Agile Software Development Manager
Do you want to play a role in changing the scientific publishing industry? Do you believe in Open Source software and the Open Access movement? Do you want to work with exciting technologies like RDF, OWL, and the Semantic Web?
The Public Library of Science (PLoS) is a non-profit advocacy and publishing organization leading the development of Ambra, an Open Source semantic publishing application that aims to shift the scientific and medical communities from subscription based journals to an Open Access online commons. Ambra is built on Topaz, an Open Source content modeling and storage software framework that uses the Fedora Service Framework and Mulgara semantic technology as the core engine. We are using the best cutting edge technologies to revolutionize scientific publication!
Job Description
PLoS is seeking an Agile Software Development Manager to manage a small agile software development team in support of online journals for the electronic publishing of scientific research articles. We are looking for a candidate who likes fast paced software development life-cycles, understands business goals and priorities, and thrives on getting the best performance from talented individuals.
Responsibilities will include Scrum Master duties, such as capacity planning, release and iteration planning, running the daily standup, technical decision making, removing obstacles, design and code reviews, and maintaining Sprint artifacts like Burndowns, Task Board, Retrospectives and the other associated engineering documentation for each Sprint. Additional duties will include managing personnel, building test environments, setting quality control objectives and tuning quality assurance processes, managing sustaining engineering requests, revising and tuning engineering processes and supporting systems, and interfacing with third party developers, vendors and partners. Other duties may be identified as required for a fast moving technology company. Software development will be done primarily using Java and Linux, but may include other open source and related web technologies. This position reports directly to the I.T. Director.
Primary Responsibilities
* Manage a high performance development team using Agile and Scrum processes.
* Calculate engineering capacity and maintain a Sprint template.
* Work with the Product Owner and Business Owners to define release and iteration plans and to run Planning Poker sessions to get engineering estimates for road-map planning.
* Work with the Product Owner, Agile Quality Engineer and the Business Owners to define User Stories and User Acceptance Tests.
* Run task break-downs sessions, design reviews and code reviews.
* Update the Burndown chart and the Task Board and allocate tasks when appropriate.
* Maintain Sprint engineering documentation and champion Agile best practices.
* Engineering bug triage and product bug triage.
* Conduct Retrospectives, design and review engineering process workflows, put efficiency improvements into action.
* Manage and review personnel, set team policies, have weekly 1:1 meetings with staff, coach and mentor, resolve conflicts, design career paths, and identify professional growth opportunities.
* Build and deploy test environments, upgrade and maintain test environments, review production deployment plans.
* Manage an Agile Quality Engineer, define quality control objectives for each Sprint, design and review Quality Assurance processes, guide testing automation efforts, and help to administrate User Acceptance Testing efforts using Business Owners and non-engineering staff.
* Address or mitigate features that fail User Acceptance Testing.
* Manage Sustaining Engineering, triage production bugs, managed scope of non-Sprint related engineering requests, troubleshoot and resolve production systems issues.
* Interface with third-party developers, contractors, vendors and partners, and help to define requirements for integrations with external parties.
* Write documentation to aid the Open Source community involved in Ambra.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
* Experience managing a software development team using an Agile process for iterative software development.
* Proven ability to lead a small development team in a demanding, fast-paced environment.
* Experience managing software products based on Java and J2EE technologies.
* Experience with Unix/Linux and dynamic scripting languages such as Ruby and Python.
* Experience working with software engineering management systems, such as Trac, Jira, etc.
* Experience with Test Driven Development a plus.
* Familiarity with selecting and implementing Open Source technologies, and knowledge of how community driven software development works.
* Strong understanding of software design patterns, solutions architectures, and semantic web technologies.
* Knowledge of user interface design and usability analysis of content delivery systems a plus.
* Extremely capable communicator; able to understand business requirements and create concise project requirements for communicating between business owners and developers.
* Strong organization and problem solving skills that include the ability to respond to changing business priorities.
* Proven ability to build effective relationships and trust with management, peers and subordinates.
* Must be self-motivated, have the ability to multi-task and have a flexible and positive attitude.
Requirements
* 5+ years software development experience with an emphasis in consumer web applications, content management systems or electronic publishing systems.
* 3+ years engineering management experience with at least 1 year managing a team using an Agile process, preferably Scrum
* B.S. in Engineering or Computer Science or equivalent experience.
* Excellent analytical and problem solving skills.
* Strong written, verbal, and presentation skills are required.
* Must have good planning and organizational skills.
About the Public Library of Science
The Public Library of Science (PLoS) is a non-profit advocacy and publishing organization located in the China Basin area of San Francisco, California. We publish a growing collection of "open access" scientific and medical journals whose complete contents are freely available online. Our long-term goals are to create an online "public library of science" containing every scientific and medical paper ever published, and to develop the information technologies needed to maximize the value of this resource. For more information about PLoS, visit
http://www.plos.org/.
This is a full-time, permanent position available immediately at our San Francisco office, and we are looking to fill it as soon as possible. Our salaries are competitive for nonprofit organizations, but less than comparable salaries in corporate environments. Compensation is dependent on qualifications. PLoS offers a benefits package which includes vacation, 401(k), health, vision and dental coverage.
Application Procedure
Please send a resume, a cover letter and a phone number where you can be contacted to jobs@plos.org and use the job title as the subject of your email. No phone calls or visits, please. Principals only and email from recruiters will be ignored.
- Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
- Please, no phone calls about this job!
- Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.