Application Specialist - GIS Architect

FULL-TIME POSITION - UNION

Job Title: Application Specialist - GIS Architect

Reports to: Manager Application Support

Department: Peterborough Technology Services

Location: 1867 Ashburnham Dr.

Rate: $33.72 - $49.13 per hour as per collective agreement

Position Overview

As a member of the Peterborough Technology Services (PTS) team, you will play a key role in providing IT expertise to primarily support the GIS needs of the City of Peterborough. The Application Specialist - GIS Architect will have primary responsibility for providing production strength data repositories to support the GIS needs using appropriate tools and frameworks. This position will also provide IT expertise to ensure appropriate Application and Infrastructure architectures are deployed to support the various GIS applications.

This position will have responsibility for support and oversight of various data repositories, applications and technical frameworks deployed to support GIS. These applications may include both vendor delivered commercial off-the-shelf software (COTTS) and in-house developed corporate solutions.

This position may lead smaller scale projects and will participate in the review, analysis and evaluation of business systems and user needs. This position will work collaboratively and contribute to IT and GIS strategies. This position will function as a strategic resource by providing robust technical and analytical support to project teams and application portfolios where GIS needs are present. This position will liaise with other information technology staff and outside technology vendors for effective resource management and problem resolution.

Main Accountabilities

Data Architect

Function as data architect for complex applications and data warehouse needs, primarily in support of the City’s GIS initiatives; build centralized production strength data warehouses and data views to support the business application needs

Contributes to creation of an end-to-end vision for data flows across the enterprise; Works with stakeholders (GIS, business partners and vendors) to understand the need and enable data access while adhering to security and governance standards

Contributes to creation of the City’s GIS data dictionary

Contribute to the creation and management of the city’s Open Data framework

Manage data transformation using custom processes, API’s and third party tools ; experience with ESRI data replication and versioning as well as FME preferred

Drive data migration initiatives including, data mapping, validation, cleansing and transformation

Evaluate existing GIS standards and spatial data models (eg Canadian Municipal data model) and recommend implementation as appropriate

Work collaboratively with all levels of business and IT stakeholders to understand complex data relations and business requirements and implement and test GIS models, data transformation and visualization solutions

Works with DBA to validate database designs and ensure appropriate ongoing maintenance of all production databases working within corporate policies (includes security, index maintenance, backup, disaster recovery, business continuity and provisioning of development and test environments

Application Portfolio Management

Applies a sound understanding of Web and GIS development standards and tools to assist with design, development, documentation, testing deployment and support of applications most often in the GIS environment. Preference for skills in the following: REST APIs for JavaScript, JSON data, ESRI Enterprise suite, Geocortex, CityWorks, FME and ArcGIS Online

Provides IT support for production issues in the GIS environment, including urgent issues involving vendor applications such as: GeoCortex, ArcGIS or in-house Applications or server configuration

Work with business partners, IT, GIS and vendors to understand various GIS project objectives and recommend application and infrastructure architecture to support these initiatives and articulate capacity management implications

Will have some hands-on development responsibilities for more technical GIS frameworks (eg Geocortex, FME)

Work within City’s Application portfolio framework to ensure GIS standards and applications work within the City’s Enterprise architecture and integrate with core business applications as appropriate

Leads upgrades for third party GIS development tools and frameworks, managing other core application dependencies as needed and coordinates end user testing

Project Management and Leadership

Provide project management skills to meet project deliverables by agreed to targets (budget, timelines, etc.) for small or less complex application projects;

Act as advisor to the City’s Portfolio Teams, business partners and IT / corporate leadership regarding project status, risks and issues;

Oversees and leads projects related to GIS database lifecycle management.

Coordinates the facilitation of other IT skillsets needed for various GIS initiatives including Business Systems Analysis, Application Development and Infrastructure provisioning

IT Strategy and Continuous Improvement

Contribute to the creation of corporate IT and GIS standards; Gathers industry best practices and new concepts in ETL and management of geospatial information ; makes recommendations as appropriate

Work with GIS team to set and refine GIS architectural standards (including security, data reuse, service reuse); ensure applications adhere to standards

Ensure adherence to IT standards and processes including intake, SDLC, documentation, code management and version control

Work with data governance team to set standards and ensure applications adhere to standards; includes policy for the management, storage, access, navigation, movement, and transformation of data.

Research new and emerging technologies to provide input on technology direction

As the Architecture continues to evolve, maintains a view for existing and legacy applications to either continue support as is or assist the team moving towards the new architectural standard

Safety and General

Responsible for personal safety and the safety of others that is dependent upon their actions;

Report hazards and unsafe acts or conditions encountered on the job to fellow workers and supervisors; and

Other duties as assigned.

Education

Successful completion of a 3-year college diploma in a related computer discipline along with formal business training, or the equivalent combination of education and work experience.

Experience

The successful candidate will have an understanding of database architecture, applications programming (GIS in particular), and network systems, achieved through a College diploma in Information Technology or a related discipline, along with a minimum of two years of experience in the IT field with significant GIS responsibilities. Must have strong knowledge of RDBMS technologies along with problem solving and critical thinking skills to diagnose problems and determine steps necessary to achieve an effective solution.

Skills

2 years experience as data architect in MSSQL environment with geospatial data;

Experience with ESRI Enterprise Suite including knowledge of ArcServer, ArcGIS Online, Portal for ArcGIS, ArcSDE, ESRI Data Replication and Data Versioning. Preference also given for experience with Geocortex and/or CityWorks

Experience within a medium to large scale organization with substantial Geospatial needs

Experience with development and evaluation of system architecture design strategies

Familiar with application development or programming including: Python, Java, Javascript, HTML, .NET, ArcObjects, ESRI Javascript APIs

Experience with FME workbench and sever technology would be an asset

Experience integrating GIS with enterprise applications (eg. ERP, CMMS, Amanda, CityWorks, SharePoint) would be an asset

Knowledge of GIS and IT in a municipal government an asset

Demonstrated ability to exercise significant discretion and sensitivity involving regular access to confidential data

The candidate must have extensive knowledge on how an Enterprise Work Management system and complementary third party products can be integrated to meet customer requirements across different asset classes

Possess personal qualities (initiative, stability, etc.) required for suitable performance of duties.

Demonstrated understanding of the municipal and utility environment would be an asset.

Must hold a valid drivers license and have access to a vehicle.

APPLICATIONS STATING QUALIFICATIONS IN AN ATTACHED RESUME AND COVER LETTER, MAY BE SUBMITTED BY MAY 25, 2024.