Consultant - ARC Senior Software Engineer

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

African Risk Capacity (ARC) is a Specialized Agency of the African Union. (http://www.africanriskcapacity.org)  The ARC Agency leads the ARC Group, a development finance institution that provides financial tools and infrastructure to help countries manage natural disaster risk and adapt to climate change. It counts 32 AU countries as members and is supervised by a ministerial level governing board elected by its Conference of the Parties. The ARC design and establishment phase was managed by WFP, under a MoU with the African Union, and WFP continues to provide administrative services support to the ARC Agency through an administrative services agreement.

In 2014, ARC launched its initial risk insurance product for member states through its financial affiliate the ARC Insurance Company Limited (ARC Ltd) (http://www.africanriskcapacity.com).  ARC Ltd is a specialist hybrid mutual insurance company and Africa’s first ever disaster insurance pool, aggregating risk by issuing insurance policies to participating governments and transferring it to the international market. ARC Ltd uses the satellite weather surveillance software Africa RiskView, developed by WFP, to estimate the impact of drought on vulnerable populations – and the response costs required to assist them – before a season begins, and as it progresses, so that index-based insurance payouts, based on Africa RiskView, are triggered at or before harvest time if the rains are poor. With a USD 200 million initial capital commitment provided by the governments of Germany (through KfW on behalf of BMZ) and the United Kingdom (DFID), ARC Ltd issued drought insurance policies totaling USD 129 million for a total premium cost of USD 17 million to a first group of African governments – Kenya, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal – in May 2014, marking the launch of the inaugural ARC pool.  ARC aims to reach up to 30 countries with drought, flood and cyclone coverage totaling up to USD 1.5 billion in sum insured by 2020. 

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

Africa RiskView (ARV) is the core technical engine of the ARC programme used to underpin ARC Ltd insurance contracts and is the basis for expansion of the ARC insurance programme to more country clients and more perils, in particular flood and cyclone risk.  As the ARC initiative has now entered its operational phase, with ARV becoming the go-to natural disaster financial risk management tool for many African countries and partners underwriting significant volumes of risk, ensuring the tool and its related applications can continue to grow and meet user demands smoothly is a critical operating issue for both ARC Agency and ARC Ltd.  Within this context an experienced quantitative developer and software engineer will join the ARV Development Team to provide critical technical support to the development of ARV and to ensure ARV meets the needs of ARC and its clients across different operating platforms (ARV Desktop, Calculation Engine, Online). 

Supporting and working in close coordination with Arjen de Ruijter, the ARC Lead Software Architect, the other members of the ARV Development Team and reporting to the ARC Director of Research & Development, the Senior Software Engineer’s responsibilities will include:

1. Design and develop functionalities and enhanced processes in ARV Desktop, Online and Calculation Engine, and any other ARV platform that may be considered, in order to produce, translate, aggregate and display ARV information requested by users, with an emphasis on accuracy, replicability and speed optimization, as required by ARC.

2. In close cooperation with the Lead Software Architect, lead the alignment and harmonisation of the architecture across ARV platforms, to streamline the further development and maintenance of the different applications.

3. Designing new risk modules for ARV products, including for flood and cyclone, and the development of additional analysis tools required to support the implementation of these new risk modules.

4. In close cooperation with the Led Software Architect, fully lead the design and development of new modules in ARV Desktop, Online and Calculation Engine, including new interfaces and functionalities, leading to an enhanced user experience by improving the look and feel of ARV products.

5. Cross-checking new releases to ensure accuracy and consistency of calculations.

6. Ensuring all ARV applications are robust, secure and works efficiently in a range of downloading, operating and data failure environments and can accommodate future modifications, updates and improvements with ease, suggesting and making modifications where required, endeavoring to resolve any critical issues regarding the code in a reasonable time.

7. Providing support, input and guidance to collaborations with technical partners on ARV and participating in team meetings, conferences and missions as required.

8. Performing other tasks as directed by the Director of Research & Development, the Lead Software Architect, senior ARC staff and working closely with the ARC Secretariat Technical Team and ARV users, as required.

In addition, particularly initially, the Senior Software Engineer will be required to travel and spend significant time with the rest of the ARV Development Team in Heino, The Netherlands, to ensure alignment with the existing team.

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

In addition to timely, seasoned technical assistance to the ARC Development Team and RD Department, the output of this work will be fully documented code satisfying the requirements outlined in “Responsibilities” above, to ensure that all code can be fully supported and modified by ARC independently moving forward. 

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

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.

Dealine for applications:  1 June 2018

VA  No. 80881

Qualified female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply.

WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status.