International Software Developer

Contract

This is a IPSA-10 contract. This kind of contract is known as International Personnel Services Agreement. It is normally internationally recruited only. It usually requires 5 years of experience, depending on education. More about IPSA-10 contracts.

Background

Instructions to Applicants: Click on the "Apply now" button. Input your information in the appropriate Sections: personal information, language proficiency, education, resume and motivation. Upon completion of the first page, please hit "submit application" tab at the end of the page. Please ensure that CV or P11 and the Cover letter are combined in one file.

The following documents shall be required from the applicants:

Personal CV or P11, indicating all past positions held and their main underlying functions, their durations (month/year), the qualifications, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate, and at least three (3) the most recent professional references of previous supervisors. References may also include peers.

A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page) indicating why the candidate considers him-/herself to be suitable for the position.

Travel:

UNDP will cover the cost of travel of the individual to the duty station, as well as their return to their home upon completion of their services.

Office/Unit/Project Description

The UN Electoral Support Project (UNESP) is the international community’s programming vehicle to support the 2018 to 2021 elections in Afghanistan. The Project has two overall objectives: 1) to build the capacity of the Afghan electoral institutions (the Independent Elections Commission [IEC] and the Electoral Complaints Commission [ECC]) to implement elections in line with the national electoral legal framework and Afghanistan’s international commitments; and 2) to allow a programming mechanism for the international community to partially finance the elections as per the request of the Government of Afghanistan.

Established in 2006, Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC) is constitutionally mandated to administer and supervise all types of elections and referenda (Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Article 156).

The IEC completed the Wolesi Jirga elections in 2018 and the Presidential election in 2019. These elections were followed by lessons learned exercises that identified various weaknesses and proposed changes in the Electoral Operations of the IEC for future elections. The Electoral Law was amended early in 2019 to include a provision for the IEC to utilize election technology/systems/databases in all aspects of electoral operations. Consequently, data and information at the IEC is increasingly becoming a critical asset and thus how this data/information is collected, stored, managed, controlled and protected has a significant impact not only on the quality and timeliness of the delivery of electoral operations but also in the legality of the said electoral operations.

In 2021, the IEC has started preparations for the conduct of Provincial Council, District Council, Ghazni Wolesi Jirga, and Municipality Elections. The IEC is expected to address the shortcomings identified in previous electoral cycles especially in the areas of election technology. Through this assignment, UNESP seeks to provide technical and advisory support to the IEC through the provisioning of an international software developer who will assist the IEC in customizing the software applications and databases utilized across the different aspects of the electoral operations.

Institutional Arrangement

The International Software Developer will work under the overall guidance of Deputy CEA/Project Manager, and the supervision of the Senior Electoral Operations Specialist, and will be directly supervised by UNESP's Election Information and Management Systems Specialist in the carrying out of his/her tasks. The International Software Developer will be required to provide daily oral reporting and participate regularly in project meetings. The International Software Developer will be expected to send written weekly reports on the progress and status of work under his/her purview. Administrative/Logistics support provided will be provided by UNESP to facilitate his/her work.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

The International Software Developer’s primary task will be to provide technical assistance and advice to the IEC in the development/customization and provision of technical support of all software applications utilized in IEC operational operations and some administrative processes. S/He will be embedded within the IEC and will work with the IT team including IT Director, the Data Center Manager, Web Developer, and a team of temporarily recruited software developers to support the Election Process by undertaking the following tasks:

Understand the various software applications and databases implemented at the IEC.

• Understand the various procedures that govern IEC’s electoral operations
• Understand the various lessons learned during the 2018 and 2019 electoral processes
• Examine existing Election Operation software applications/databases and produce a detailed and comprehensive assessment and provide recommendations;
• Work with the IEC to implement these changes/recommendations the software applications/databases that support the following operational processes:
  • Polling Center Assessment Process
  • Candidate Nomination Process (Data Entry, Ballot Lottery, Candidate Supporters Verification, Generation of Sensitive Materials etc.)
  • Registration of Temporary Electoral Workers (DEOs, DDEOs, Polling Staff)
  • Voter Registration Process (Registration Statistics, Voter Register Cleaning, Data entry, Printing, creation of databases for the biometric voter verification processes)
  • Voter List Display Process (Website, SMS and lookup facilities using other channels)
  • Material Packing Process
  • Tracking the Distribution of Sensitive and Non-Sensitive Materials Process
  • Election Day Operations (Opening up of Polling Places, Turnout, Security incidences)
  • Retrieval and Provincial Intake Processes
  • HQ Intake Processes
  • Election Results Tally Processes (Main Tally Center and Digital Tally Center)
  • HQ and Provincial Audit and Recount Processes
  • Announcement and Publishing of Results
  • A Repository of all data operational information from past elections including result sheets and candidate information
  • HR Recruitment system
  • Asset management system
• Work with the IEC to implement changes to software applications/databases that support the following administrative processes:
  • Human Resources Recruitment Process
  • Asset Management
• Act as a key technical resource to the IEC in the following areas
  • Carrying out of feasibility studies in any new voter registration initiatives
  • Creation of software to be used in the Use of the Biometric Voter Verification Process
  • Providing technical insight and support to the IEC in providing ad hoc reports
• Ensuring transfer of skills to the counterparts at the IEC in the areas of
  • Software Design and Development
  • Testing
  • Implementation and Maintenance
• Work with the IEC ICT department in identifying computational needs especially in servers and communication infrastructure.
• Creating Ad-Hoc reports that fuse data from many sources

The International Software Developer is expected to work with the counterparts in the delivery of the above systems in accordance to the electoral calendar.

Competencies

UN CORE VALUES AND COMPETENCIES

Professionalism: Shows pride in work and achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work.

Communication:Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; Listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; Asks questions to clarify and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; Tailors language, tone, style and format to match the audience; Demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.

Client Orientation: Considers all those to whom services are provided to be "clients " and seeks to see things from clients' point of view; Establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; Identifies clients' needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; Monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients' environment to keep informed and anticipate problems; Keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects; Meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client.

Required Skills and Experience

Min. Academic Education

• Master's in Computer Science, Software Engineering or any other related field or a bachelor’s degree maybe accepted with additional years of experience.

Min. years of relevant Work experience

• At least 5 years with Masters or 7 years with Bachelors degree of experience in the field of software development.
• At least 3 years of international experience in the development of Electoral Systems for two or more election management bodies.

Required skills

• Excellent knowledge of election related issues.
• Advanced software, and database development experience related to large scale data entry and data processing systems.
• Advanced knowledge in the development of software applications and databases used in large scale data entry and data processing using C# and/or Java.
• Knowledge of Android programming.
• Knowledge of web developments tools (Asp.NET MVC, Angular JS).
• Advanced knowledge in managing relational databases on SQL Server and Oracle.
• Experience in monitoring data integrity, consistency, database performance tuning and query optimization.
• Advanced knowledge of Data Analysis and Data Reporting.
• Experience in building message-queuing platforms such as Apache Kafka, RabbitMQ or Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) will be an advantage.
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment and context and the ability to identify creative, practical approaches to overcome challenging situations in these environments.

Required Language(s) (at working level)

• Fluency in oral and written English is required.