Job Description

Overview
Strategic Mission. The Illinois Interactive Report Card project within the Division of Outreach, Engagement, and Information Technologies at Northern Illinois University is an educational services and applied policy organization. Its mission is to be a leader in delivering program services that contribute to the educational well-being of the state of Illinois and improve the educational achievement and college and career readiness of all students, regardless of background or origin. In support of this mission, IIRC provides performance data for K-12 schools at all levels to advance their capacity to deliver effective instructional programs, along with the analytic tools to manage and evaluate them. IIRC forms collaborative partnerships with leading state and national educational stakeholders and professional organizations committed to educational reform in urban and rural districts alike.

IIRC’s Research Associates are the policy professionals who interpret client needs and associated data, determine the best methods to compile the necessary data, and create the Illinois Interactive Report Card and associated project services. In keeping with its policy mission, IIRC Research Associates participate in innovative educational projects at the local, state and national level. Of particular note is that IIRC Research Associates are expected to engage directly with policy and data professionals at the Illinois State Board of Education.
Position Summary
The Azure Database Architect is the technical lead for a small team on a specialized data system project. As such this architect will coordinate ongoing system design and deployment in Microsoft Azure, interface with key project stakeholders, and spearhead the development of key technical documentation and management reports. This position reports to the IIRC Director and works in close collaboration with the project’s director (located in another NIU department.)

Services. IIRC concentrates on specific strategic initiatives. These include data-driven school improvement planning, statistical analysis of student assessment and learning performance, standards-based professional development, and personalized instruction through social media and web applications. The centerpiece of the project is the IIRC website (www.illinoisreportcard.com), which NIU developed and hosts in partnership with the Illinois State Board of Education. The website deploys cutting-edge, non-traditional technologies to advance innovation in education in all 865 school districts in Illinois. The web site draws between 50,000-60,000 unique visitors monthly, including parents, community leaders, administrators, and teachers, and provides real-time information snapshots describing each school’s programs, student characteristics, teachers, educational improvement plans, test scores, and policy updates, among other information. Thanks to innovative design, rich content, handy search features, and colorful graphics, the IIRC website is a valued (and nationally recognized) public resource for education and school improvement.

To comply with this requirement, IIRC team members have full access rights to the ISBE data system, and regularly design web reports, policy materials, user guides, and website tools through their secure logins to the ISLE SIS and Datamart environments. IIRC Research Associates also work closely with other policy leaders and stakeholder organizations in Illinois, including AdvanceEd, Advance Illinois, Illinois Principals Association, P-20 Council, and the Illinois Balanced Assessment Committee.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Design and implementation of protocols for secure provision to heterogenous front-end systems
Prepare stored procedures, APIs, and other protocols as necessary for external system interface.
Implement database views, etc. as necessary for support of connected applications (at a minimum, Tableau and Power BI)

Design, development and management of Azure database systems in support of IIRC projects
Design of storage schema in Microsoft Azure
Transition existing database systems into new schema.
Design management reporting systems for real-time reporting of activity in system for project stakeholders.

Coordinate efforts of personnel on your team, managing agile sprints and focusing on meeting deliverable deadlines
Run production sprint meetings.
Manage sprint (production) records in Atlassian’s Jira production management software.
Monitor and advise other team members.


Maintain effective interpersonal relations and communications in a team workplace environment
Develop regular reports for the IIRC director and the partner project Director.
Professionally interface with both technical and non-technical representatives from partner organizations.

Oversight of ongoing design and maintenance of data transfer systems (SFTP, API or otherwise) from external data partner source systems
Interface with client technical representatives to determine technical requirements for each project partner.
Develop data transfer systems as appropriate for each external project partner.

Coordinate development and deployment of database security protocols to protect the confidentiality of student level school records utilized within IIRC projects.
Coordinate access controls with IIRC DevOps and partner project Director.
Conduct review of security annually.
Minimum Required Qualifications (Civil Service)
Master’s degree in related field of computer science, OMIS, or education, plus one (1) year of relevant experience; OR bachelor’s degree AND 5 or more years of relevant experience in the development and/or management of database systems, demonstrating leadership skills with progressive areas of responsibility.
Expertise in SQL system development and management with 5 years of experience designing and implementing SQL systems.
Experience in the development of professional reports and documentation (samples are required in submission).
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) (Civil Service)
Knowledge of the systems and operations used within the areas and departments of responsibility.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Ability to oversee and coordinate activities of user groups.
Ability to effectively communicate with other colleagues, supervisors, administrative staff, and other IT users.
Ability to identify and resolve technical problems.
Ability to effectively communicate and professionally interact with all staff levels.