Wisconet Data Infrastructure Developer

Universities of Wisconsin•Madison, WI

18h•Hybrid

About The Position

Over the past three years, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has led the expansion of the Wisconsin Environmental Mesonet, or Wisconet (wisconet.wisc.edu), a network of 80 weather and soil monitoring stations. We are looking to hire a developer with extensive experience building data infrastructure platforms to support our application programming interfaces (APIs), manage meteorological data ingestion pipelines, and maintain database and server infrastructure for high-volume weather data processing. This is a unique opportunity to join a high-performing web team and support a diverse group of end users. The successful candidate will make enhancements to existing and code new APIs and data processing scripts. They will work with Wisconet staff to identify and resolve issues with data continuity, data anomalies, and calculation bugs. Further work would include maintenance and operation of backend platforms, including handling DNS configurations, performance optimization of SQL queries, ensuring reliability of scripts, managing database connections, and documenting processes. They will work with interdisciplinary teams to bring weather and soil data to Wisconsinites. We are looking for a team player who loves making data accessible!

Requirements

At least two years’ experience using object-oriented Python to develop and maintain APIs for large datasets and integrate with external data providers
At least two years’ experience working with Amazon Web Services, with emphasis on EC2, S3, and RDS
At least two years’ experience using Linux command line to manage servers
At least two years’ experience working with databases and SQL for large datasets

Nice To Haves

Experience working with Python in a scientific context
Experience with unit testing
Familiarity with versioning applications such as Git or SVN
Familiarity with AI for code assist, such as Claude, Copilot, or Gemini
Experience engaging with stakeholders
Excellent verbal and written communication skills
Strong problem-solving skills
Fascination with learning new tools, languages, philosophies, and workflows

Responsibilities

Evaluates and implements open source and commercial products to meet project needs
Designs, develops, and deploys web applications and integrate databases based on relevant website coding scripts
Serves as a subject matter expert, consultant, and main point of contact for internal and external stakeholders regarding website and application options, design, maintenance, and support
Investigates, resolves, and recommends solutions to website problems and performance issues such as speed of access
Contributes to website strategy and recommends changes to leadership
Monitors website use and trends, status of projects, and reviews work for completion/quality