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PRINCIPAL SOFTWARE ENGINEER

Job Description

Basic Functions

FIRST DATE OF REVIEW IS SCHEDULED FOR NOVEMBER 14, 2024

THE POSITION IS ASSIGNED TO MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS DEPARTMENT

THIS POSITION IS A FULL-TIME, (12) MONTH, $120,336.00 ANNUALLY (RANGE 49 OF THE CLASSIFIED SALARY SCHEDULE).

FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT (FLSA) POSITION STATUS: NON-EXEMPT  

The current hours of this position are Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with some possible evenings and weekends. Hours of employment are subject to change based on student or departmental needs.

DEFINITION

Under general direction, provides thought leadership and operational support to the District’s information systems, recommends business solutions, and serves as a liaison between departmental users, information technology staff, and third-party vendors; designs, develops, implements, and maintains software and ensures successful integration with existing systems and applications; monitors systems to ensure performance and reliability standards are met; serves as a technical leader and subject matter expert providing recommendations, support, and training to information technology staff and District users in areas of expertise; and performs related duties, as assigned.


SUPERVISION RECEIVED AND EXERCISED

Receives general direction from assigned supervisory or management personnel. Exercises technical and functional guidance and provides mentoring to, assigned staff.  Exercises no direct supervision over staff, but reviews work products and suggests ways to improve code/queries/solution design whenever possible.


CLASS CHARACTERISTICS
The Principal Software Engineer is responsible for performing the most complex work assigned to the programming staff. Incumbents regularly work on tasks which are varied and complex, requiring considerable discretion and independent judgment, and advanced programming techniques. Positions in the classification rely on experience and judgment to ensure high quality work is completed. Assignments are given with general guidelines and incumbents are responsible for establishing objectives, timelines, and methods to complete assignments. Planned work is typically reviewed by one's peers and managers for soundness of approach, solution design, appropriateness, and conformity to sound architecture and applicable adherence to policy and requirements.  

Representative Duties

EXAMPLES OF TYPICAL JOB FUNCTIONS

Management reserves the right to make reasonable accommodations so that qualified employees with verified medical conditions can perform the essential functions of the job.


  • Provides thought leadership and operational support to the District’s information systems, recommends business solutions, and serves as a liaison between departmental users, information technology staff, and third-party vendors.  
  • Performs complex and analytical work of a specialized nature in support of assigned technology programs.   
  • Uses multiple devices to monitor systems evaluating reliability, conformance to performance metrics, and overall availability; implements, tests, and evaluates the effectiveness of solutions; develops and implements related protocols, policies, procedures, and operating standards.   
  • Coordinates and mentors/trains other information technology staff to implement application design specifications and coordinate integration across multiple platforms and technologies; maintains effective communications with users regarding vendor activities, problems, status, timelines, and other details.
  • Gathers user requirements; analyzes and documents current department practices and procedures to clearly describe processes, and to determine the technical, political, and economic feasibility of providing automated solutions to manual business processes; provides input and recommendations regarding current and proposed business practices and the options for translating such practices into effective system deployments across multiple platforms.
  • Designs and develops computer programs using various computer languages and database platforms; writes programming code and scripts, reviews and deploys custom code and software, and maintains both software and systems for the District.
  • Designs, develops, and creates database structures; develops and implements data migration/conversion techniques for systems conversions and/or upgrades; designs systems/database interfaces; develops standards and strategies to maintain database availability, reliability, and security; makes and implements recommendations for current and future data storage requirements.
  • Maintain accuracy and integrity of data for meeting mandated reporting requirements; document applicable procedures and collaborate with others to ensure any problems are diagnosed and corrected.  
  • Identifies system deficiencies or additional resource requirements; develops and implements modified or enhanced systems to increase their efficiency, reliability, and availability; implements, tests, and evaluates the effectiveness of solutions.
  • Designs and executes application and quality assurance testing plans to validate functionality; tests, troubleshoots, and de-bugs programs using appropriate technology tools; resolves programming issues; refines data and formats final products.   
  • Conducts group and/or one-on-one training sessions with application users and/or technology staff to provide information on application functions; designs and prepares training materials.
  • Conducts research and stays current on new trends and innovative solutions for technology programs; recommends new technologies which would improve the District’s operational effectiveness or services to business and instructional departments.
  • Serves as project leader on assigned projects, coordinating and inspecting the work of professional and technical staff; determines project requirements, business needs, purpose or justification; identifies stakeholders, and functional area participation; refines project requirements, scope, objectives, deliverables, acceptance criteria, constraints, assumptions, and alternative solutions; estimates resource costs and overall project budget; identifies project staff roles and responsibilities; determines stakeholder information and communication plans.
  • Serves as a knowledge expert for at least three core systems for the District, and maintains business and technical expertise in all aspects of that system.
  • Serves as an escalation point for system administrators and analysts, and for Database Administrators
  • Enforces industrial security best practices to harden systems and secure data.
  • Writes and maintains user and technical operating instructions and documentation; prepares training materials and conducts formal and informal training programs; and advises on best practices.
  • Provides work direction to lower-level staff on a project basis.  
  • Works productively and cooperatively with others by demonstrating respect, patience, and equitable treatment of all internal and external customers.   
  • Observes and complies with District and mandated safety rules, regulations, and protocols.
  • Performs other related duties as assigned.  

Requirements

Education and Experience: 

Any combination of training and experience that would provide the required knowledge, skills, and abilities is qualifying.  A typical way to obtain the required qualifications would be


Education:

  • Equivalent to a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with major coursework in computer science, information technology, or a related field.

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