Department: Information Systems

Reports to: DevOps Manager

FLSA Status: Exempt

The anticipated salary for this position starts at $60,600+ for the Engineer role and ranges up to $88,700+ for the Principal role. The final pay will be determined based on several factors, including qualifications, experience, education, and years within the job or industry, with a strong emphasis on maintaining internal equity.

Who we are and what we’re about:

KU Endowment is an independent, nonprofit organization and the official fundraising foundation for the University of Kansas. We partner with donors in providing philanthropic support to build a greater KU.

As an employee of KU Endowment, you’ll witness firsthand the power of our donors’ generosity. You will join a talented and fun group of people who are inspired to help KU through the support of loyal alumni and friends. This support fuels excellence, enabling students and faculty to develop innovative programs and research that distinguish the university. We connect the philanthropic passions of donors with the needs of students, faculty and programs – and everyone benefits.

People are engaged. Purpose is ignited. Lives are changed.

Our commitment to Culture and Belonging:

At KU Endowment, we recognize that we best achieve our mission of building a greater University of Kansas by embracing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. We are committed to cultivating a people-centered environment that is welcoming to the spectrum of differences among us in an atmosphere of respect and fairness. Accordingly, our staff, Board of Trustees, volunteers and donors will work together to create a more representative, equitable and inclusive KU Endowment.

What we are looking for:

As a DevOps Engineer, you’ll play a vital role in KU Endowment’s new data product team. We are a data as mission critical organization looking for a proactive individual that can help us support our Advancement Services and business intelligence by building and operating a data warehouse. This position will be a part of our information systems DevOps Data product team to implement development and support of our data services. The role will be key in providing highly available and secured information to our staff. The role will be a collaborative solutions engineer who can work with teammates and stakeholders at all levels of the organization to optimize our use of data towards the mission of KU Endowment.

The individual in this position is expected to embrace KU Endowment’s stated core values – passion for KU, partnership with donors, perpetual support for KU, and a people-centered approach – and demonstrate support for them through professional interactions and activities.

What’s a typical day look like?

Data Management – design, build and maintain data pipelines
Database optimization – Optimize databases for efficient storage and retrieval.
Data integration from multiple sources for unified views.
Data Quality Assurance to validate and cleansing of a variety of datasets
Monitoring and logging for optimal data performance.
Automates data pipelines and ETL (extract, transform, load) processes
Collaborates with Business Intelligence, Advancement Services Data Analytics team
Working on a collaborative project team with consultants and business partners to select and build data warehouse.
Utilizing AI to enable actionable data for our Advancement Services and frontline fundraising.
Putting procedures in place to guarantee high availability and dependability of data services
Regular and reliable attendance is essential for this position.
Performs other duties as assigned.

What’s required to be considered:

Bachelor’s Degree or three years’ experience working as a data engineer.
3 years’ experience in database management in a SQL environment
2 years’ Oracle MySQL database management experience
1 year working with data storage solutions in cloud platforms
Demonstrated knowledge programming languages such as Python, SQL, Bash, Ruby, Chef
Familiarity with warehousing solutions such as Snowflake, Redshift, or Big Query
Working knowledge of big data technologies such as Hadoop or Spark

What separates the best from the rest?

Data governance experience
AI data experience building data models
Experience is data warehouse selection and implementation
Working knowledge of non-profit fundraising
Oracle Database SQL Certified Associate
Experience in PaaS (Products as a Service)
Creative problem solving
Proven ability to communicate and collaborate effectively with business partners and technical staff of varying experience levels

Physical Requirements:

A valid driver’s license.
Must have access to reliable transportation to travel between multiple locations for training, donor meetings, networking, events and/or work-related activities.
Must be able to respond quickly and effectively to directions and safety hazards.
This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office productivity machinery such as computers, keyboards and a mouse, laptops, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines.
This is largely a sedentary role; however, some filing is required. This would require the ability to move files, open filing cabinets and bend or stand as necessary.
The ability to observe details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
The person in this position frequently communicates with donors, colleagues, students, and general public. Must be able to communicate with others effectively.
Physical effort/lifting: light-up to 20 pounds
Rare travel requirements can include the following, evenings, weekends, and out of town overnights as a regular part of the job.

KU Endowment is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals to enable them to perform the essential functions of the job as regulated by ADA. If you require accommodation for any part of the application process or during employment, please contact humanresources@kuendowment.org to discuss your needs.

We’ve got you covered:

KU Endowment offers a competitive salary with an excellent benefit package including:

100% employer-paid pension plan
Health, dental, and vision insurance
401(k) and Roth 401(k) matching program
Section 125 flexible benefits
Generous paid leave including holidays, personal and sick leave
Volunteer and community engagement opportunities
Paid Parental Leave
Life, AD&D, short- and long-term disability insurance
Legal & ID Theft protection
Critical Illness
Accident and Hospital Indemnity insurance
KU education assistance
Free parking

Sounds good, right? What’s next?

Please include your resume and cover letter when applying for this position on our website at https://www.kuendowment.org/careers.

Questions regarding this vacancy may be addressed to:

Emily Garcia

Sr. Human Resources Associate

KU Endowment
PO Box 928
Lawrence, KS 66044-0928
Email: egarcia@kuendowment.org

Review of applications begins immediately and continues until the position is filled. Because of the sensitive nature of KU Endowment business and the importance of our reputation with donors, KU Endowment conducts a comprehensive review of applicants. By submitting your application, you authorize us to conduct reference checks and a review of available public information. Employment is contingent upon background and reference checks that KU Endowment finds acceptable.

Kansas University Endowment Association jobs

DevOps Engineer