INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT - DEVELOPMENT OF UNFPA MALAWI DIGITAL SOLUTIONS & INNOVATIONS UNIT

  • Level: Consultant
  • Contract Type: Consultancy
  • Closing date: 24 May 2024 03:19 AM (America/New_York)
  • Duty station: Lilongwe

The Position:

The newly approved 9th CPD (2024-2028) costs $75 million.  At the same time, $60 million out of $75 million should be mobilized through co-financing modalities or other resources.  The key game changers of the new Country Programme are digitalization and innovation. Therefore, it is rational to establish a specialized Digital Solutions and Innovations Unit (DSIU) .

To accelerate the establishment of DSIU, Country Office  will learn other countries’ experience and get support through South-South and triangular partnership.

The Software Developer – Digital Solutions and Innovations Unit (DSIU) under the supervision of Team Lead DSIU will work closely with teams across the headquarters, regional bureau and country offices levels of the organization to design and build digital products, services and offers for our programming work, in addition to identifying and scaling existing and emerging digital solutions from UNFPA teams and external startups and organizations to accelerate UNFPA’s mission. This position also helps in horizon scanning and identification of emerging technologies and their implications for UNFPA’s work. The Software Developers are expected to work across units, functions, teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration


How you can make a difference:

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.  UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.

 

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.

 

UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.


Job Purpose:

The Front-End Engineer / Back- End Engineer (Full Stack Software Engineers) is part of a small team of developers that improve existing, open-source software – working closely with the respective Ministry Technical Team which also consists of other developers. The Full Stack Software Engineer should be proficient working with both front-end and back-end development languages, frameworks and tools. 

You would be responsible for:

Under the leadership of the Team Lead – Digital Solutions and Innovation Unit duties include: 

  • Improving the quality of software through incremental refactoring, automation and continuous deployments
  • Improving understanding of Development Cooperation data through the products requested
  • Working with technical experts from governments, foundations, NGOs and partner country agencies to improve the range of tools and data available to end users 
  • Tracking, analyzing, fixing and reporting software bugs and issues 
  • Participating in technical discussions and working to improve the Standard of reporting 
  • Deploying the developed software products and features based on project requirements 
  • Documenting software development processes including, code documentation, system architecture, API specifications and user guides to ensure comprehensive and accessible documentation for internal and external stakeholders

 

Qualifications and Experience: 

Education:

  • A bachelor’s degree in information technology, Information and Communication Technology, Computer Science or related discipline or completion of high school (secondary school) combined with polytechnic and relevant certifications
     

Knowledge and Experience: 

  • Min 4 years of professional experience in Systems development
  • Strong & in-depth knowledge of relevant UN organizational policies and procedures; programme & project management
  • A thorough understanding of the UN system in general, and especially UNFPA mandate, policies and operations.
  • Good knowledge and professional experience with Responsive design, Messaging Queues, USSD, mobile apps, reverse proxy, Pentaho, d3.js, crossfilters, ChartJs, maps, crystal reports, EF6, PowerBi, dashboards, VueJs, Flatter
  • Experience in backend development using one or more programming languages (e.g., Python, Java or Node.Js)
  • Experience and strong understanding of database management systems(SQL, MySQL, PostgreSQL, NoSQL(MongoDB))
  • Experience in implementing RESTful APIs and integrate them with frontend systems
  • Familiarity with cloud services (e.g., AWS, Azure or GCP), containerization technologies (e.g., Docker)
  • Strong knowledge and understanding of integration of frontend and backend systems to ensure seamless communication and functionality.
  • Familiarity with version control systems e.g., Git
  • Good knowledge and professional experience with Frontend and Backend technologies
  • Experience with user interface development. 
  • Interest in being part of an open-data, open-source community 
  • Experience or keen interest in open data projects and/or standards 
  • Knowledge and understanding of Agile principles, SCRUM
  • Experience in developing backend applications using technologies such as Loopback, Express, Flask etc.
  • Experience in developing intuitive UI/UX designs
  • Experience in frontend technologies such as React and VueJs etc.
  • Excellent problem-solving skills, attention to details, and ability to work effectively in a team environment
  • Knowledge of security principles and best practices in web application development

 

Monitoring and progress control, including reporting requirements, periodicity format and deadline:

Coordination with hired team members and relevant UNFPA CO Colleagues and stakeholders, and submission on a monthly basis to the Team Lead – Digital Solutions and Innovation Unit and/or Deputy Representative UNFPA

 

Languages: 

Fluency in English language is required 


 Place where services are to be delivered:

This Consultancy is on-site services in Lilongwe, Malawi and expected to have a maximum duration of 11 months from the start date. The consultant will be provided office space, internet, telephone and other equipment as needed, to undertake this assignment at UNFPA or respective Government Office.

 

Work Delivery mode:

Payment will be provided on a monthly basis upon receipt of satisfactory quality assessment of deliverables based on established monthly performance plans by Team Lead – Digital Solutions and Innovation Unit and Head / Deputy UNFPA.

 

Travel Expectations: 

Based on the needs of the project the consultant might visit international offices and/or will visit the pilot districts in Malawi, UNFPA will cover the related costs.

 

Required Competencies: 

Values:

Exemplifying integrity, 

Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system, 

Embracing cultural diversity, 

Embracing change


 

Core Competencies: 

Achieving results,

Being accountable,

Developing and applying professional expertise/business acumen,

Thinking analytically and strategically,

Working in teams/managing ourselves and our relationships,


 

 

UNFPA Work Environment:

UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, diversity, integrity and healthy work-life balance. We are committed to ensuring gender parity in the organization and therefore encourage women to apply. Individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community, minority ethnic groups, indigenous populations, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups are highly encouraged to apply. UNFPA promotes equal opportunities in terms of appointment, training, compensation and selection for all regardless of personal characteristics and dimensions of diversity. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is at the heart of UNFPA's workforce - click here to learn more.


 

Disclaimer:

Selection and appointment may be subject to background and reference checks, medical clearance, visa issuance and other administrative requirements. 

UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process and does not concern itself with information on applicants' bank accounts. 

 

We are no longer accepting applications for this position.

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