a team to generate insights into complex analytical problems , while securely and ethically using data to generate those solutions
  • Write and contribute to technical documentation for end users and partners, and helping train GovEx staff and our clients
  • Contribute to a knowledge base of best practices by identifying new trends in the use of computer science skills by governments

 

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree required. Degree in computer science, mathematics or information systems preferred. Additional experience may be substituted for education. One year of related work experience with computer systems and applications. Additional education may substitute for experience.

 

Technologies

 

As an organization that encourages the effective use of government data, we use a variety of technologies in support of that goal. Deep experience in all of these is less important than knowledge of the fundamentals; we can help you learn the specifics. The following is a selection of the tools we use and how.

  • HTML & CSS: We use plenty of this, and also have Bootstrap on one or two of our sites. JavaScript: Mainly client-side with D3, JQuery, and custom code, but also server side through NodeJS and ExpressJS.
  • Python: For data analysis we use libraries like pandas, ggplot, matplotlib, scikit-learn, and plotly. For web applications, we use the Django framework.
  • PostgreSQL: We use PostgreSQL for a variety of purposes, and also use PostGIS for spatial analysis.
  • Amazon AWS: Within AWS, we use EC2 and S3, along with VPC.
  • Heroku hosts our primary online applications.
  • Git: We manage our source code with it, and have both public and private repositories on GitHub.
  • R and RStudio, and an assortment of libraries such as ggplot2 and dplyr, for data analysis and visualizations.
  • Jupyter Notebook with support for R and Python for data analysis and visualizations. Tableau for data analysis and visualizations.
  • WordPress is our platform of choice for our main website.
  • Web APIs: We use a variety of REST-style web APIs to move data between our various platforms.
  • The GovEx Programmer must be an energetic, engaged professional with outstanding interpersonal skills. Ability to work independently and in a results-oriented workplace.

     

Preferred Qualifications

 

Pluses include:

  • Experience on at least one project where data sensitivity and security was a critical factor in the project’s success
  • Direct in-government experience or a familiarity with government information technologies is preferred
  • This position reports to GovEx’s Chief Data Scientist.

     

NOTE: The successful candidate(s) for this position will be subject to a pre-employment background check.