Job DescriptionThe Commonwealth of MA has a 12 month contract role in Malden, MA (just north of Boston) for a Production Support SpecialistLocal Candidates are highly preferred as they interview/hire local candidates 1st but it is not a must.(I would like east coast candidates)Key Things: data analysis experience, XML, SQL, DBMS experience such as Oracle, Access, and MS-SQL, and 4 years experienceDescription:Our client in Malden, MA for a 12 month contract opening for a Production Support Specialist.Our client is in the process of implementing standard data collection formats and processes for school districts across the Commonwealth. The Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF) is the standard format that all districts will utilize to report student, course, personnel and discipline information to the state. The goals of our program are to (1) increase the quality and availability of data (2) reduce the amount of redundant work performed by districts to manipulate data for each collection and (3) establish a framework to support the future direction and needs of the Commonwealth which include real-time collection and sharing of information. Looking for Production Support Specialists to:1) improve the ability for the 434 districts to successfully certify data collections via SIF by providing excellent customer service and problem solving for districts and vendors 2) provide data analysis, troubleshoot problems, and provide guidance to vendors and districts trying to complete the transition to sending data via SIF XML standards.DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES -Provide first tier technical support for Production and lower environments.-Document issues and identify patterns in issues for escalation to the management and development teams.-Perform research and analysis on XML messages, validation errors and business rules to provide guidance on how to clear errors for vendors, and business users.-Participate in weekly meetings with vendors and team members.-Resolve assigned/delegated technical issues.-Work with other teams as necessary to troubleshoot errors, escalate issues and provide support services.-Execute implementation plans, assist all resources (from the technical and business community) and address issues to ensure success.-Communicate status and support issues to team members, business community and IT management.-Engage in infrastructure operational management, documentation and integration-Provide support to development, testing, and production systems, as needed.-Perform implementation and system support activities in partnership with a variety of resources in both internal (e.g., Application Teams, Systems Engineering, Network Services, Database Services, ESE staff) and external (e.g., District Users, Student Information System vendors, service provider vendors and others) organizations.-Develop and implement support procedures and environment changes required to support the project during its development life cycle.QUALIFICATIONS-Must be a self starter with good oral and written communication skills, who works well as part of a team-Demonstrated ability to satisfy customer requests and resolve software problems in a timely and professional manner.-Strong attention to detail and complex problem solving capabilities.-Strive to continuously build knowledge and skill, and share expertise with others. -Must have strong desire to learn and ability to acquire a solid understanding of current and future application architecture and business rules.-Ability to multi-task in a fast paced environment and juggle between multiple issues. Knowledge of business system development, management, administration, and problem resolution.-Must have an understanding of relational DBMS (Oracle, MS-SQL, ACCESS, preferred)-Strong SQL skills in writing complex queries with join, union, sub-queries, aggregation etc. to support data analysis -BA in Computer Science or related experience as a developer, business analyst, systems analyst, data analyst, or other related position, preferred.-Knowledge of MicroSoft Windows, Linux or HP/UNIX platform management, administration, SQL and Oracle databases and problem resolution preferred-Knowledge of Java, .Net, preferredRegardsAvinashavi (at) scoutet (dot) com609 303 2211Additional InformationAll your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.