Data Engineer, Digital Scholarship Group, Northeastern University Library, Boston MA
Posted June 3, 2023
Do you love learning the shapes of datasets, and molding them into something new? The Digital Scholarship Group (DSG) in the Northeastern University Library is excited to open a search for a Data Engineer. Working within a warm and collaborative environment dedicated to social justice, the Data Engineer gathers, organizes, manipulates, transforms, and documents a variety of humanities research data. The Data Engineer works with colleagues across the university to create sustainable platforms and data for community-led digital scholarship.
The Data Engineer position is situated within the DSG, which is part of the Northeastern University Library. The Library is a vital partner in learning, teaching, and community-engaged research for a diverse R1 university. Northeastern is committed to intensive research and experiential learning for students at all levels.
Responsibilities
The Data Engineer has responsibility for helping DSG work with data in a wide range of formats, across multiple projects and often in unforeseen contexts. The Data Engineer develops data dictionaries, mappings between data standards, transformation routines, and other curatorial systems. This position also manages projects and engages in high-level needs analysis and project planning. The DSG is committed to digital approaches that consider the pedagogical, research, social, and ethical implications of data and its design and use.
Working closely with other DSG and library staff, faculty collaborators, and students, the Data Engineer contributes to grant-funded and internal projects including the Boston Research Center; the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice project; the Digital Archive of Indigenous Language Persistence; the TEI Archiving, Publishing, and Access Service; Digital Humanities Quarterly; and the Women Writers Project. They will also take the lead on building DSG’s policies and practices in working with external data platforms such as Wikidata and partner project APIs. To support this work, expertise with tools like regular expressions and OpenRefine, and facility with data including RDF, JSON, XML, various API responses, and other formats will be important.
We warmly invite people with various skills and levels of expertise to apply to this position. Candidates who meet some, but not all, of the qualifications listed below are strongly encouraged to apply. We seek colleagues who are committed to building an inclusive and diverse working environment and who have been and remain underrepresented or marginalized in the field of librarianship – including but not limited to people of color, LGBTQ+ people, individuals with disabilities and applicants from lower-income and first-generation library or academic backgrounds. We expect this position to be an ongoing learning experience and are committed to supporting professional development.
Qualifications
We realize that this is a lengthy list of activities and qualifications. There are multiple paths toward success in this position, and each may look somewhat different depending on the successful candidate’s interests and experience.
• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree or similar training in data science, information science, information design, or other relevant discipline preferred
• Minimum of 2 years of experience working or studying in a data-intensive environment, preferably in an academic or non-profit research setting
• Experience working with quantitative and qualitative datasets, especially with historical and cultural heritage data
• Experience working with structured data formats (for instance, XML, RDF, JSON, CSV, relational databases) and with data conversion, data enhancement, and data analysis
• Ability to write code to assist in carrying out these kinds of data-related work (for instance, using R, Python, SQL, SPARQL, XSLT, Perl, and/or regular expressions)
• Ability to work on multiple concurrent projects and adapt to the evolving landscape of digital humanities
• Collaborative problem-solving skills, and the ability to research and recommend solutions as part of a participatory design process
• Commitment to thoughtful, adaptive engagement with the needs of community collaborators
• Strong oral and written skills, ability to communicate across expertise levels and prepare project documentation
• Desire and aptitude to grow skills (especially in technical areas) and learn new things
The following skills are desirable but are not all essential for applicants to possess at the outset; we can provide training:
• Knowledge of metadata standards relevant to research data, such as the Data Documentation Initiative
• Experience creating, manipulating, and querying linked open data
• Experience in open-source development practices and workflows, preferably within an academic or non-profit environment
• Experience working with databases, data management systems, and APIs
• Experience with developing and leading workshops
• Experience communicating complex ideas about data and how it is used to many audiences
Salary Range:
$82,725 – $93,000
About the Digital Scholarship Group
A recognized leader in the field, the Digital Scholarship Group supports digital modes of research, publication, and collaboration through applied research, systems and tools development, and consultative services. The DSG offers a friendly and closely collaborative work environment, and actively fosters the professional and intellectual development of all of our colleagues and collaborators, including training opportunities and mentorship.
Our team engages with faculty in the digital humanities and quantitative social sciences from across the university to develop digital research and teaching projects, organize events, plan grant-funded initiatives and provide training and mentorship. We also work in close partnership with Northeastern’s Archives and Special Collections, the NULab for Maps, Texts, and Networks, and with cultural heritage partners in Boston including the Massachusetts Historical Society and the Boston Public Library.
We develop tools and platforms for working with digital artifacts and data, for querying and publishing them. We also provide workshops, mentorship opportunities, and pedagogical frameworks to the Northeastern community. Some of our major projects include the Boston Research Center, the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project, and the Digital Archive of Indigenous Language Persistence, as well as a number of digital archiving projects from the Library’s Archives and Special Collections. In all of our projects, we are attentive to inclusive and anti-racist approaches to data modeling, platform development, and collaborative working processes.
About the Library
The Northeastern University Library supports the mission of the University by working in partnership with the University community to develop and disseminate new scholarship. The Library fosters intellectual and professional growth, enriches the research, teaching, and learning environment, and promotes the effective use of knowledge by managing and delivering information resources and services to library users.
Northeastern University is an equal opportunity employer, seeking to recruit and support a broadly diverse community of faculty and staff. Northeastern values and celebrates diversity in all its forms and strives to foster an inclusive culture built on respect that affirms inter-group relations and builds cohesion.
All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
To learn more about Northeastern University’s commitment and support of diversity and inclusion, please see www.northeastern.edu/diversity.
About Northeastern
Founded in 1898, Northeastern is a global research university and the recognized leader in experience-driven lifelong learning. Our world-renowned experiential approach empowers our students, faculty, alumni, and partners to create impact far beyond the confines of discipline, degree, and campus.
Our locations—in Boston; Charlotte, North Carolina; London; Portland, Maine; San Francisco Bay area; Seattle; Silicon Valley; Toronto; Vancouver; and the Massachusetts communities of Burlington and Nahant—are nodes in our growing global university system. Through this network, we expand opportunities for flexible, student-centered learning and collaborative, solutions-focused research.
Northeastern’s comprehensive array of undergraduate and graduate programs— in a variety of on-campus and online formats—lead to degrees through the doctorate in nine colleges and schools. Among these, we offer more than 195 multi-discipline majors and degrees designed to prepare students for purposeful lives and careers.
How to Apply
The Digital Scholarship Group is based on Northeastern’s Boston campus. This position is eligible for a hybrid work arrangement. Specific arrangements can be negotiated at the time of hire. The position will remain open until filled but application review will begin after June 30. To apply, please visit https://northeastern.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/careers/details/Data-Engineer_R115532. If you have any questions, please contact Julia Flanders ([email protected]).