International Consultant - Technical Expertise in DocIn/DelWeb (SSAs)

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

Background:

The OSCE has a comprehensive approach to security that encompasses politico-military, economic and environmental, and human aspects. It therefore addresses a wide range of security-related concerns, including arms control, confidence- and security-building measures, human rights, combating human trafficking, national minorities, democratization, policing strategies, counter-terrorism and economic and environmental activities. All 57 participating States enjoy equal status, and decisions are taken by consensus on a politically, but not legally binding basis.

The OSCE Secretariat in Vienna assists the Chairmanship in its activities, and provides operational and administrative support to the field operations, and, as appropriate, to other institutions.

The Department of Management and Finance (DMF) is responsible for managing the material and financial resources of the Organization. The objective of DMF is to provide efficient and effective management of non-staff resources in support of OSCE programmatic activities. It provides policy guidance on the management of OSCE financial and material resources and develops and maintains OSCE Financial Regulations and Rules and Financial Administrative Instructions. DMF consists of Budget and Finance Services, Mission Support Section, Information and Communication Technology Section and the Information Security and Co-ordination Unit.

Information and Communications Technology Services (ICTS) Section is responsible for the delivery of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in support of the core business of the OSCE. This includes the management, operation, implementation, support, and maintenance of ICT projects, systems, and infrastructure and the delivery of ICTS support services to the Secretariat. ICTS provides corporate ICT services, ICT policy guidance, and support to all OSCE Institutions and Field Operations. The Section consists of four units: Infrastructure Operations Unit, Services and Support Unit, Functional Support Unit, and Software Development Unit. It comprises 34 staff members.

The OSCE is running a project, which aims to replace a range of internal and externally facing applications with modern solutions, in order to retire OpenText Content Server. OSCE is looking for technical consulting expertise to assist in analysis and architectural decisions and to provide timely delivery of appropriate quality for the assigned design and development tasks and solutions.

Objective of Assignment:

It was identified the OpenText product needs to be retired based on three major drivers: 1) as a result of Secretariat Management Review project; 2) OMMC recommendation; 3) ICTS Technical Strategy. Due to the SMI project, internal resources are insufficient for this task and therefore external expertise is required.

Duration of Assignment:

The assignment will last until 31 December 2023. The number of working hours per week will be flexible depending on workload and availability of SDU staff.

Tasks and Responsibilities:

Consultancy services will be required within the areas of expertise outlined below. Specific assignment related tasks, and number of days, will be further specified in the Terms of Reference. All tasks will be supervised by the Chief, Software Development. Assignment areas will include:

• Providing architectural and technical advice on technology and design choice for solutions implementation;
• Performing Proof-of-Concept for target platforms;
• Designing and developing (program) identified solutions;
• Defining and development of automated tests;
• Performing migration of user access and data from legacy to the new solutions;
• Performing other related duties as assigned.

Deliverables:

• Technical documentation on architecture and solutions design;
• Reports on performed Proof-of-Concepts;
• Reviewed software code submitted to SDU source code repository;
• User access and data migration telemetry reports;

For more detailed information on the structure and work of the OSCE Secretariat, please see: https://www.osce.org/secretariat

Necessary Qualifications:

• Second-level university degree or equivalent diploma in computer science, information technology or software engineering;
• A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in designing and devolving software solutions with .NET Core, HTML, JavaScript;
• Proven practical experience in using modern cloud technologies: e.g. Azure, AWS;
• Excellent knowledge of .Net Core Framework architectural patterns such as MVC and WebApi. Experience with Blazor is an advantage;
• Excellent knowledge of front end web technologies such as Angular, Bootstrap, jQuery, SignalR;
• Excellent knowledge of relational databases, such as Microsoft SQL, including database design and performance optimization; Advanced understanding of Oracle DBMS is an advantage;
• Experience with distributed version control and continuous integration and continuous delivery systems: Azure DevOps, Bitbucket;
• Thorough knowledge of iterative and agile software engineering methods, software architecture, object-oriented design patterns and programming;
• Practical experience in automated software testing;
• Excellent analytical and communication skills;
• Flexibility and ability to work with little supervision, as well as part of the distributed team
• Professional fluency in English with excellent communication (both oral and written) skills; knowledge of other OSCE working languages is an advantage;
• Demonstrated gender awareness and sensitivity, and an ability to integrate a gender perspective into tasks and activities;
• Ability and willingness to work as a member of team, with people of different cultural, and religious backgrounds, different gender, and diverse political views, while maintaining impartiality and objectivity;
• Computer literate with practical experience using Microsoft applications.

Remuneration Package:

Remuneration will be based on the selected consultant's/expert's qualifications, experience, the tasks and deliverables for this position and in accordance with the OSCE established rates.

If you wish to apply for this position, please use the OSCE's online application link found under https://vacancies.osce.org/.

The OSCE retains the discretion to re-advertise/re-post the vacancy, to cancel the recruitment or to offer an appointment with a modified job description or for a different duration.

Only those candidates who are selected to participate in the subsequent stages of recruitment will be contacted.

The OSCE is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all religious, ethnic and social backgrounds to apply to become a part of the Organization.

Candidates should be aware that OSCE officials shall conduct themselves at all times in a manner befitting the status of an international civil servant. This includes avoiding any action which may adversely reflect on the integrity, independence and impartiality of their position and function as officials of the OSCE. The OSCE is committed to applying the highest ethical standards in carrying out its mandate. For more information on the values set out in OSCE Competency Model, please see https://jobs.osce.org/resources/document/our-competency-model.

Please be aware that the OSCE does not request payment at any stage of the application and review process.

Additional Information

• Issued by: OSCE Secretariat
• Requisition ID: ICT00000J
• Contract Type: Special Service Agreement (SSA) / Consultant
• Grade: No grade
• Job Type: Consultant
• Number of posts: 1
• Location: SEC - OSCE Secretariat, Vienna
• Issue Date: Nov 29, 2022
• Closing Date: Dec 6, 2022
• Education Level: Master's Degree (Second-level university degree or equivalent)
• Job Field: Information Technology and Information Management