Benetech :: Join Us :: Position Postings

Position Postings: bringing heart and mind together

Want to apply your skills to directly helping society? Do you fantasize about getting paid a reasonable wage to make the world a better place? Benetech is Silicon Valley’s deliberately nonprofit tech company, and we apply technology to directly assist the causes of literacy, accessibility, human rights and the environment.

Benetech's Bookshare.org project has exciting new opportunities for you to use your technical skills for social good. We have just received a major five-year award from the Office of Special Education Programs of the U.S. federal Department of Education to fully support — for free — all schools and students with qualifying print disabilities in the United States, K-12 and post-secondary, with access to the entire Bookshare.org collection of accessible electronic books and to software for reading those books.

To support this award, we are hiring for the following Bookshare.org and Engineering positions:

Bookshare.org

Engineering

We are also hiring in other departments:

Technical Project Manager

Overview: This position provides an excellent opportunity for the right individual to play a key project management role in managing the day to day operations of Bookshare.org, especially with regard to the interface between operations and engineering. Bookshare.org is a digital library of books, newspapers and magazines available to print-disabled individuals in the U.S. and internationally. A very significant recent grant from the U.S. Department of Education known as Bookshare for Education (B4E) mandates access to Bookshare.org's content and supporting assistive technology to all students in the United States.

The position requires a solid foundation in the field of software technology management at a detailed level as well as excellent program management skills enabling a smooth inteface between operational and engineering requirements in support of the succesful deployment of the Bookshare for Education grant objectives.

Essential uties and Responsibilities:

Track grant objectives and establish engineering priorities which map to those objectives.
Coordinate with the engineering and operations staff to drive those objectives forward through the creation of specific goals.
Set priorities for all versions and releases of the Bookshare product.
Drive long and mid-range projects within Bookshare.og as well as the priorities for short term bug fixes and new features.
Design and analyze metrics which track progress against goals and objectives.
Provide monthly and quarterly web-based, written and statistical reports on progress against goals.

Qualifications

Required:
- Minimum of a Bachelor's degree with at least five years related experience or equivalent combination of education and experience.
- At least three years as a lead project manager working directly with a software development team
- Basic understanding of the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) which defines the standard for developing component-based multi-tier enterprise applications
- Experienced with Agile development concepts and what goes into a software release cycle (e.g., versioning strategies)
- Significant experience with wiki-based project documentation and with web-based bug and feature tracking systems
- Excellent communication, negotiation, leadership and problem-solving skills
- Excellent organizational and technical writing skills
- A personal belief in the mission of the Benetech organization
Highly Desirable:

Experience in the field of software accessibility and assistive technology
Experience with librarianship and the management of book collections
Meaningful experience in a non-profit, educational or volunteer capacity
Hands-on experience with the Java programming language

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Collection Development Specialist (#CDS)

Position Summary: This is a full-time position for an individual wishing to contribute to a growing nonprofit organization. The team member will work within the Collection Development Team in our goal of expanding of our accessible digital library. The team member in this position will coordinate the processing and adding of new books to the digital collection, update databases, provide some customer technical support, help process special requests, approve submissions meeting the collection's quality standards, reject and remove submissions not meeting those standards, and complete assignments as assigned by the Collection Development Manager.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Assist the Collection Development Manager in developing and implementing procedures that expand the digital collection at Bookshare.org.
Provide direction and support for members and volunteers concerning submission policies, technical issues, legality, and general user concerns.
Ensure that submissions adhere to copyright law and quality standards for acceptance into the collection.
Reject or remove submissions that do not meet quality standards.
Coordinate aquisition and disposal of print and digital submissions.
Handle special projects and requests.
Coordinate and process volunteer donations.

Qualifications

Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Access, Excel, data entry, and the use of Internet-based applications.
Interest and experience in the field of accessibility and/or library collections.
Ability to multi-task and pay high attention to detail.
Physically able to operate industrial paper chopper and lift boxes weighing approximately 25lbs.
Experience with scanning and OCR software a definite plus.
Demonstrable expertise in editing and proofreading.
Two years experience in non-profit or similar office environment.
Excellent interpersonal and customer service skills.
College degree or significant coursework plus related experience

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Education Outreach Coordinator (#EOC)

Position Description: The Education Outreach Coordinator has primary responsibility for providing thorough and consistent customer service to educational representatives, schools and school systems, provide training, and conduct outreach via school meetings, national and regional conferences and symposiums. This may include building partnerships with organizations and or companies that could strengthen school and educational communications and relationships. The ideal candidate will possess strong communication skills including writing for presentations and speaking to small and large audiences at conferences and events.

The person who will succeed in this position will have great presentation, outreach and communication skills, possess strong problem solving initiative and thrive on helping people meet their goals and objectives. Thorough understanding of Internet services and or technology is also helpful as well as experience with school systems. The candidate should also be outgoing, flexible, creative and have the availability to travel regularly within the U.S. For more information on the Bookshare.org project, please visit Bookshare.org.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Customer Service and Communications — This individual will provide regular communications to K-12 and post-secondary schools and systems through customer service, training and relationship building. S/he will act as an advisor and partner with State and Local Education Agencies in setting up Bookshare.org services in the most beneficial manner for servicing their student population. S/he will work closely with other Bookshare.org staff including Operations, Customer/Tech Support, and Engineering to ensure a superb customer experience.
Outreach and Marketing — S/he will design customer service techniques and that will clarify the benefits of Bookshare.org service, build credibility, and encourage individuals and organizations to subscribe to the service. Part of this role will be to represent Bookshare.org at conferences and trade association meetings. The candidate will also be responsible for coordinating logistics for many event and conferencing efforts.

Qualifications

Strong belief in the Bookshare.org mission and that of its parent company Benetech.
A minimum of 2-3 years customer service and or account management experience in the educational community or a related field.
Strong computer, software and Internet skills
Excellent organizational skills and detail orientation
Experience with visually impaired or other disability communities and/or special education is a strong plus
Demonstrated experience working with educators and school administrators and decision-makers or a similar population
Exceptional communication skills including writing proposals and presentation materials for conferences
Ability to travel, starting at 30% (could increase up to 50%)
Team player
Bachelor's degree (B. A.) or an equivalent combination of education and experience

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In-House Scanner Validator (#IHSV)

Position Summary: This is a full time position for an individual wishing to gain experience with a growing nonprofit organization. The team member will work with the In-House Collection Manager to add books to our accessible digital library. The team member in this position will assist in the processing and adding of new books to the digital collection, update databases, some customer/technical support, assist in procurement and disposal of collection material, and handle the processing of special requests.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Enter of titles into database
Check for duplicate submissions
Remove bindings from print books
Scan high volumes of books
Run OCR program (optical character recognition) on scanned books
Validate content of scanned books
Purchase books from online vendors and print books stores

Qualifications

Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Access, Excel, data entry, and Internet
Interest in disability, library collections
Significant editing and proofreading experience
Ability to multi-task and high attention to detail
Physically able to operate industrial paper chopper and lift boxes weighing approximately 25 lbs
Experience with scanning and/or OCR software a definite plus

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Build & Release Engineer (#BRE)

Position Summary: We are looking for an experienced systems engineer that is interested playing a pivotal role on the Bookshare.org engineering team. As Build and Release Engineer, you will develop solutions that insure the stability and scalibiility of our production (Java-based) systems. You must have moderate experience with software development methodologies and, specifically, standard build/release solutions (e.g., Ant).

Required Technical Qualifications:

Moderate Unix shell scripting skills (e.g., bash)
Work with the Bookshare Technical Lead to define and support internal development best practices and toolchain
Develop build system on top of Maven framework
Manage Bookshare's continuous integration environment and the tools that support automation. This includes Bamboo and Fisheye
Increase the amount of automation: single-click deployments, automated integration and web tests on Bamboo server, etc
Supporting the unified, cross-platform release schedules
2-4 years relevant industrial experience

Administrative Responsibilities

Bamboo
Jira
Crowd
Confluence
Fisheye

Required Competencies:

High standards for technical documentation
Ability to work as part of a close-knit, cross-functional team with both technical and non-technical team members
Excellent communication, problem-solving, and organizational skills
Ability to effectively prioritize work queue

Extra Credit:

Strong UNIX skills
Knowledge of Maven2
Experience with Java Application Servers (we run Resin) and the ability to troubleshoot live website applications and tune performance

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Software Engineer - Java (#SEJ)

Position Summary: Benetech has an opening for a Software Engineer (SE) on the Bookshare.org team. The Bookshare.org team is responsible for developing the software platform that support Bookshare.org and related services. You will work primarily in Java but strong database design (plus SQL) skills are desired. This will be mission-critical work and we will expect all engineers to follow best practices.

You should be confident working with open source application development tools and have a good understanding of object-oriented software development techniques, design principles, unit and integration testing, quality assurance, build processes, etc. You should possess good communication skills and the ability to express yourself clearly both in verbal and in written form. You should be able to work well in a team, encouraging good team spirit, and being able to work from your own initiative in solving problems.

One important and specific duty: You will work directly with engineers that are developing book converters and validators. Converters take books in digital format that we receive from publishers - e.g., Harper Collins – and convert them to DAISY format that is accessible to a blind using proper assistive technologies.

Required Technical Qualifications:

Degree-level knowledge of computer science/software engineering techniques or similar experience, plus
A proven track record of solid contributions to software development teams and experience in enterprise Java application development and/or middle-ware
2-4 years relevant industrial experience and good knowledge of the Spring Framework
Capable of working in a UNIX development environment
Familiarity with software revision control technologies, preferably SVN

Required Competencies:

Ability to work as part of a close-knit, cross-functional team with both technical and non-technical team members
Excellent communication, problem-solving, and organizational skills
Ability to effectively prioritize work queue

Extra Credit:

Web application development
Solid experience with Spring Framework
Strong experience with database systems and SQL

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Web Site Engineer - Java (#WSE)

Position Summary: Benetech is looking for a Web Site Engineer who will report to the Director of Engineering. You will work alongside more senior engineers to grow your skills and experience, undertaking development, testing, documentation, maintenance and user community support as part of a team.

You should possess good communication skills and the ability to express yourself clearly both in verbal and in written form. You should be able to work well in a team, encouraging good team spirit.

Required Technical Qualifications:

Degree-level knowledge of computer science/software engineering techniques or similar experience (1-2 years in industry)
Web Standards; the DOM; cross-browser & cross-platform HTML and JavaScript and AJAX
Good Java programming skills including J2EE
Familiarity with basic tools and processes such as object-oriented programming, unit testing, source code control, issue tracking, build scripts etc.
Ability to write good quality SQL
Capable of working in a UNIX development environment
Familiarity with software revision control technologies, preferably SVN
Knowledge of CSS and JavaScript is a plus
Working knowledge of the software development lifecycle

Required Competencies:

Ability to work as part of a close-knit, cross-functional team with both technical and non-technical team members
Excellent communication, problem-solving, and organizational skills
Ability to effectively prioritize work queue

Extra Credit:

Experience with PHP

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Web Site Developer Intern - Java (#WSDI)

Position Summary: Benetech is looking for an intern to take on web site engineer duties. You will report to the Director of Engineering and work alongside more senior engineers to grow your skills and experience, undertaking development, testing, documentation, maintenance and user community support as part of a team.

You should possess good communication skills and the ability to express yourself clearly both in verbal and in written form. You should be able to work well in a team, encouraging good team spirit.

Required Technical Qualifications:

Knowledge of computer science/software engineering techniques
Cross-browser & cross-platform HTML and JavaScript and AJAX
Familiarity with basic tools and processes such as object-oriented programming, unit testing, source code control, issue tracking, build scripts etc.
Basic SQL skills
Capable of working in a UNIX development environment

Required Competencies:

Ability to work as part of a close-knit, cross-functional team with both technical and non-technical team members
Excellent communication, problem-solving, and organizational skills
Ability to effectively prioritize work queue

Extra Credit:

Good Java programming skills including J2EE
Familiarity with software revision control technologies, preferably SVN
Knowledge of CSS and JavaScript is a plus
Working knowledge of the software development lifecycle

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Accounting Clerk (#AC)

Position Summary: This is the primary finance support person for a non profit organization, handling accounts payable and a variety of other administrative accounting duties.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Process moderately complex accounts payable functions
Pay bills for organization
Perform bank reconciliations
Discuss billing discrepancies with vendors
Assist with generating Journal entries and performing month end closing procedures
Assist with special projects

Qualifications

Two or more years related experience
Experience using Financial Edge Accounting system, a plus
Familiar or experience in non profit or high tech, a plus
Personal belief in our mission
Creative problem solving ability
Excellent organizational skills
Detail oriented
Ability to work well both independently and with others
Strong computer skills
Excellent people skills

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Administrative Assistant (#AA)

Position Summary: As the administrative assistant to the CEO and the Director of Human Resources, handle a wide variety of administrative duties and special projects. Examples of work performed may include a broad range of complex responsibilities involving confidential or technical information, such as compiling reports, furnishing information, scheduling meetings and preparing agendas, responding to routine correspondence, researching background material, and responding to visitors and telephone calls. The person in this position may exercise considerable judgment and discretion in completing assignments.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Provide support to CEO by handling a wide variety of daily administrative tasks
Maintain calendar; coordinate, arrange and confirm meetings; screens requests for appointments
In CEO's absence, ensure that requests for action or information are relayed to the appropriate staff member
Make and confirm travel and other arrangements for conference and business trips; prepare expense reports
Provide administrative support to the Director of Human Resources including handling personnel related tasks and maintaining files
Assist with special projects

Qualifications

Five or more years related experience
Familiarity or experience in high-tech, start-up or nonprofit environments a plus
Personal belief in the Benetech mission
Creative problem solving ability
Ability to work independently on projects and also collaborate as a strong team member with minimal direction
Excellent organizational skills and detail orientation
Excellent communications ability
Strong writing ability
Strong computer and database skills, including word processing, spreadsheets and contact databases
Excellent people skills

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