NATIONAL LIBRARY OF IRELAND
Graduate Software Development Post:
3-year fixed term contract
The National Library is an equal opportunities employer
Cuirfear fáilte roimh chomhfhreagras i nGaeilge
Information for Applicants
1. The National Library of Ireland is seeking a talented, self-motivated graduate software developer to support the enhancement of its digital services infrastructure.
2. Brief Description of Position:
The NLI’s current digital services infrastructure combines open-source software, vendor-supplied products, and locally-developed middleware and interfaces. Core systems include a Library Management System (VTLS Virtua), a discovery layer (VuFind), a digital repository framework (Fedora Commons/Hydra) which employ widely used technologies such as Apache Solr, Ruby on Rails, Zend Framework, MySQL, Oracle, and RESTful web APIs. The successful candidate will join a small team of library technologists and work collaboratively with librarians, archivists, metadata specialists, software vendors, and open-source communities. This is an excellent opportunity to work in a stimulating, challenging environment, to solve interesting problems, and to gain experience in industry-standard technologies and in best practice approaches within the digital library domain.
3. Principal Tasks:
• The main development will focus on enhancing the NLI’s existing digital repository system. Using the Hydra technology stack (http://projecthydra.org), the successful candidate will develop processing pipelines and end-user applications to ensure the orderly processing, management, preservation and online delivery of digital assets and their associated metadata.
• Provide analysis and programming support for data mapping and conversion projects
• Provide analysis and programming support for systems and workflow integration projects
• Further develop and integrate the NLI’s online catalogue and public web-interfaces
• Contribute to the maintenance, deployment and documentation of code produced within the Information Systems team
• Represent the National Library in the digital library and open source communities
4. Requirements:
Mandatory:
• Degree in Computer Science, Software Development or equivalent
• Demonstrated ability to develop new programming skills, and to grasp unfamiliar architectures and application designs quickly.
• Working knowledge of object oriented programming concepts and experience developing with one or more of the following languages: Ruby, PHP, Java, C#
• Experience developing applications using MVC web frameworks (e.g. Ruby on Rails, Zend 2)
• Experience developing engaging, responsive web interfaces using JavaScript and CSS frameworks (e.g. jQuery, Twitter Bootstrap, Blueprint, HTML5)
• Working knowledge of relational database design and management including experience with one of the following: SQL Server, Oracle, or MySQL.
• Demonstrated proficiency with team collaboration tools (issue-trackers, wikis, etc.) and version control systems (e.g. Git or Subversion)
• Strong analytical skills and orientation to detail.
• Excellent communications skills and the ability to work effectively in a team- and project-oriented environment
• Demonstrated interest in working within the digital library domain
Desirable:
• Expertise developing applications with Ruby on Rails, including the creation of plug-ins, engines and gems.
• Experience integrating loosely coupled applications via RESTful web services
• Experience developing with XML and related technologies (e.g., XSD, XSLT, XPath, XQuery).
• Prior experience of working with digital library systems and standards, e.g. Fedora Commons repository system, Dublin Core, MARC, METS, OAI-PMH, RDF.
• Experience of text analysis and full-text searching using Apache Lucene and Solr
• Experience working in Linux environments
• Working knowledge of the RDF data model, Linked Data and related technologies (e.g. triple-stores, SPARQL);
• Relevant work experience in a developer role
• Demonstrated experience contributing to community-based open source projects
• Knowledge of and interest in practices such test-first development (e.g. TDD, BDD), continuous integration, agile development cycles, and automated deployment
5. The post will be for a three year fixed term contract.
6. The successful applicant will be offered a contract of employment by the Board of the National Library of Ireland, and will work in the Department of Information Systems of the National Library of Ireland.
7. The current annual rate of pay applying to the post will be €30,000 per annum (€574.93 per week).
8. The post may be terminated by the National Library, at any time, in the event of misconduct by the graduate or persistent failure for any reason to carry out satisfactorily the duties assigned to him/her.
9. The successful applicant will be required to work in the Library for 43.25 hours per week The annual leave entitlement will be 22 days .
10. Letters of application and completed application forms can be emailed to hr@nli.ie or posted to Human Resources Unit, National Library of Ireland, 4 Kildare St. Dublin 2.
11. Applications must be made on the official National Library of Ireland application form which can be found online through http://www.nli.ie/vacancies. Only applications submitted on a National Library of Ireland application form will be accepted. The onus is on applicants to ensure that they have submitted their applications on the correct form.
12. The closing date for receipt of completed application forms is 5.00 p.m on Friday 16th May 2014. Applications wil1 not be accepted after this date. It is the responsibility of applicants to ensure that their completed application form is received on time. All applications will be acknowledged and it is the responsibility of applicants to contact the HR Unit if an acknowledgement has not been received by 21st May 2014.
13. Applicants will be short-listed on the basis of the information contained in their application forms.
14. The interview process may include a technical exercise to be completed onsite at the National Library on the same day as the formal interview. Additional information regarding this technical exercise will be made available to short-listed candidates in advance of the interview date. It is the responsibility of applicants to be available for interview on the allotted time and date.
15. The Library reserves the right to make such enquiries as it considers necessary in relation to an applicant before making an offer of a post to him/her.