Anybody how would monitor the job vacancies page on the KMi website can see that there are very exciting news coming up: we are hiring a whole team to take care of different aspects of Linked Open Data, at the Open University and beyond. This is exciting because it means that we are given the opportunity to make linked data a core part of the university’s information infrastructure, and through this, to offer to three talented people the chance to shape the way the higher education sector share, reuse and connect open data for the benefits of both teachers and learners. It is exciting also because each of these jobs include both a strong innovative component (working with state-of-the-art technologies and developing applications never seen before) and a direct relationship with the community of users of these technologies, whether it is researchers at the OU, the entire university or even a whole network of universities worldwide.

I describe the jobs quickly below with the links to the complete job descriptions and information about the way to apply. Please contact me if you have any question, or if you just want to discuss the jobs (using email, twitter, comments, or whatever other means…)

Project Officer – Linked Data (1 year)

This is a grade 7 job (for those of you who know what that mean) which basically is about becoming the Linked Data Specialist/Expert/Champion at the Open University. The core of the work here is basically to take care of data.open.ac.uk: ensure that it works and is maintained, keep the data up-to-date with changes in the original sources, identify new sources of data and integrate them, demonstrate and build the practices of Linked Data within the University, especially through dedicated applications. We are therefore expecting candidates to have good technological background (with the ability to develop using languages such as Java, PHP, Javascript) and good communication skills. Naturally, an interest in linked (open) data is strongly recommended.

The deadline for applying is the 19th September 2012. See the vacancy page for details.

Project Officer – REF Publications Linked Data (1 year)

This is also a grade 7 job. One of the most significant areas of application of Linked Data at the Open University (and, I believe, the academic sector in general) is for the management of research communities and research outputs. This job concerns one of such applications, which is especially dedicated to supporting the Research Excellence Framework for evaluating the quality of research realised in the university. This application makes use of data available from data.open.ac.uk and creates its own (private) datasets to support researchers at the Open University (hundreds of them) in managing, annotating and promoting their research output. Ability to programme (in PHP, and possibly in Javascript) as well as experience/interest in managing information in the academic community are of course needed here.

The deadline for applying is the 19th September 2012. See the vacancy page for details.

Research Assistant / Associate — LinkedUp Project (2 years)

More academic in nature (AC1/2), this job is also broader in scope. Working within the LinkedUp European Support Action, the goal here is to create both the technological and the support infrastructure to push forward the application of linked data in the education sector in general. This means in particular that we need somebody able to become an expert in the application of the linked data principles for open educational data, and learning and teaching applications. Beyond the purely technological aspects however, this implies collaborating and engaging with a large network of educational institutions (universities and other organisations) on innovations led by the deployment of Linked Data-based solutions.

The deadline for applying is the 12th September 2012. See the vacancy page for details.