Description

ABOUT WESTED
WestEd is a national, nonpartisan research, development, and service agency. Our mission is to improve learning, healthy development, and equity in schools and communities. With headquarters in San Francisco, WestEd has more than 700 employees who work in 46 states and DC, with a significant number of staff working virtually. Our core values include research-based approaches to serving the needs of our clients, ensuring excellence and integrity in all our work, equity, and striving for impact. To view our 2020 Year in Review from our CEO, Glen Harvey, please visit here.

Serving as trusted partners in the areas of education, health, and justice, our teams enhance capacity within communities and school districts to prioritize impact - asking the right questions, customizing methodologies, developing relevant tools, and implementing best practices specific to a diverse range of stakeholder needs. Diversity, equity, and inclusion is core to who we are and how we work. We are committed to working with our clients to illuminate and address disparities, value and elevate diverse voices, and ensure equitable access to our resources and services. We value a range of perspectives provided by a diverse workforce and the ways in which those perspectives enrich and inform our agency and the work we do. Read more about WestEd's Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion here.

Job Overview:

WestEd's Information Technology Department is seeking a mission-driven database architect. This position is eligible to be remote or near any of our 16 national offices. Our team is in the midst of several exciting projects over the next several years that require exceptional communication, collaboration, and technical skills. WestEd's Information Technology Department supports and deploys hardware, software, SaaS Solutions, custom applications, and network infrastructure for nearly 1000 employees located in 16 national offices. The successful candidate will lead our cloud-based database architecture efforts for both client facing and infrastructure data efforts and will be responsible for visualizing and designing our database architectures.

Responsibilities:

You will work with the Technology Projects Senior Manager, Project Management Office, and Infrastructure Team to develop our database structures and vision for our data mining/storage initiatives to achieve the program and department goals and provide planning expertise. The Database Architect will be the primary staff member responsible for ensuring database best practices are adhered to, from design to production. Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Adhering to business requirements from the project management office, programs and departments in the creation, modification, maintenance of database collection, integrations, data transformations, access controls, and creation of data stores, repositories, and warehouses


• Maintaining the integrity, security, and performance of agency databases


• Determine, enforce, and document database policies, procedures, and standards


• Perform tests and evaluations regularly to ensure data security, privacy, and integrity


• Monitor database performance, implement changes, and apply patches and versions when required


• Migrating, building, and/or architecting cloud based database structures


• Optimizing the performance of cloud-based database structures


• Defining the data architecture framework, standards, and principles, including modeling, metadata, security, reference data such as product codes and client categories, and master data such as clients, vendors, materials, and employees


• Defining reference architecture


• Defining and documenting data flows, i.e., which parts of the organization generate data, which require data to function, how data flows are managed, and how data changes in transition


• Collaborating and coordinating with multiple departments, stakeholders, partners, and external vendors


• Adhering to agency IT policies, including, but not limited to: security, disaster recovery, backup and escalations

SPECIAL NOTICE REGARDING THE WORK LOCATION OF THIS POSITION - Currently, all staff at WestEd are working from home until further notice. Once we return to offices, this position will be based in one of WestEd's offices. Candidates can submit a request to work from home.

Qualifications:

• Bachelors or better in Information Technology or related field preferred


• Experience developing and implementing database security and access controls to meet regulatory, security, and policy requirements


• Experience with managing, designing or implementing database architectures on cloud infrastructure using industry best practices.


• Experience aligning database requirements to client-based contractual requirements


• Must have recent experience collaborating with vendor led development or system implementations

Required:

• 5 years: Experience operating within a nationally recognized system development lifecycle (our team currently utilizes the Agile methodology)


• 5 years: Database management/architecture experience, preferably in SQL or MYSQL


• Experience providing database expertise in a heterogeneous device environment (Apple and PC devices)


• Experience designing databases/architectures in a cloud environment, specifically in an AWS and/or Azure environment


• Experience working in a governmental, non-profit, or education agency


• Experience in an Open Source or .NET application development environment


• 3 years: Experience managing API integrations with SaaS and/or commercial off the shelf products

SALARY AND BENEFITS: Salary for this role is competitive, set at a WestEd level H, and commensurate with experience. WestEd offers a very generous benefits package including medical, dental, and vision coverage, as well as Life, AD&D and Disability insurance. We also offer various retirement plan options and Flexible Spending Accounts for medical, childcare, and commuter expenses. WestEd offers generous paid holidays and paid time off (PTO), among other benefits.

Committed to the diversity of race, ethnicities, perspectives, and opportunities, WestEd offers a variety of social and professional learning communities, such as Employee Resources groups, the Data Intelligence, Insights, and Innovation PLC, and the WestEd Parent Community, just to name a few. We hope you'll consider joining us to build better schools, communities, learning pathways, and more!