Software developer (front end), Food Security and Nutrition Monitoring Systems
WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, color, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status, physical or mental disability.
Job Title: Software developer (front-end), Food Security and Nutrition Monitoring Systems
Type of Contract: Consultancy
Division: Hunger Monitoring Unit / Research, Assessment and Monitoring Division
Duty Station (City, Country): HQ-Rome
Duration: 11 months (potentially renewable)
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:
The Hunger Monitoring Unit (RAMH) in WFP’s Research Assessment and Monitoring (RAM) Division manages WFP’s global hunger monitoring systems, building upon the successes of the mobile Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping (mVAM) initiative. This entails the establishment and oversight of WFP’s near real-time food security monitoring systems in close to 40 countries, as well as developing and refining advanced analytical approaches – including predictive analytics capacities – in collaboration with internal and external partners to ensure timely and holistic views of the food security situation globally. Data from these systems flows into the HungerMap LIVE (hungermap.wfp.org), WFP’s global hunger monitoring system. This information is also published through Global and Regional Insights and Key Trends reports and other related resources, enabling decision-makers to monitor the situation effectively and adopt early mitigation actions.
RAMH is collaborating with WFP’s Nutrition Division and Innovation Accelerator (IA) on a project to generate and increase access to modelled data on vitamin and mineral intake at sub-national levels. This will be critical to inform the design and roll-out of large-scale food fortification programmes and policy, as well as complementary programs to improve access to micronutrients. Specifically, the objective of the project is to develop a novel index for the risk of inadequate dietary micronutrient intake, estimate or predict this index subnationally to determine population nutritional vulnerabilities, using secondary data, and integrate sub-national indices to add a nutrition lens within the HungerMapLIVE ecosystem and related products. This activity will bring together the analytical and government technical assistance expertise of the Analytics and Science for Food and Nutrition (AS4FN) team, data collection, predictive analytics, and visualization expertise from the Hunger Monitoring Unit and the Innovation Accelerator’s human-centered design capacities. This project requires the Hunger Monitoring Unit to invest time and resources in developing prototypes of the HungerMapLIVE that display metrics from the larger nutrition project. To support this effort, WFP is recruiting a software developer with extensive front-end and data visualization experience to support software development in the team and lead the front-end integration of the nutrition data layer in the HungerMap LIVE .
ACCOUNTABILITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
The consultant will join the Hunger Monitoring Unit’s team in Rome under the direct supervision of the Lead Software Engineer, and will be responsible for the following activities:
- Develop user-friendly and responsive interfaces using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript frameworks
- Lead the front-end integration of dynamic and static datasets into the HungerMapLIVE platform
- Assist in designing and conducting user experience consultations and testing with end users, alongside colleagues from RAM, Nutriton and IA
- Collaborate with the design teams to create visually appealing and intuitive user interfaces
- Work with the backend development team to integrate server-side functionality with frontend components
- Support infrastructure maintenance activities as needed.
- Contribute to the harmonization of tools and development patterns, including code maintenance in version control, system management through automation, and deployment strategies
- Perform any other task as required
DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:
- Develop, test, and deploy new UI/UX features to HungerMapLIVE to display measures of dietary micronutrient inadequacy.
- Contribute to further development efforts, working with the broader team.
- Support infrastructure maintenance and front-end improvements as needed.
STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Education:
Bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, mathematics or similar. Master’s degree preferred.
Experience:
At least 4 years of experience in IT-related field with a focus on React, Python, and AWS.
Knowledge and Skills:
- Expertise in JavaScript (React), HTML, CSS and other front-end technologies.
- Experience with AWS services such as EC2, S3, Lambda, and CloudFormation.
- Familiarity with Python and its frameworks such as Django or Flask.
- Familiarity with databases such as MySQL and PostgreSQL
- Experience with Git version control.
- Experience with deployment strategies, Docker, Kubernetes continuous integration, Unit Testing.
- Experience visualizing geo-data (Leaflet, Mapbox) is an asset.
- Experience in GIS (QGIS, GDAL, PostGIS) is an asset.
Languages:
Excellent spoken and written English; profiency in a second UN language would be an asset
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 April 2023
Ref.: VA No. 639712
WFP has a zero-tolerance approach to conduct such as fraud, sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to WFP’s standards of conduct and will therefore undergo rigorous background verification internally or through third parties. Selected candidates will also be required to provide additional information as part of the verification exercise. Misrepresentation of information provided during the recruitment process may lead to disqualification or termination of employment
WFP will not request payment at any stage of the recruitment process including at the offer stage. Any requests for payment should be refused and reported to local law enforcement authorities for appropriate action.
