Consultant - Software Engineer, Food Security Monitoring Systems

WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles

Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide.  The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes.  Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

WFP’s Vulnerability Assessment and Mapping (VAM) is a global network of over 150 food security analysts that are present in 70 Country Offices and 6 Regional Bureaus. As a service, it aims to provide the best possible analyses on food security to effectively reach the people in need. It collects and analyses household food security, economic and geospatial data to determine the impact of shocks and also for regular food security monitoring as part of early warning and preparedness.

Since 2013, WFP has been implementing the mobile Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping (mVAM) initiative, which involves testing and scaling up remote data collection for food security monitoring in humanitarian crises. The use of mVAM approaches (SMS, live phone calls and interactive voice response) has allowed WFP to greatly increase the frequency of data collection and the approach is now being used in over 30 countries including Level 3 emergencies such as Syria, Yemen and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The focus of mVAM has evolved further towards automation and refining of traditional remote monitoring approaches as well as expansion to new technologies and streams including remote sensing and geospatial data, call detail records (CDR), chat-bots leveraging machine learning and probabilistic methods.

The consolidation of these analysis pipelines requires mVAM to invest time and resources in transitioning prototypes to production. To support this effort, WFP is recruiting a software engineer with a proven track record of developing and maintaining open-source technology, ready to lead software development projects in the team.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

The consultant will join mVAM’s team in Rome and under the direct supervision of the mVAM lead and be responsible for the following activities: 

• Assist in data integration initiatives and particularly support the automation of mVAM activities, including near real-time data ingestion, processing, dashboards, bulletins and visualizations.
• Deploy and maintain open-source software products.
• Advise on software development practices.
• Lead the harmonization of tools and development patterns, form version control to deployment strategy.
• Contribute to developing guidance and training materials for tools in the humanitarian open source community.
• Undertake field missions for country support and facilitate trainings targeting WFP staff and partners.
• Liaise with VAM’s Information Officer and WFP’s IT department to ensure compliance on the above.
• Perform any other task as required.

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

• Consolidate current and new automation pipelines into resilient products.
• Contribute to current development efforts.
• Own deployment and maintenance of Chatbots.
• Develop web applications for the broader VAM team.
• Facilitate trainings on data security, storage, scripting and coding best practices.
• Facilitate trainings on software development

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED: 

Education: Bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, physics, mathematics or similar. Master’s degree preferred.

Experience: At least 4 years of experience in IT related field

Knowledge & Skills:  

• Experience with Python and proficient with at least one other high-level programming language.
• Experience with the front-end stack (HTML, CSS, JavaScript)
• Experience designing and maintaining databases (SQL required, noSQL a plus).
• Experience with version control (git or svn).
• Experience with cloud services, AWS preferred.
• Experience making dashboards (e.g. Tableau) is desired.
• Experience with deployment strategies, Docker, continuous integration, Unit Testing.
• Experience in GIS (QGIS, GDAL, PostGIS) is an asset.
• Experience visualizing geo-data (Leaflet, Mapbox, GEE) and is an asset.
• Exposure to survey data or with remote sensing data is an asset.
• Experience working with the humanitarian sector or in a social science field is an asset.

Languages: Excellent spoken and written English; spoken and written French highly desired.

Terms and Conditions

WFP offers a competitive compensation package which will be determined by the contract type and selected candidate’s qualifications and experience.

Please visit the following websites for detailed information on working with WFP.

http://www.wfp.org Click on: “Our work” and “Countries” to learn more about WFP’s operations.

Deadline for applications: 3 June 2019

Ref.: VA No. 105346

Qualified female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply

WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service