Job No. 156724
- Job Title:
- Web Scraping Programmer - CJARS
- Employer:
-
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
- Location:
-
Ann Arbor , MI
- Posting Date:
- 14-Oct-2025
- Description:
-
Job Summary
The Criminal Justice Administrative Records System (CJARS) is a next-generation criminal justice data platform designed to improve policy-relevant research on the U.S. justice system. To date, the project has amassed a substantial amount of criminal justice data, including 3 billion lines of raw data, which come from 38 states and cover over 200 million criminal justice events. CJARS was recently awarded a $6 million grant from Arnold Ventures to expand project operations over the course of the next three years. We are seeking applications for a Web Scraping Programmer to join our expanding team and contribute to the growth of the CJARS data holdings. As a Web Scraping Programmer, you will develop web scraping algorithms and data parsers to collect information from criminal justice agency websites and prepare it for incorporation into the CJARS database.
Mission Statement
The mission of the University of Michigan is to serve the people of Michigan and the world through preeminence in creating, communicating, preserving and applying knowledge, art, and academic values, and in developing leaders and citizens who will challenge the present and enrich the future.
Responsibilities*
Web Scraping and Data Parsing
Develop, monitor, debug, and modify web scrapers using Python packages, such as Selenium.
Create .CSV files by parsing scraped information using Python packages, such as Beautiful Soup.
Develop strategies to evaluate the content and quality of data that has been collected.
Record metadata from scraped and parsed information to guide subsequent processing of data by the CJARS data processing team.
Evaluate data scraping targets and current processes to ensure that data scraping remains in compliance with internal web-scraping policies.
Develop code in a team environment, review code of other team members, and collaborate with other team members to solve new data scraping challenges.
Project Management and Planning
Continually identify and maintain a list of targets for CJARS data scraping efforts.
Develop and maintain systems to track the status of web crawlers.
Establish priorities for data scraping targets that balances the value of scrapable data against available computing and staff resources.
Required Qualifications*
A Bachelor's degree in a relevant field. A combination of education and professional experience may be considered in lieu of a bachelor's degree.
1 to 3 years of relevant professional experience.
Ability to code using common programming languages (e.g., Python).
Desired Qualifications*
Knowledge and understanding of U.S. criminal justice system.
Experience developing web scrapers and data parsers.
- Contact information:
- University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
- Ann Arbor, MI 48109
- United States
- Employer's Website:
-
Visit Employer's website