IT Programmer Analyst, Practitioner (Dashboard Specialist)

Job Title: IT Programmer Analyst Practitioner (Dashboard Specialist)
Job Location: JRA Building PGA Campus
Job Type: Long-term contract

Position Overview

The IT Programmer Analyst Practitioner will design develop integrate and enhance applications and dashboards supporting mission-critical operational workflows. This role collaborates closely with Business Systems Analysts software engineers and data scientists to ensure systems and dashboards are intuitive reliable and aligned with business needs.

A major responsibility includes supporting the Fossil Graphics Modernization Project where the candidate will build modern high-impact visualization screens for fossil power plants-used by Operations Engineering and Executive leadership. The ideal candidate has strong dashboarding skills an eye for detail spatial reasoning and a willingness to learn new technologies.

Key Responsibilities

• Analyze design develop test debug and maintain new or existing systems and dashboards.
• Build high-value operational dashboards for fossil power plants.
• Work with project leads Business Systems Analysts and SMEs to convert requirements into functional visualizations.
• Organize and structure complex data in a way that supports operator decision-making.
• Use dashboarding and design principles to minimize cognitive load and maximize readability.
• Collaborate with software engineering and data science teams to source and integrate backend data.
• Ensure performance reliability and usability across all dashboards.

Required Skills

Technical Skills

• Dashboarding tools: Grafana Power BI Tableau (any of these).
• UX/UI or design tools: Adobe Illustrator UI/UX principles web-design fundamentals.
• Ability to run SQL queries (required).
• Basic Python scripting (nice to have).
• Experience with application development debugging and system integration.
• Understanding of modern SDLC practices.

Preferred Backgrounds

• Computer Science Engineering Data Analytics or Business (preferred not required).
• Experience working with technical teams (engineers data scientists).

Soft Skills

• Strong spatial reasoning and attention to detail.
• Ability to create dashboards that reduce cognitive load.
• Excellent communication and collaboration.
• Willingness to learn and adopt new tools.

Mandatory Candidate Questions

(Recruiters MUST ask these questions. Add the candidates answers directly to the resume.)

1) Design & UX Reducing Cognitive Load

Question:
When you have a very dense dashboard or operator screen with lots of numbers and charts how do you reduce cognitive load without hiding important information

Strong Answers Should Mention:

• Grouping related information
• Visual hierarchy (titles grids clear sections)
• Progressive disclosure
• Reducing visual noise
• Consistent units scales formats

Red Flags: hiding/deleting info with no access no mention of grouping or consistency.

2) Comparing Multiple Assets Fairly

Question:
Imagine youre comparing performance across many similar assets or sites. How do you design visuals so the comparison is fair and easy to read

Strong Answers Should Include:

• Standardized scales/axes
• Normalization (per MW % of target per unit)
• Small multiples
• Consistent colors and encodings

Red Flags: different scales dual axes unfair comparisons.

3) Filters & Misleading Interpretations

Question:
Users often apply filters on dashboards (by date range site equipment etc.). What do you do to prevent misleading interpretations when filters are applied

Strong Answers Should Include:

• Highly visible active filters
• Warnings when filter reduces or skews data
• Guardrails (minimum data thresholds)
• Prevent or validate invalid filter combinations