National consultant – Mobile Developer

Organizational Setting

Mozambique’s forest and wildlife resources are threatened by deforestation, forest degradation and forest fires, mainly caused by shifting cultivation, illegal logging, poaching, and uncontrolled firewood and charcoal production. As a means to address such challenges, the Government of Mozambique has expressed a significant level of commitment and ambition to promote sustainable forest management, reduce deforestation and increase forest cover, while contributing to biodiversity conservation. Mozambique’s Forest Investment Plan (MOZFIP) provides a framework for channelling international support to the country’s commitment for forest sector reform and transformational change, through national-level activities to improve the enabling environment towards the aim of reduced deforestation and on-the-ground investments in two targeted landscapes (the Cabo Delgado and Zambézia provinces). FAO’s technical and strategical assistance to MozFIP is provided in the framework of the project “FAO’s Technical and Strategic Support to the Implementation of MozFIP”. The project focuses on five (5) components, namely: (i) Forestry sector 20-year vision, strategy and action plan transparently and participatory developed and underpinned by a revised institutional and policy framework; (ii) Transparency, accountability, equity and overall sustainability of forest production is ensured through revision of forest concessions institutional framework; (iii) National forest sector planning and management are enhanced based on relevant and accurate information and data available through a Forest Information System; (iv) National Directorate of Forest (DINAF) staff and other stakeholders are empowered and have the knowledge, skills and capacity to manage the national forest endowment based on best forest management principles and; (v) Project Monitoring and dissemination of results. The Mobile Developer will participate in the development of a USSD and Android mobile application to collect and read data from/to the Forest Information System. The functionality of the USSD platform would facilitate 2-way communication based on a USSD code, capable of operations on 2G, 3G and 4G LTE platforms. The developer is required to register and provide a single USSD code which will be integrated with all mobile phone operators to provide services. The developer is required to undertake all necessary registration processes with all mobile operators with the objective of obtaining a single USSD code functional across all operators.

Reporting Lines

The consultant will work in close collaboration with other national consultants involved in the development of the Forest Information System (FIS), Under the supervision of the CTA and in close collaboration with the National Directorate of Forest under the Ministry of Land and Environment (DINAF) and FAO Forestry Department.

Technical Focus

The national consultant will support the delivery of the third component of the project focused on the development and implementation of a mobile and USSD app for the Forest Information System for the Ministry of Land and Environment that contributes to enhance national forest sector planning and management by making relevant and accurate information and data available.

Tasks and responsibilities

More specifically the consultant will: • Design, develop, test, debug and deploy a highly reliable USSD and Mobile application using android platform. • Conduct software requirement gathering and document the system development product specifications document • Provide the training and ensure the deployment of the system to test server and production server. • Document user manual and the final system implementation report that will include the maintenance plan • Design, develop, test and debug highly reliable, resilient, scalable and performant backend services using standard server-side languages and frameworks. • Participate in design discussions, develop mock-ups and translate business requirements into technical tasks. • Design and execute functional, performance and security testing and verification. • Participate in design discussions, develop mock-ups and translate business requirements into technical tasks. • Interact with internal and external project stakeholders to collect requirements; • Perform other related duties as required, especially in collaboration with other members of the development team.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Degree in Computer science or related fields, with at least 1 to 5 years of proven experience in developing mission-critical web applications; • Experience in modern back development frameworks, such as Java/Spring, NodeJS, etc. • Knowledge of design and implementation RESTful APIs. Including modern authorization mechanisms, such as JSON Web Token • ork in an agile software development team. Experience in Android and USSD application program coding and system integration. • Knowledge of software development tools for repositories, version control, automation, IDEs, issue tracking, QA and testing. • Knowledge and skill in user interface programming techniques, technologies and frameworks specifically including HTML/HTML5, CSS/CSS3, JavaScript, Angular • National of Mozambique or resident in the country with a regular work permit.

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus • Teamwork • Communication • Building Effective Relationships • Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Expert knowledge in design and development of database systems • Knowledge of internet and web protocols and standards. • Knowledge of software development best practices including version and release management, continuous test, integration and delivery. • Ability to clearly communicate and w