Software Engineer, Food Security 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, colour, 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 Engineer, Food Security Monitoring Systems

 

Type of Contract: Consultant

 

Division: RAM – Hunger Monitoring Unit / Research, Assessment and Monitoring Division

 

Duty Station (City, Country): HQ Rome, Italy

 

Duration: 6 months

 

 

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNEMENT:

 

The Hunger Monitoring Unit in WFP’s Research Assessment and Monitoring (RAM) Division manages remote food security monitoring systems in order to make food security data available and to better reach conflict-affected areas. The mobile Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping (mVAM) initiative involves scaling up remote mobile data collection tools.

While expanding to additional data collection tools, data sources and analyses, the focus of mVAM has evolved towards automation and refining of traditional remote monitoring approaches as well as expansion to new technologies and streams including remote sensing and geospatial data, Call Detail Records (CDR), chatbots leveraging machine learning and probabilistic methods.

The consolidation of these analysis pipelines requires the Hunger Monitoring Unit to invest time and resources in transitioning prototypes to production. To support this effort, WFP is recruiting a software engineer with a proven track record of developing and maintaining open-source technology, ready to lead software development projects in the team.

 

 

 

ACCOUNTABILITIES / 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:

 

• Assist in data integration initiatives and particularly support the automation of the Hunger Monitoring Unit’s activities, including near real-time data ingestion, processing, dashboards, bulletins and visualizations.
• Deploy and maintain open-source software products.
• Advise on software development practices.
• Contribute to the harmonization of tools and development patterns, including code maintenance in version control, system management through automation, and deployment strategies.
• Contribute to developing guidance and training materials for tools in the humanitarian open source community.
• Undertake field missions for country support and facilitate trainings targeting WFP staff and partners.
• Liaise with RAM’s Information Officer and WFP’s IT department to ensure compliance on the above.
• Perform any other task as required.

 

 

 

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

 

• Consolidate current and new automation pipelines into resilient products
• Contribute to current development efforts
• Contribute to deployment and maintenance of chatbots as needed
• Develop web applications for the broader RAM team
• Facilitate trainings on data security, storage, scripting and coding best practices.
• Facilitate trainings on software development.

 

 

 

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

 

Education: Bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, physics, mathematics or similar. Master’s degree preferred.

 

Experience: At least 4 years of experience in IT related field

 

Knowledge & Skills:

 

• Experience with Python and proficient with at least one other high-level programming language (Java preferred).
• Experience with the front-end stack (HTML5, CSS / SASS, JavaScript ES6+. React is an asset)
• Experience designing and maintaining databases (SQL required, noSQL a plus).
• Experience with git version control.
• Experience with cloud services, AWS preferred.
• Experience with deployment strategies, Docker, continuous integration, Unit Testing.
• Experience making dashboards (e.g. Tableau) is desired.
• Experience in GIS (QGIS, GDAL, PostGIS) is an asset.
• Experience visualizing geo-data (Leaflet, Mapbox, GEE) is an asset.
• Exposure to survey data or with remote sensing data is an asset.
• Experience working with the humanitarian sector or in a social science field is an asset.

 

Languages:

 

Excellent spoken and written English; spoken and written French highly desired.

 

 

 

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: 09 February 2022

Position number 22142668

Ref.: VA No. 155723

 

 

All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work

environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates

will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

 

 

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil

Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations

system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.