Title-  Animal Life History Database Developer

Classification- IT Data Management – Journey Level

Job Status- Full-Time/Project

Appointment Length- 12-18 months (depending on funding) 

WDFW Program- Wildlife Program - Wildlife Species Data Management 

Duty Station- *Olympia, Washington – Thurston County

*A partial telework schedule is possible depending on work needs and discretion of supervisor

Learn more about being a member of Team WDFW!

Within the Wildlife Program's Wildlife Species Data Management section, this position is responsible for the design, development and maintenance of an enterprise “Individual Animal Life History” database, and related scripts and applications. This database allows individual animals to be tracked through time, including animal samples and related lab results, for tracking disease and other animal health issues.

This position supports Wildlife Program staff in the management of individual animals by collecting and storing data related to individual wildlife animals. Tracking individual animal data is important for both wildlife health and disease management, as well as tracking the individual animal biometrics and morphometrics for species that have a conservation need (“at-risk” species).

What to Expect-

Among the varied range of responsibilities held within this role, the Animal Life History Database Developer is responsible for,

Database development

• Requirements gathering: Translates current business data needs and legacy systems into modern data frameworks (collection, editing, viewing, analysis, reporting and storage). Consults with subject-matter experts, application users (e.g., Wildlife Biologists), and other stakeholders on business requirements, risks, and impacts.
• Data gathering: Review and organize relevant animal data to identify the entity and attribute requirements of the database.
• Designing database: Creating conceptual, logical, and physical designs to ensure that the database meets identified business needs and meets modern database design standards.
• Developing scripts to automate the creation and maintenance of the database schema. Manages source code repositories for these database scripts.
• Data loading and testing on a development instance of the database.
• Creating and maintaining a production database with production data loaded
• Ensures database compliance with agency policy and industry best practices regarding data security, access constraints, usability, and database longevity.
• Develops documentation to track the development and maintenance of the database.

Data management

• Develops and maintains Extract-Transform-Load (ETL) and other automation scripts to parse, leverage, and migrate data between Cloud environments, on-premise enterprise databases, and project datasets.
• Develops, maintains, and enhances ingest and egress workflows from data collected in mobile and web applications, as well as vendor services. Builds processes to extract data for use by staff.
• Monitors script error handling messages to ensure that data processing, data transfers, and other automated processes are working as expected.
• Streamlines and automates workflows using Microsoft COTS products (e.g., Power Automate) to improve integration with Microsoft products.
• Develops, publishes, and maintains web services (map, feature, and geoprocessing services) to improve web-based accessibility of data in this database.
• Creates technical documentation and metadata for data products that details sources, limitations of use, and processing steps.

Application development

• Gathers business requirements, objectives, and use-cases from Wildlife Program staff and translate these into appropriate applications.
• Customizes commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions, primarily Esri desktop and web-based applications such as ArcPro plugins, webmaps and dashboards.
• Develops and maintains custom applications using modern programming languages (.NET, Javascript) for more complex solutions.
• Troubleshoots and resolves application issues.
• Monitors, maintains, and documents source code to accommodate changes over time, inconsistencies in protocol and/or schema of source data, and version control (e.g., Microsoft DevOps, git).
• Creates and maintains technical documentation on application business rules, data management processes, procedures, and content.

Qualifications:

Required Qualifications: 

Closely related qualifying experience may be substituted for the required education on a year-by-year basis. 

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with major course work in Information Technology, Computer Science, Geographic Information Systems, Remote Sensing, Natural Resource Science, or closely related field., including a minimum 9 semester or 15 quarter hours of computer science courses.
• Four (4) years of database development experience including data modeling, relational database design, database administration; use of Structured Query Language (SQL) and Python to access and manipulate data in an enterprise database.

Licenses: Valid driver’s license

Preferred Qualifications:

In addition to the required qualifications, our ideal applicant will possess some or all the following:

• Experience with ArcPro (or legacy software ArcGIS for Desktop) and related code (such as Arcade Expressions and ArcPy).
• Experience with ArcGIS Online (AGOL) or ArcGIS Enterprise (Portal) and ESRI CoTS app (Dashboards and Experience Builder).
• Experience with publishing and maintaining ArcGIS Server (AGS), map and feature (web) services and hosted layers in ArcGIS Online and related code (ArcGIS API for Python, ArcGIS REST API, ArcGIS API for JavaScript).
• Experience with software-as-a-service/platform-as-a-service (SaaS/PaaS) solutions such as AWS and related cloud software.
• Web GIS application development experience using modern Javascript or .NET frameworks.
• Experienced with standard wildlife data collection activities, survey techniques, and sampling protocols with focus on data management.
• Master’s Degree (MS) or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Quantitative Ecology, Data Science, Wildlife Biology, Natural Resources, or closely related disciplines.

Your application should include the following:

• A completed online application.
• An up-to-date resume (chronological preferred) showcasing how your qualifications align with the job requirements.
• A cover letter detailing your interest in the position, your relevant skills and experience, and why you are the ideal candidate.
• At least three professional references with current contact information.

Working Conditions: 

Work Setting, including hazards: Office environment

Schedule: Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m.-5:00p.m.. Flexibility for alternate schedules at discretion of hiring manager. 

Travel Requirements: May travel to meetings/conferences, requiring overnight travel.

Customer Interactions: Communication with both internal and external customers.

Supplemental information:

In addition to pay and other special employee programs, there are other benefits that WDFW employees may be eligible for. Click the “Benefits” tab at the top of this announcement to learn more.

Important Note: 

All new employees must complete an Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9 Form) on their first day of work. If hired for this or any position at WDFW, you will be required to provide documentation proving you are eligible to work in the United States. For a list of acceptable documents, please use the following link:  https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents

Union - WFSE: 

This position is covered by a collective bargaining agreement between the State of Washington, Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE).  This recruitment may be used to fill positions in addition to those listed.

Veteran and Military Spouse Preference Notice: 

Per RCW 73.16.010 Veterans and spouses of active-duty military personnel who meet the minimum qualifications of a position are eligible for preference during the initial application review stage. To receive this benefit, please do the following: 

• Notify us of your veteran or military spouse status by email at RecruitmentTeam@dfw.wa.gov. 
• Veterans only – Attach a copy of your DD214 (Member 4 copy), NGB 22 or USDVA signed verification of service letter.
  • Please redact any PII (personally identifiable information) data such as social security numbers.
• Subject line must include recruitment number, position, and spouse/veteran (example: 2024-1234 – Biologist 1 – Veteran)
• Include your name as it appears on your application in careers.wa.gov.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Employer

As part of WDFW’s efforts to advance respectful and inclusive work environments, the Agency expects inclusivity as part of our professional interactions and communications.  Therefore, we want to ensure that all individuals feel welcome, are treated fairly and respectfully.  All staff are empowered to fully contribute to serving their work unit, Agency, and the citizens of Washington.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife is an equal opportunity employer.  We strive to create a working environment that includes and respects cultural, racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and gender identity diversity.  Women, racial and ethnic minorities, persons of disability, persons over 40 years of age, disabled and Vietnam era veterans and people of all sexual orientations and gender identities are encouraged to apply.

Request an accommodation: Persons needing accommodation in the application process or this announcement in an alternative format please contact Jayme Chase by phone 360-902-2278 or email Jayme.Chase@dfw.wa.gov, or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) at 800-833-6388.

Technical Difficulties: If you are having technical difficulties creating, accessing, or completing your application, please call NEOGOV toll-free at (855) 524-5627 or support@neogov.com. 

Other questions: If you have other questions regarding this position, please reach out to  diana.humes@dfw.wa.gov and reference the job number in the subject line:

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