Application Programmer

POSITION SUMMARY:

This position is responsible for the authoring and maintenance of software to assist in the operation of the company, including development of new and enhancement of existing software applications as assigned. The scope of this position includes conducting user needs assessments, documenting development, change & completion milestones, and maintaining compliance with existing standards.  The incumbent will also analyze and amend software errors in a timely and accurate fashion, and provide status reports where required. 

 

This individual will interact with other Westlake departments as a service-provider, and interact with external entities such as technology vendors. 

 

The successful candidate is self-directed in work prioritization and will demonstrate good judgment-making ability within the scope of the position’s areas of responsibility.  The associate will perform all duties in accordance with Westlake policies and procedures and all state and federal regulations.

 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

·         Design and document detailed functional specifications, system specifications and program specifications for implementation

·         Analyzes existing processes and formulates new and/or revises processes that allow for the fullest possible benefit of integrating information technology.

·         Is responsible for studying work processes, including those not directly related to current systems, and advising with respect to integrating existing data sources; consulting with business and IT management to determine priorities for new application developments;

·         Developing and implementing data models and software applications; providing automated mechanisms for data retrieval by end users for common reports; eliminating manual work processes wherever possible;

·         Developing data rules that will provide for maximum data integrity to all systems;

·         Developing system documentation on both web and program code and/or application operation;

·         Monitoring performance in all systems and providing ongoing support for all aspects of operation including software updates and patches, page, and data model modifications, query modifications, user interface adjustments, and expansion of systems to accommodate additional demands; and other related duties as required. 

·         Maintaining a high level of understanding of the application systems, the software development process, development tools and languages, end-user business needs, including standards, policies, and procedures.;

 

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILL & LICENSES:

·         Strong understanding and experience with RDBMS systems such as Oracle, MySQL, MS SQL, including writing stored procedures and modifying the database structure

·         Designing and implementing database structures such as tables, queries, indices, and relationships

·         Business analytics acumen and project management experience

·         Experience with Financial/Accounting/CRM systems

·         Strong analytical skills, organizational skills and attention to details

·         Proficiency in a Unix/Linux environment

·         Ability to work under time constraints and daily deadlines.

·         Excellent communication and interpersonal skills

EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE:

·         Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or Engineering, or equivalent hands-on technical experience. 

·         Minimum 5 years previous experience and demonstrable knowledge of two or more of the following: Perl, BASH scripting, PHP

·         Experience with services oriented architectures (SOA), web services, SOAP and XML will be a plus

 

MACHINES, OFFICE EQUIPMENT & SOFTWARE:

·         Daybreak or other retail consumer servicing systems.

·         Web navigation and/or web-based applications.