Help us research, prototype, and build new services for our members and the community.
We are hiring a Principal R&D Developer to help prototype and develop new web-based tools and services.
Crossref operates a service that connects thousands of scholarly publishers, millions of research articles, and research content and serves an increasingly diverse set of communities within scholarly publishing, research, and beyond.
The Crossref R&D team focuses on the kinds of research projects that have allowed Crossref to make transformational technology changes, launch innovative new services, and engage with entirely new constituencies. Some Illustrious projects that had their origins in the R&D group include:
We’re looking for a developer who will thrive taking messy, vague, and often contradictory requirements and working with the community to refine those requirements into a practical implementation plan. This process involves a lot of listening, writing, and prototyping. And it also requires a lot of iteration.
You will report to the Director of Technology and Research and work on a team that includes the Head of Strategic Initiatives and another Principal R&D developer.
There are a lot of skills that we are looking for, but we don’t expect to find a purple unicorn. Instead, our primary criterion is that you have a track record of working with communities to deliver innovative projects using a variety of tools, languages, frameworks, and development paradigms. We are looking for someone who:
The Principal R&D Developer will report to the Director of Technology & Research. They will be responsible for prototyping and developing new Crossref initiatives and applying new Internet technologies to further Crossref’s mission to make research outputs easy to find, cite, link, assess, and reuse.
The post will work with the Head of Strategic Initiatives, Head of Development, Head of Infrastructure, and Director of Product to develop and implement new services – taking ideas from concept to prototype and, where appropriate, create and deploy production services.
The Principal R&D Developer may represent Crossref at conferences and in industry activities and projects. They will also play an active role in developing industry and community technical standards and help develop technical guidelines for Crossref members.
Working with the Head of Development and the Head of Infrastructure, the Principal R&D Developer will ensure that new services are designed with a robust and sustainable architecture. The Principal R&D Developer will actively engage with technical representatives from Crossref’s membership, the library community, scholarly researchers, and broader Internet initiatives.
And please note that this is not a back-office position. On the contrary, we believe that it is vital that the entire technical team develops an understanding of our members, the broader community, and their needs. Without this kind of empathy, we cannot add value to our services. As such, you will also find yourself working closely with the product and outreach teams.
We’re about 40 staff and now ‘remote-first’ although we have optional offices in Oxford, UK, and Boston, USA. We are dedicated to an open and fair research ecosystem, and that’s reflected in our ethos and staff culture. We like to work hard, but we have fun too! We take a creative, iterative approach to our projects and believe that all team members can enrich the culture and performance of our whole organization.
We are active supporters of ongoing professional development opportunities and promote self-learning at every opportunity. Crossref has a healthy financial situation, and we only continue to grow. While we won’t have a clear hierarchical path for staff to follow, there are always evolving opportunities to progress and be challenged.
This is a remote position. The R&D team currently has members working in the US (Brooklyn), Ireland (Dublin), and France (Nîmes). As a remote-first organization, we are not bound to a specific location. Ideally, for this role, we are looking for someone based in time zones +/- 2 UTC.
In general, Crossref is committed to lowering its environmental impact by reducing unnecessary travel.
We also recognize that some people may be unable to travel and the ability to travel is not a requirement for this position.
That being said, if you are able to travel, it would be for no more than 7-14 days a year (possibly international).
Between 80K-124K EUR (or equivalent) depending on experience and location. Benchmarked every two years. Excellent benefits.
Send a cover letter and a CV via email by July 5th, 2022 to:
Lindsay Russell
Crossref is committed to a policy of non-discrimination and equal opportunity for all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy or a condition related to pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, uniform service member status, or any other protected class under applicable law. Crossref will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with known disabilities in accordance with applicable law.
