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Qualifications

Purpose of consultancy

The Collaboratory is working on digital solution to enable collaboration on advanced analysis for pandemic and epidemic intelligence. The incumbent will support the development and refinement of the Collaboratory ecosystem ensuring functioning of the web services and eunsure smooth working of the the interfaces, including front-end and backend component improvement and development.

Background

The WHO Health Emergencies Programme (WHE) was created to help countries and coordinate international action to prevent, prepare for, detect, rapidly respond to, and recover from outbreaks and health emergencies.

Embedded in the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme and building on consultations with hundreds of experts from different disciplines, sectors and regions, the new global WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence has been established in Berlin, Germany. The Hub brings together partners worldwide for collaborative research and development of solutions as well as sharing of data, information, insights, and knowledge needed for all countries to prepare, detect, and respond to pandemic and epidemic risks.

The Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence Systems (ISY) department of the Health Emergency Surveillance and Intelligence Systems (WSE) WHO division is initiating development of the global repository of epidemiological parameters in Collaboratory – a Laboratory for Collaborative Intelligence – a platform for subject matter experts and the epidemic and pandemic intelligence community for communication, cultivation of ideas and co-development of solutions for rapid generation, improvement, and sharing of actionable insights to respond to public health risks. A team of the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin is looking for a Consultant – Full Stack Software Developer to work closely with the Collaboratory project team, WHO business stakeholders, including the business owner and an established community of practice. The scope for this consultancy is to develop a global repository of epidemiological parameters and ensure online entry, storage and retrieval of the data which is being generated by different partners as well as to establish functional integration services. The incumbent will support agile teams in making implementation decisions and developing solutions compliant with the established guidelines, principles, roadmaps and existing solutions.

Deliverables

The work of the Consultant – Senior Full Stack Software Developer will contribute to the generation of the following outputs:

1. Front-end and back-end development processes:
   • Implementation of presentation layer requirements as well as the backend structure and business logic of the system in close collaboration with the Business Analyst.
2. Integration services and interfaces:
   • Development and maintenance of both the client-side (front-end) and server- side (back-end) components of the system.
3. New product features and APIs:
   • Elaboration of new features and APIs to enhance the functionality of the system in close collaboration with the Business Analyst.
4. Test reports and fixed issues:
   • Support and ensuring that the system runs smoothly by identifying and fixing issues.

• Deliverable 1: Collaboratory and Global repository of epidemiological parameters – Back-end development processes
  • Build back-end components (database, business logic, API)
  • Build integration services (interfaces, web services)

Expected by: Monthly updates on changes implemented on backend

• Deliverable 2: Collaboratory and Global repository of epidemiological parameters – Front-end development processes
  • Build front-end components (presentation layer)

Expected by: Monthly updates on changes implemented on front-end

• Deliverable 3: Collaboratory and Global repository of epidemiological parameters – Testing and Integration
  • Integrate reusable software components and develop new according to the designed system architecture for the defined functional scope
  • Design and execute system unit testing, including system performance, maintainability, usability and stability and secure acceptance of the results by the key project stakeholders

Expected by: Monthly updates on changes implemented

• Deliverable 4: Collaboratory and Global repository of epidemiological parameters – Deployment and Maintenance Activities
  • Specify system deployment requirements as well as design and configure continuous delivery pipeline
  • Design and execute unit and system integration and verification test and secure acceptance of the results by the key project stakeholders
  • Maintain and oversee deployed solutions

Expected by: Monthly updates on changes implemented

Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Educational Qualifications

Essential:

• Minimum first university degree in computer science, software engineering or related domain.

Desirable:

• Advanced university degree or specialization in health informatics, data science, bioinformatics, applied mathematics, computer science, computational linguistics, computational epidemiology, or other related technical discipline(s).

Experience

Essential:

• 5 to 10 years of relevant experience in software architecture, open-source and proprietary software development and the design and support of the continuous delivery pipeline.
• Experience acting in the role of a developer.
• Experience with development teams and coordinating activities to ensure that solutions developed in the scope of individual projects are aligned with the larger vision.

Desirable:

• Previous experience with development projects in/for WHO is considered as an asset

Skills/Knowledge

Essential:

• Ability to comprehend and align technical solutions with business goals and processes.
• Effective communication with both technical and non-technical stakeholders is essential to convey complex technical concepts in a clear and understandable manner.
• Ability to analyze complex problems, evaluate alternative solutions, and make sound decisions.
• Awareness of security principles and best practices to design solutions that prioritize data integrity, confidentiality, and availability.
• Ability to adapt and manage deliverables and resources in a climate of change
• Ability to effectively collaborate with teams in an international, multi- cultural, multi-disciplinary environment; separated by geographical locations and working under different time-zones.
• Ability to promote best practices, advise on improvements, independently perform research, and apply information from a broad range of sources.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (both oral and written), problem solving and analytical skills.

Specific technical skills:

• Product/service development methodologies: Agile/ SAFe, DevOps
• Design and development of service-oriented solutions
• Cloud development experience (Azure/AWS), including compute, storage, serverless and container (microservice) architectures, security, and federated identity and access management
• C#, ASP.NET MVC & Web API, including REST endpoint specification and GraphQL
• Client-side frameworks (NodeJS, AngularJS, React, etc.) and client- side storage with synchronization capabilities
• Databases and Web Storage: Understanding database management systems like SQL, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and web storage solutions
• Open-source software landscape

Languages and level required

Essential:

• Expert knowledge of English

Desirable:

• Intermediate knowledge of another UN language

Location

Offsite: Home-based

Travel

The consultant is expected to travel.

Remuneration and budget (travel costs are excluded)

Remuneration

Band level B: USD 7,000 – 9,980 per month

Living expenses (A living expense is payable to on-site consultants who are internationally recruited)

N/A

Expected duration of contract

11 months

Additional Information:

• This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.
• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
• A written test may be used as a form of screening.
• If your candidature is retained for interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
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  Persons with disabilities can request reasonable accommodations to enable participation in the recruitment process. Requests for reasonable accommodation should be sent through an email to [email protected]
• An impeccable record for integrity and professional ethical standards is essential. WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter (https://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/our-values) into practice.
• WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of short-listed candidates.
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• Consultants shall perform the work as independent contractors in a personal capacity, and not as a representative of any entity or authority.
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