Off The Map: Category UMI Jobs

Seeking Senior-level Geotechnologist

umibot — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 08:07:00 +0000

UMI is growing and looking to expand its core team to include a seasoned technology professional who is comfortable managing projects, interfacing with customers, speaking at public events, designing systems architecture, overseeing offshore development, contributing to core products and developing/maintaining new ones.

Only those comfortable with the entrepreneurial ethic need apply–that means a can do ‘whatever the cost’ attitude, passion for the geospatial, excitement over creating the Next Big Thing and interest in joining a small group of management-limited, relatively meetings-free run and gun starup.

We don’t have a job description for this role, but can tell you a few things we look for:

15+ years experience
Extensive project management/people skills
Varied DBMS skills - you need not be a DBA, but you must have strong competency with flavors of SQL
Varied programming skills - Programming isn’t something you’ll need to do (much of), but you must have this foundation to be able to manage others and make informed decisions about technology strategy
Varied systems/environment skills - Vservers, various flavors of Linux, SOAP, REST, etc, etc…
Geointerest or background

We aren’t looking for a lifelong ESRI booster. Somebody who understands the geo in the context of interactive web applications will have the ability to quickly learn and adapt. For Urban Mapping, the technology is only a means, not the ends, to achieve our goals.

If you are interested in this role, please forward a resume with a note describing your interest. Send it to talent [at] urbanmapping [dot] com with GEOTECHNOLOGIST in the headline.

UMI Seeking (Geo)data Analyst Redux!

umibot — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 18:15:00 +0000

Urban Mapping seeks an inquisitive and capable entry-level researcher for a unique multidisciplinary role. Working with business and technical staff, we seek candidates who have proven themselves in conducting research through non-traditional and creative channels. You will support development of Urban Mapping’s print and digital products by taking guidance from product managers to identify, source, standardize and manage spatial data. You will use your technical skills to manipulate data, create reports and contribute to development of our home-grown tools.

Required skills include:

0-3 years professional experience
Interest/background in geography, urban planning, cognitive psychology or computer science
Strong computer skills (PC/Mac)
Able to structure/perform complex web searches (think Google advanced search)
RDBMS experience including basic SQL
Detail-oriented, self-managed
Clear, cogent written and oral communication skills.

We pride ourselves on working in a creative, entrepreneurially-driven environment. Our methods are novel, but our approach has yielded valuable insights and results. We are interested in candidates who have a solid technical foundation but want to apply these skills in a broader context. This position will be a contract position of about 20 hours per week.

Please Note: If you come from ‘traditional’ GIS training, this position is (unfortunately) not for you.

Urban Mapping employs user-focused techniques to develop geo-spatial data products to industry and innovative maps and wayfinding-related tools for consumers. We are based in San Francisco.

Urban Mapping Seeks (Geo)data Analyst

umibot — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 08:48:00 +0000

Required skills include:

0-3 years professional experience
Interest/background in geography, urban planning, cognitive psychology or computer science
Strong computer skills (PC/Mac)
Able to structure/perform complex web searches (think Google advanced search)
RDBMS experience including basic SQL
Detail-oriented, self-managed
Clear, cogent written and oral communication skills.

Urban Mapping employs user-focused techniques to develop geo-spatial data products to industry and innovative maps and wayfinding-related tools for consumers.

To be considered for this position, please forward a resume and brief note speaking to your training and experience. Email to talent [at] urbanmapping [dot] com. Indicate “Geodata Analyst” in the subject line. Compensation is base salary, performance bonus and equity participation. No phone calls please! Urban Mapping employs user-focused techniques to develop geo-spatial data products to industry and innovative maps and wayfinding-related tools for consumers.

UMI Seeks Project Manager with Planning Background

umibot — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 09:58:00 +0000

Urban Mapping seeks a detail-oriented and communicative individual to manage our globally-distributed research staff. In this role you will work with remote project managers and researchers ensuring we meet internal objectives, liaise with core UMI staff and support global resource needs. This is an unusual role in that it blends traditional elements of project management with domain expertise in urban planning, demographics research, cognitive psychology and geospatial technologies.

The ideal candidate for this position will have completed advanced studies in urban planning/demographic research, demonstrated project and people management skills, shown familiarity with basic GIS concepts and exposure to SQL and/or programming languages. Foreign language and international experience is also desired.

Please note this is a full-time contract position, expected to last 3-6 months, beginning immediately. This may become a temp-to-perm opportunity, depending on the candidate and UMI planning. Pay is $20-$30/hr, depending on experience. Also, note the above are ideal qualifications, and we encourage you to be in touch if you feel your background and skills are a match. To be considered for this position, please forward a resume and brief note speaking to your training and experience. Email to talent [at] urbanmapping [dot] com. Indicate “Project Manager (Contract)” in the subject line. No phone calls please!

Seeking a Geo-aware Search Marketing Wiz

umibot — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:35:00 +0000

Thanks to our talented people and forward-thinking customers, we’re growing in all directions. Our newest offering has to do with geotargeting. As we’ve noted in the past, the current state of affairs in geotargeting ain’t so good. IP lookup can’t provide the granularity that is required to serve up local content/relevant advertising. If a user has registered/provided a profile, that’s great news, but is only a small piece. It also presupposes you are located in your default/home area.

Leveraging our expertise in informal space (ie, neighborhoods), user research/cognitive psych and local search, UMI has developed a geotargeting service that reflects user intention. This is significant because technical methods fail to deliver expected results. This synthetic geo-targeting service taps into user intent, allowing for ‘hyperlocal’ to be more than hyperbole.

We’re looking for somebody who can help us penetrate agencies and advertisers. With marquis clients already in place, we seek an entrepreneurial and driven search marketing pro who thrives in vague and inherently ambiguous environments. You have a demonstrated track record of developing new business and are resourceful, tenacious and creative.

Urban Mapping hires for what you can do, not for what you have done. This means the background we seek is desirable, but not critical. A few notes about specifics:

Agency/publisher experience - 3-15 years campaign management, ad operations, account management
Sales/Biz Dev background - The primary role is to bring sales, but this can only happen once a plan is in place. You must be comfortable on the road, drawing from your contacts, inbound lead gen, cold calling and geunuinely enjoy your work.
Industry knowledge - You are an interactive advertising fountain of knowledge–you consider SES to be a great networking opportunity, not a great venue to learn about online advertising. You have a solid understanding of SEM, SEO, PPC and emerging ad products.
Technical competence: You need not be a programmer, but technical comfort is a requirement. This means awareness of stacks/languages/environments and advertising APIs. Exposure to geospatial technologies is useful, but not required.

Compensation is modest base, generous commission and equity participation.

We work in a creative, entrepreneurially-vague environment. Our methods are novel, but our approach has yielded valuable insights and results. To be considered for this position, please forward a resume and brief note speaking to your training and experience. Email to talent [at] urbanmapping [dot] com. Indicate “SEM Pro” in the subject line. No phone calls please!