By Kelly Coulter on

BEFORE YOU READ THIS PLEASE NOTE: freelancers, agencies, and offshore workers are not being considered. Only respond if you are an individual looking for a full time job.

We are very serious about hiring a veteran Drupal developer to be part of our staff. To that end, I want to list some of the big selling points for this job:

1.We are a library which means we work 37.5 hours a week. We are very serious about our 37.5 hours a week. You will rarely be asked for overtime, and you will be comp'ed for your overtime with extra time off when possible.
2.This MAY be a remote work position for the right candidate.
3.This is a full time salaried position with benefits.
4. The site is highly trafficked - your work will make a difference to our customers.

If you are interested please read the following thoroughly and respond with the information I ask for at the end.

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RCPL in Columbia, SC is seeking a veteran Drupal coder to serve as a senior member of our team. This is your chance to work on an exciting, well supported project that will make a difference in the lives of 400,000 citizens of Richland County.

Here at RCPL we believe that libraries MUST function in the online space as well as we do in the physical world. Our aim is to build web and mobile applications that are usable, useful, entertaining, inspiring, and informative.

The Online Applications Developer will be tasked with building and maintaining applications. The library has a lot of work to do in order to get our website up to speed. At this point we have a comprehensive plan for a phased rebuild, along with creative mock ups from a superior design firm.

There are three key elements to my plan:
1. Really solid programming. We are using some great Drupal firms for our build. If you get this job, you will be working with top notch talent and big names.
2. Common sense usability. We ALWAYS look at our work from the user's perspective. We are currently in development on the most innovative information architecture and user interface in our industry.
3. Excellent visuals. From the first second a user enters the site they should be inspired, informed, and entertained. User interface is going to be key.

I see the most important part of this developer's role being #1. We have the plans and inspiration; the developer will be the person that will make it happen. This developer will work as part of a team of internal and external developers to build the site from the ground up.

Listen up. This next part is a huge peice of this job description. Libraries historically have used a TON of third party online services as a quick way to get their customers access to resources that would otherwise need to be custom developed. Our website in and of itself doesn't do a lot except for pass users through to various other services. WE DON'T WANT TO BE A PORTAL ANYMORE. A huge peice of the Online Application Developer's job will be looking at and planning integrations for these third party services. You must have experience with direct queries to remote databases and with APIs in order to consider this job.

Modules/Tools that will play a huge role:
1. Contemplate, Views, etc.
2. Amazon APIs
3. Google Analytics (future enhancements will be planned based on usage statistics)
4. Drupal roles and permissions along with blogging module
5. Custom TPLs
6. CSS, JQuery
7. APIs and direct queries to remote databases
8. SOPAC or Extensible Catalog: we haven't chosen the module yet, but we will be integrating our library's ILS system into our website. (The ILS is a massive database that holds information about every item in our collection we currently use the Horizon ILS by SirsiDynix)

The developer will configure the Drupal (6.x) installation, customize and build custom modules where needed, and marry the code to the planned user interface. The Online Applications Developer will coordinate, code, and mentor other team members. If you like sitting in a dark room and coding alone all day, this is not the job for you. We need a team player who is communicative and involved.

The right developer candidate will understand PHP for Drupal coding, CSS and theming, have a killer sense of aesthetics, and will look at the final product through the eyes of the user. I am really looking to hire someone who has churned out Drupal sites for years on end. Most of the design of the site will be rendered in the theming layer, so knowledge of custom tpls is key.

Sound interesting? Please send a resume, salary requirements, and samples of your work, along with notes on your role in the development of each website listed. Please, US based workers only. No firms and no offshore.

Please note: This is NOT the official job announcement. You may receive and invitation to officially apply for the job at a later time.