JOB: GIS Specialist (University of Iowa)

From the announcement:

The University of Iowa Libraries system consists of the Main Library, the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences and a number of branch libraries. The UI Libraries has more than 5.7 million volumes including thousands of electronic resources.  We coordinate the development and maintenance of the University’s locally-created open access digital resources including the Iowa Digital Library, featuring close to a million digitized texts, images, and audio and video recordings, as well as Iowa Research Online, our institutional repository. Our Special Collections include over 250,000 rare books, ranging in age from the 15th century to newly created artists’ books, as well as 4.7 miles of manuscripts. We also host the Greater Midwestern Regional Library of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine.

The University of Iowa Libraries is a member of the Big Ten Academic Alliance, the Association of Research Libraries and a variety of other regional and national collaboratives focused on information services at scale.  The Libraries provides a program of support for professional development activities and its staff members are actively engaged in national cooperative efforts.  The Libraries are a founding member of the Association of College and Research Libraries’ Diversity Alliance.

Position Description:

Reporting to the Senior Developer, the GIS Specialist works with faculty, staff, and students on an array of GIS and mapping projects. Recognizing the importance of geospatial data across all disciplines, this position is critical to the University Libraries’ efforts supporting scholarly digital publishing, the creation of new information resources for teaching and research, and campus priorities in informatics and digital scholarship. The GIS Specialist will collaborate with many stakeholders to enhance access to and use of geospatial information, digitized historical maps and atlases, and applications for visualizing geospatial data for research.

Specific responsibilities and duties

• Assisting scholars in the creation, management, analysis and visualization of geospatial data as part of a campus-wide coordinated multidisciplinary approach to informatics support and services.
• Supervising graduate-level research associated with Digital Humanities Certificate capstone and Studio Summer Fellows projects that engage geospatial technologies or GIS data
• Working with Special Collections and Cataloging-Metadata staff to enhance access to digitized historical map and atlas collections
• Functioning as university liaison to the Big Ten Academic Alliance Geospatial Task Force, directly supporting the Big Ten Academic Alliance Geoportal by contributing and reviewing geospatial metadata records related to Iowa and University of Iowa researchers; attending regular staff meetings and reporting on developments; serving on subcommittees relevant to expertise and interest
• Managing the Libraries’ ArcGIS for Server and GeoServer instances
• Curating, promoting, and enhancing geospatial datasets.
• Collaborating with university affiliates to design and deliver a geospatial literacy program that supports the academic curriculum across the University.
• Engaging in campus outreach to introduce geospatial and GIS technologies to students and others.
• Actively participating in the emerging campus GIS community and University of Iowa’s GIS Technical Advisory Committee
• Providing instruction and research assistance in the use of geospatial information in collaboration with subject liaison librarians.

The University of Iowa is one of the nation’s premier public research universities, with 11 colleges offering internationally recognized programs in disciplines ranging from otolaryngology to fiction writing, printmaking to space science, hydraulic engineering to dance. Iowa draws nearly 33,000 students from more than 100 countries and all 50 U.S. states, and employs about 29,500 faculty and staff.

The university is located along the picturesque Iowa River in Iowa City, a city of some 77,000 people (170,000+ in the metro area) regularly ranked as one of the nation’s best places to live. Iowa City is less than four hours from Chicago and within five hours of Minneapolis, St. Louis, and Kansas City, readily accessible via interstate highways and a regional airport 30 minutes away.

Application details

In order to be eligible for interview, applicants must upload the following and mark them as “relevant files” when you upload the documents:

1. Current resume
2.        Cover letterthat clearly addresses how you meet the listed required and desired qualifications of this position. Applicants are encouraged to describe in their cover letter how their scholarship, teaching, service, or other professional activities contribute to diverse communities.

Applications which fail to submit all required materials will be considered incomplete and therefore are ineligible for interview.

This job opening will remain posted at least through September 9, 2019. Applications received by that date will be given priority consideration. For questions or additional information, please contact andrea-rost@uiowa.edu.

The anticipated starting salary will be between $51,000 – $55,000 commensurate with education and experience.

Successful candidates will be subject to a criminal background check and degree verification. References will be requested from candidates at a later point in the interview process.

Universal Competencies:

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Ability to work with a variety of individuals and groups in a constructive and respectful manner while appreciating the unique contribution of an inclusive workforce that brings together the talents of people across multiple identities, including: race, creed, color, religion, national origins, age, sex, pregnancy, disability, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or associational preferences.

Collaboration/Positive Impact: Ability to work with a variety of individuals and groups in a constructive and civil manner and utilize existing resources and learning to achieve or exceed desired outcomes of current and future organizational goals/needs.

Service Excellence/Customer Focus: Ability to meet or exceed customer service needs and expectations and provide excellent service in a direct or indirect manner.  Ability to effectively transmit and interpret information through appropriate communication with internal and external customers.

Education Requirement

• A Master’s Degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience is required

Experience Required

• Demonstrated knowledge of mapping applications and libraries such as arcGIS, Leaflet, and Google Maps
• Demonstrated knowledge of web standards and various data formats such as JSON and XML
• Demonstrated ability to work in a collaborative setting where consultation and flexibility are essential
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity in an academic environment, in a workplace setting, and/or in the community.

Desirable Qualifications

• An understanding of the mission and function of a large academic library in a public research institution
• Demonstrated analytical and research skills