The Application Services team has an exciting opportunity for a Career Audit Application Developer to join our team! Our employees and applicants come from diverse backgrounds. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes VCU stronger. This position will be 100% remote with the opportunity for on-campus work if needed. 

All full-time university staff are eligible for VCU’s robust benefits package that includes: comprehensive health benefits, paid annual and holiday leave granted up front, retirement planning and savings options, tax-deferred annuity and cash match programs, generous tuition benefit, employee discounts, well-being resources, abundant opportunities for career development and advancement, and more. Learn more about VCU’s benefits here.

VCU combines learning, research, creativity, service and discovery with a commitment to inclusive excellence. Ranked by U.S. News as one of the 30 “most innovative” public universities in the country, VCU is a premier, urban, public research university home to multiple nationally ranked programs. Here your success is supported, and your career can thrive. VCU offers a generous leave package, career paths for advancement, competitive pay and mission-driven work. We advance a conscientious drive to support a climate where excellence and success for all people are valued and differences are celebrated. Together, we can be unstoppable.

VCU faculty and University and Academic Professionals are now eligible for enhanced leave accrual rates based on verified military service. The calculation of these leave accrual rates will include a veteran's verified service in the military, National Guard, Reserves (active or inactive duty) and full-time state or Federal National Guard duty. Eligible employees must supply DD-214 documentation for each period of military service to receive this benefit. 

Position Summary:

The Division of Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success is actively searching for an experienced and motivated Application Developer to develop and integrate API-driven applications that support VCU’s Career Audit Program. The Career Audit will serve as a critical tool our campus can use to engage stakeholders across the academic system to engage in programming/mentoring/advising around career development. The tool can serve as the impetus to engage faculty, colleges, student organizations, and alumni into their investment to provide engagement points focused on career/skill development - as well as professional networking. The career audit will be one of the pillars of our First Year Student Success courses.

In this role, the Application Developer will be responsible for the entire software development lifecycle, including substantial discovery, selecting the appropriate technology stack, database design, application development, rigorous testing, deployment, documentation, and ongoing maintenance. The project's scope extends to the entire VCU student population, making it a mission-critical initiative for the university.

Core Responsibilities:

Application Development (90%):

• Develop a web application and web-based APIs that efficiently utilize the various platforms and architectures at VCU. Write reliable code that is well structured according to industry guidelines/principles/best-practices and is documented, well tested, efficient, and meets user requirements.

• Work with stakeholders to identify and document software/system purpose, define requirements, test, debug and deploy new applications within the agreed upon time frame. 

• Create and maintain documentation for new or modified programs and production/operations procedures in a location accessible to VCU TS Staff, such as the Web Services Wiki.

• Maintain and support assigned systems to ensure minimal downtime and loss of productivity and service. 

• Evaluate and enhance the efficiency of existing programs in meeting

Professional Development (10%):

• Continuous Learning: Professional development opportunities, such as workshops, courses, and certifications, enable developers to stay updated with the latest programming languages, frameworks, and best practices.

• New Technologies: Developers can acquire skills in emerging technologies, enhancing their ability to work with cutting-edge tools and techniques.

Integration and API Development:

The developer will be responsible for integrating various third-party datasets into the new application. This includes creating APIs when not readily available.

Documentation and Version Control:

A key requirement of this role is the creation of thorough technical and API documentation. Version control will be managed primarily through GIT via the university’s central BitBucket remote repository.

Team Collaboration:

Collaboration is essential, as the developer will be an integral part of the University and Academic Technologies team. The developer will serve as a back-up to the SEMSS Senior IT Developer/Programmer, who develops and maintains applications to support and assess academic advising and other student success objectives.

Programming Language Choice and Innovation:

The developer has the autonomy to select the programming language(s), provided the application can be containerized to run on Linux systems. Strong initiative and creativity are encouraged to drive the project to completion.

Flexibility and Significance:

The candidate must be highly adaptable to accommodate the project's timeline and ever-evolving nature. This role presents a remarkable opportunity to effect substantial change within VCU, with the potential to make a profound impact on the university's students and their future career prospects.

Minimum Hiring Standards:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science / Engineering / Information Systems or equivalent professional experience

• Demonstrated expertise in working with various programming languages and associated frameworks, including those used for UI, web, and application development.

• Must have strong interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills that can be used with clients and co-workers at both technical and non-technical levels.

• Self-starter with the ability to think critically and creatively and the desire to learn new technologies and languages

• Ability to simultaneously work on multiple task and projects and to adjust to changing requirements, both independently and in collaboration with other IT staff

• Demonstrated experience working in and fostering a diverse faculty, staff and student environment or commitment to do so as a staff member at VCU

Preferred Qualifications:

• At least 2 years of experience in developing web applications in a professional environment 

• Ability to configure and administer enterprise-wide web applications running in a servlet container, such as Tomcat

• Experience with RESTful web services design, development, and automated testing

• Experience with development and deployment of APIs, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), and microservices architecture

• Knowledge of SQL databases, such as Oracle, SQL Server, and/or mySQL, and the ability to write SQL statements

• Working knowledge of networks and internet protocols such as TCP/IP, HTTP, and LDAP

• Demonstrated knowledge of Linux operating systems

• Interest in designing, analyzing and troubleshooting large-scale distributed systems

• Experience with the Atlassian Suite (Jira, Confluence, BitBucket)

• Strong practical Linux based systems administration skills and scripting experience

• Ability to write and modify scripts to resolve complex tasks quickly and avoid repetitive tasks

Salary Range: 76,000 - 88,000

Position Details:

Department: Application Services
Employment Type: UF - University Employee FT
Restricted Status: No
FTE: 1.0
Exemption Status: Exempt

ORP eligible: no

University Job Family: Information Technology, IT Developer/Programmer 3 - 24253