Senior Lead GIS Analyst

  • Full-time

Company Description

With a workforce of over 25,000 people, and opportunities in more than 1,000 different job categories, the City of Philadelphia is the fifth largest city in the United States and one of the largest employers in Southeastern Pennsylvania. As an employer, the City of Philadelphia operates through the guiding principles of service, integrity, respect, accountability, collaboration, diversity and inclusion. Through these principles, we strive to effectively deliver services, to resolve the challenges facing our city, and to make Philadelphia a place where all of our residents have the opportunity to reach their potential.

Job Description

The Philadelphia Fire Department (PFD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services (EMS) to the City of Philadelphia. The PFD is the largest fire department in Pennsylvania, with one of the busiest EMS divisions in the country. Members of the Fire Department fight fires, provide emergency medical treatment, and rescue people from dangerous situations. The engines, ladders, and ambulances are housed at 63 stations across the City with specialized divisions that investigate fires, deal with hazardous materials, and help protect Philadelphia International Airport. The PFD also teaches the public about fire safety and work to prevent fires through smoke alarm installation.

The Office of Innovation & Technology (OIT) is the central IT agency for the City of Philadelphia headed by the Chief Information Officer. This position is supported by the CityGeo team (also known as the GIS Services Group) of OIT led by the Chief Geographic Information Officer (GIO). The CityGeo team manages enterprise GIS operations for the city including on-prem and cloud services, large scale technology and data contracts, and governance for geodata sharing and development standards.

Position Summary
The Senior Lead GIS Analyst is responsible for organizing and executing GIS projects for analysis, mobile field data collection, data development, predictive analytics and data modeling for PFD. The
work will be conducted using both spatial and non-spatial databases with the ESRI suite products and PFD specific applications. Primary responsibilities will focus on preparing spatial analyses, data creation, and ETL processes to support business intelligence needs and measure program performance. This work will include statistical analysis, predictive analysis, developing metrics using R, Excel, and other related GIS tools.

The Senior Analyst will have supervision responsibilities over the day to day work of 1-2 lead or associate analysts at PFD. Supervisor duties will include mentoring, developing methodologies, and tasks for associate staff to execute.

The PFD is moving toward increasing its use of data in day to day operations, and GIS and analytics will be a large part of this initiative. This position is a working GIS position, and the analyst will be expected to perform some daily and special projects relating to GIS as well as be self-driven and motivated to help the PFD grow and expand its GIS and analytics team to become a model for all Fire Departments to follow.

The candidate will support OIT’s efforts to enforce data standards for the creation, management, and sharing of spatial and non-spatial data for business intelligence, performance tracking, and open data publishing.

Essential Functions
•    Develop and maintain geospatial datasets.
•    Develop Extraction, Transform, and Load (ETL) scripts using Python to utilize PFD and related system data for analytics, reporting, and visualization in combination with GIS tools.
•    Query, analyze, and prepare statistics on spatial and non-spatial data using GIS, Excel, R, and other tools.
•    Complete metadata documentation of datasets and processes.
•    Development and maintenance of web map applications published via ArcGIS Online/Portal.
•    Prepare and execute workflows and automated routines using Python and ModelBuilder.
•    Prepare and execute queries in spatial and non-spatial databases using SQL.
•    Create reports and dashboards for executive level team members using SQL Server Reporting Services.
•    Interact with other OIT, Police, License & Inspections, and Office of Emergency Management GIS and analytical staff on data sharing, ETL, and other joint projects.
•    Participate in meetings and events within department, city and GIS user community.
•    Occasionally conduct presentations at departmental meetings and for conferences.
•    Provide supervision of subordinate, intern or Co-op employees.

Competencies, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
Required:
•    Proficiency in database management: create, edit, update, join, append, and query data from spatial and non-spatial relational databases including MS SQL Server.
•    Experience with data visualization and graphics tools for the creation of professional presentations, reports, web content, or education materials.
•    Experience creating Python scripts and models in ArcGIS ModelBuilder for automation of routines and geoprocesses.
•    Advanced-level proficiency using ESRI ArcGIS 10.x software suite.
•    Intermediate-level proficiency using ArcGIS Online/Portal to produce Web App Builder apps, Collector, and Survey123 field apps.
•    Familiarity with the use of ArcGIS Pro.
•    Proficiency using R or related statistical software tools.
•    Proficiency in spatial data creation, editing, and maintenance using ArcGIS desktop or ArcPro.
•    Advanced-level proficiency using Microsoft Office Suite of Applications.
•    Excellent written and oral communication skills.
•    Proficiency in project planning and time management (setting and meeting goals, setting timelines, updating managers and team members on status, etc.).
•    Ability to create and maintain good working relationships and collaborations while being able to work independently and take the initiative.
•    Genuinely excited and enthusiastic about learning and pushing technical limits when finding new solutions.

Preferred:
•    Experience with cloud services and data management.
•    Proficiency in statistical methods and analysis including correlation and regression.
•    Experience with non-Esri software to generate online maps and data, including CARTO.
•    Multi-user versioned and distributed editing, replication in ArcGIS Server/ArcGIS SDE 10.x environment.
•    Previous experience in building ETL processes.
•    Experience in predictive analytics projects

Qualifications

Five or more years of relevant professional experience required. Baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university which has included major course work in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Geography, Urban Planning, Public Health, Natural Resources (analytical focus), Statistics, Information Science, or Civil Engineering. Master’s degree is preferred.

Additional Information

Please submit a resume and cover letter with your application.

Successful candidate must be a City resident within six months of hire. 

The City of Philadelphia is an Equal Opportunity employer and does not permit discrimination based on race, ethnicity, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, age,disability, marital status, source of income, familial status, genetic information or domestic or sexual violence victim status. If you believe you were discriminated against, call the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations at 215-686-4670 or send an email to For more information, go to: Human Relations Website at: http://www.phila.gov/humanrelations