Senior GIS Application Administrator

As a UW employee, you have a unique opportunity to change lives on our campuses, in our state and around the world. UW employees offer their boundless energy, creative problem-solving skills and dedication to build stronger minds and a healthier world.

UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty.

UW Facilities manages the University's buildings, infrastructure and land, with more than 1,100 employees in a variety of fields. The Asset Management group includes Capital & Space Management, Real Estate, Sustainability and other teams responsible for planning and workload management. The Operations group includes Project Delivery, Maintenance & Construction, Campus Utilities & Operations, Building Services, Transportation Services and Safety. Supporting these groups are the Business Intelligence & Information Technology group and the Finance & Administration group.

Business Innovation and Technology (BIT) is UW Facilities' IT organization, providing efficient and effective technology solutions and support to the teams that build, operate, and maintain the more than 643 acres of the UW Seattle Campus. BIT collaborates with university partners to implement technical solutions for delivering strategic business goals and outcomes across technology products, processes, and standards.

We have an outstanding opportunity for a Senior GIS Application Administrator.

The Senior Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Application Administrator will be an important member of the BIT team who is responsible for supporting the spatial tools that enable location, asset and space management across the University of Washington. This position will work with a team of application administrators to support the array of geospatial tools managed by BIT. As part of that team the Senior GIS Application Administrator will support those systems through custom development, documentation, systems administration, stakeholder engagement, and user training.

This position must blend a strong technology background with an ability to build and maintain effective working relationships with stakeholders to provide continuous value to the University. In addition, this position will mentor and review the work performed by other members of the GIS team.

This role will follow the practices for each phase of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), adhere to data governance requirements, and University regulations for developing tools and technologies based on client business requirements and specifications. This includes configuration management, coding, unit testing, debugging, and documentation for fostering secure, accessible enterprise, and user-centric solutions. This role collaborates across a wide spectrum of the Facilities organization and other UW campus partners, as well as inter-collegiate, state, and federal entities to deliver the best possible solutions for UW staff and affiliates.

The Senior GIS Application Administrator will work across a diverse spectrum of UW Facilities business, operational units, and campus-wide partners to recommend and implement solutions using UWF geospatial systems. Systems which the University relies upon to ensure regulatory compliance, efficiently maintain building and utility systems, and track grant funded research. Spatial information collected through those applications is leveraged by other enterprise systems to enable business processes like procurement, work order management and regulated materials tracking. The Senior GIS Application Administrator will utilize their deep technical knowledge and breadth of experience to support and guide university partners in space planning departments as well as operations & maintenance units that utilize or hope to utilize these systems.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

Software Development and Application Support - (60%)

* Design, develop, configure, and implement advanced features, customizations, and product functionality for the geospatial and mapping systems supported by BIT.
* Support, maintain and create custom extract transfer & load (ETL) processes to import and export spatial and non-spatial data between critical University systems.
* Perform requirements gathering with customers and stakeholders to support development needs and create project scope documents.
* Align with and drive the development of DevOps standards supporting a "cloud-first" deployment strategy.
* Follow Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) practices to deliver long term sustainability goals for the department.
* Provide enhanced user training (onsite and remote) to support campus-wide solutions and serve as an advocate and subject matter expert for supported applications.
* Develop written procedures and program implementation documentation for users and online support resources.
* Conduct deployment testing and produce documentation including testing scripts.
* Review the work performed by other members of the GIS team to ensure changes conform with BIT development standards and practices.
* Support regular application and license upgrades of vendor provided systems.

Business Support and Related Duties - (20%)

* Attend training as necessary and assess new system features for use by various UW Facilities departments and business partners. Design, plan and execute enhancements as needed.
* Develop and maintain important working relationships with current or potential UWF business partners, clients, and users on campus.
* Maintain familiarity with key enterprise application needs, and review implementations from peer public institutions or related private sector partners. Using this information recommend improvements to the quality of supported systems.
* Work closely with various IT organizations within the UW (e.g., UW Information Technology, Medical Centers, and other academic partners) to align solution needs.

Strategic Planning for Geospatial Systems - (15%)

* Lead recurring data and system governance meetings with campus stakeholders for BIT supported geospatial tools and systems.
* Manage, champion, and advise on technology roadmaps, system diagrams, and other strategic documentation.
* Coordinate with university partners to ensure that the available spatial tools meet the needs of space planning and asset management.
* Manage the translation of business value to technical requirements for geospatial applications including schedule dependencies, deliverables, and target dates.
* Stay up to date on industry trends and directions to lead, mentor, and advise partners and staff.

Other Duties as Assigned - (5%)

The following represents a sampling of ad hoc tasks infrequently performed by this position. Other tasks may be assigned on an as needed basis.

* Fulfill Ad-Hoc data and reporting requests against tight turnaround times.
* Design and develop complex business critical reports using SSRS (MS SQL Server Reporting Services) or other report creation tools.
* Support the management and development of student interns hired into BIT.

Core Competencies

* Demonstrate personal integrity and trustworthiness.
* Manage stressful situations and changing priorities effectively.
* Anticipate, recognize and resolve problems.
* Be responsible and accountable.
* Use organizational skills and provide attention to details.
* Maintain a positive, optimistic, and success-oriented attitude.
* Exercise professionalism, which includes being tactful and courteous.
* Exhibit a professional work ethic.
* Continuously promote a safe work environment.

Requirements include:

* Bachelor's degree in Geography, Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering or equivalent experience.
* 5 years of experience administering an enterprise GIS platform, preferably a platform designed around Esri's ArcGIS Enterprise (ArcGIS Server, Portal for ArcGIS, ArcSDE, etc.).
* Proficiency in the administration of ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS Online.
* Solid understanding of Geographic Information System design principles and architectures.
* Proficient in writing T-SQL with experience creating complex queries, stored procedures, functions, triggers, and report writing/creation/modification.
* Knowledge of relational database design and architecture.
* Demonstrated ability to think strategically, analyze information quickly, manage risk, and make accurate recommendations.
* Understanding and experience implementing current software development practices.
* Proven ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with stakeholders of various levels of authority and expertise across units.
* Strong negotiation and problem-solving skills to align the business process with IT systems for success across organizational lines.
* Demonstrated ability to communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
* Established interpersonal and communications skills (both written and oral) are required, as well as the ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
* A commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment.
* Experience using Lean/Agile development methodologies.

Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.

Desired:

* Experience in higher education processes, applications, and systems; familiarity with a complex large research university.
* 3 years of leadership experience in Information Technology or equivalent.
* 3 years of experience developing complex data integrations (extract, transfer, load) using Safe Software's FME.
* Experience with indoor mapping solutions such as Cartegraph's InVision or ArcGIS Indoors.
* Familiarity with AutoCAD/Revit and how they integrate with GIS.
* Proficient in the administration of a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) such as Microsoft SQL Server.
* Knowledge and understanding of common IT frameworks including the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), Information Technology Service Management (ITSM or ITIL).
* Knowledge of cloud-based enterprise applications and infrastructure.
* Experience with DevOps approaches and practices including Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery (CI/CD).
* Experience in related disciplines including cybersecurity, data integrations, business process design, project management and portfolio management.
* Experience with multitasking, dealing with ambiguity, and time management.
* Knowledge and experience with administration and technology compliance, government and sponsor requirements, and other issues that comprise the industry.

Conditions of Employment:

* Regular and predictable attendance is required.

Application Process:

The application process for UW positions may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process. These may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others. Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select "Apply to this position". Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment, you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your "My Jobs" page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.