Access and Benefit-Sharing Clearing-House and Biosafety Clearing-House Web Development Consultant

Result of Service The consultant’s work and deliverables will primarily consist of improvement to frontend interfaces, record management functionality and interoperability mechanisms of the Access and Benefit-Sharing Clearing-House (ABSCH, https://absch.cbd.int) and Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH, https://bch.cbd.int).

Work Location Remote and/or Montreal duty station (SCBD offices).

Expected duration Initially 6 months, extendable based on performance up to a total of 24 months.

Duties and Responsibilities Organizational setting

The United Nations Environment Programme is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, world leaders agreed on a comprehensive strategy for 'sustainable development'. The Convention on Biological Diversity was opened for signature in Rio in 1992. The Convention has three main objectives: the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) is located in Montreal and administered by United Nations Environment Programme. Its main tasks are to arrange for and service meetings of the Conference of the Parties, including preparation of pertinent documentation, operation of the central node of the clearing-house mechanism, liaison and coordination with other international bodies and processes and, in close collaboration with these partners, the provision of technical support for the effective implementation of the Convention.

The consultant is expected to support further development of the Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) Clearing-House (ABSCH) and the Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH) with a view to enabling Parties to the Nagoya and Cartagena Protocols to efficiently publish their national information on the two clearing-houses and keep it complete and up-to-date and also ensuring the new developments work across all clearing-houses maintained by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

The consultant is also expected to support work on interoperability between the clearing-houses and relevant systems and websites with the primary goal of increasing the number of ABS permits made available on the ABSCH. The publication of permits granted for access to genetic resources (GR) on the ABS Clearing-House is at the core of the system for monitoring the use of genetic resources set up on the Nagoya Protocol ensuring that the benefits from the utilization are shared equitably and fairly. The number of permits available is a component indicator to measure progress on Target 13 on ABS, and therefore Goal C of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (CBD Conference of the Parties (COP) decision 15/5, Monitoring framework for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework). Several countries have in place, are in progress, or plan to develop systems to manage ABS permits and part of this work will support development of interoperable national permit systems with the ABSCH.

Work will be done under the overall guidance of the Head of the Implementation Support Division and the Head of the Capacity Building and Knowledge Management Unit and the direct supervision of the Associate Information Systems Officer. The consultant’s work and deliverables will primarily consist of front-end development for the ABSCH (https://absch.cbd.int) and the BCH (https://bch.cbd.int).

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the Implementation Support Division, Capacity Building and Knowledge Management Unit, and the direct supervision of the Associate Information Systems Officer, the consultant will be responsible for the following specific tasks and activities:

1. Support general improvements to the user experience (UX) / user interface (UI); 2. Support work to improve the efficiency and documentation of the clearing-house’s application programming interface (API); 3. Support the integration and use of the API into relevant applications and national systems; 4. Support work to improve the UX/UI and implement search functionality for the clearing-house’s knowledge base; 5. Support work to improve UX/UI and implement functionality related to the management and upkeep of clearing-house records; 6. Support the development of the clearing-house’s search functionality; 7. Perform any other related tasks and duties as required.

Specific priorities and activities will be decided by the Associate Information Systems Officer supervising the project in collaboration with the ABSCH and BCH Programme Officers. All tasks will be developed in close collaboration with the IT and CHM Unit.

Qualifications/special skills Education

Completion of a University degree is required. Areas of study in Computer Science, Information Communication Technology or a related field is desirable.

Experience

At least four years of experience with web development, information technology or data management is required. Proven experience with both front-end and back-end (client/server) development of web applications is required.

Expertise

Expert knowledge in HTML, CSS and JavaScript, knowledge of Bootstrap, jQuery and AngularJS/Vue/React, REST API and API documentation (including tools such as Swagger) as well as some knowledge of backend frameworks and technologies (such as NodeJS, ExpressJS), database management (MySQL, MongoDB), version control and cloud-based hosting technologies is required.

A solid understanding of the concepts of user experience (UX), user interface design principles and conceptual design is desirable.

Other Skills required: - Excellent written and verbal communication skills; - Ability to work independently or as an active member of a team; - Confident in producing work across multiple platforms; - Able to align multiple strategies and ideas; - Able to multitask, prioritize, and manage time efficiently.

Languages English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this position, Fluency in English is required. Working knowledge of other UN languages is desirable.

Additional Information Candidates are encouraged to include examples of their work with their application.

No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.