Systems Developer at Danish Refugee Council

Overall purpose of the role

This is a full-stack systems developer and analyst position, which plays a key role in the ongoing process of digitalization at East Africa and Great Lakes Region (EAGL) to support existing information management products such as: The Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Central Database, Protection Information Management (PIM), the Knowledge Management (KM) Hub, Indicator Tracking Tools (ITT), Beneficiary & Feedback systems, SharePoint and Power Apps. 

The overall purpose of this position is to support the implementation of in-house information management tools and systems aimed at improving the quality and efficiency of DRC’s program implementation, and operational outcomes; the Systems Developer position will provide the required expertise needed not only for building new system features, but for compliance to data protection requirements as provided for under GDPR and PIM data protection guidelines.  The position reports to the Regional IT Manager, but works directly with the Regional MEAL Manager, the PIM unit, the Regional Data Management Specialist, the Regional GIS Specialist, and the Regional KM Specialist.

Responsibilities

Information Systems Developer 

• Design, build, test, and deploy information management systems that improve DRC’s programming and operational outcomes in EAGL, guided by the digitalization operational framework, and Country specific requirements.
• Work with the RO’s IT and Information Management teams (MEAL, PIM, KM etc.) along the entire IT/IM life-cycle: to understand problems, capture requirements, design modular software systems, write software applications using Agile/Scrum, and document everything along the way.
• Directly work with the Regional Data Management Specialist to design MEAL IM solutions by studying information needs; systems and data workflow, data usage, and work processes while adhering to the agile software development lifecycle; including meeting the standards of privacy and data protection by design.
• Participate in scheduled Information Management scrum stand-up meetings, weekly iteration reviews, and monthly milestone reviews; learn new languages, platforms, toolkits, libraries, tools, and application development paradigms as necessary, and contribute work mostly on open-source data analysis, such as in R and Python projects, as appropriate, and undertake scrum master responsibilities during the Regional agile sprint planning, and release-management, in an ongoing Information management product designs; adhere to the agile team development workflow and contribute to the standardized coding style guide.
• Evaluate reported bugs (new issues), optimally to find a solution, provide a workaround or assess priority and/or complexity by working closely with EAGL Country IM Specialists to prepare reference materials for end-users, and technical users through operating instructions, flowcharts, layouts, diagrams, charts, code comments and clear code.
• Work with EAGL Country Project Managers, from time to time, to analyse programmatic needs and systems requirements to determine feasibility of design within time, context and implementation constraints.
• Work with the Regional IT Manager and Country IM Specialists to investigate, analyse and make recommendations to management regarding technology improvements, upgrades and modifications that can be adopted/adapted to improve the analysis and reporting of program information and data; develop system features that enhance end-user experience, with the right balance between functional and aesthetic design.

Systems Analyst support to PIM/MEAL 

• Work with EAGL Country PIM Specialists and MEAL Managers, to provide technical oversight and data protection support to PIM tools, MEAL data workflow processes, especially case management and anonymization of sensitive beneficiary data for refugees, asylum seekers, and Internally displaced people, and other assessment datasets. 
• Provide in-house support in the roll out of the protection monitoring systems’ PIM workflow across DRC Country operations; work with the Regional IT Manager to schedule the required Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIA), as an ongoing accountability, oversight/data responsibility activity in the cloud-computing infrastructure that supports EAGL PIM systems.
• Provide routine and periodic support to existing regional secretariat (REDSS and GMMs), and MEAL databases, and information/data workflows, for compliance to GDPR and other data protection policies and guidelines.
• Perform other Systems Analyst IT/IM/MEAL/KM support tasks as would be assigned from time to time.

Reporting   
This position reports to the Regional IT Manager.

Experience and technical competencies 

• A bachelor’s degree in computer science, software engineering, information systems, or related subject
• A Minimum of five years’ experience in software development or working in the design of information management systems for international humanitarian organizations.
• A minimum of 5 years of experience as a software developer or engineer; with at least 2 years of full stack with development using Java, PHP or Python framework.
• Advanced experience in developing data-driven applications with relational and MYSQL database engines as part of the overall application architecture (experience with any or all of the following highly desirable: PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, MS SQL Server, H2 SQL, MongoDB); experience in building ETL pipelines and data cleaning/wrangling practices.
• Working experience using HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, Python/Flask on the back-end, ReactJS on the front-end, Spring, Hibernate, jQuery, Git, RESTful web services, Agile methodology, Maven.
• Advanced knowledge and demonstrable skill with popular open-source programming languages (must include Kotlin and Firebase for Android Apps)
• Proficiency developing and troubleshooting complex software systems that run in mixed-environments including Linux, Unix and/or Windows on desktop, server, tablet, and mobile systems
• Ability to meet deadlines against multiple priorities and schedules, as well as the ability to manage scope creep and immediately alert leadership of issues with timelines
• Ability to speak to high level leadership who may need technical descriptions and developments translated to ease understanding and acceptance

About you
In this position, you are expected to demonstrate DRC’s five core competencies:

• Striving for excellence: You focus on reaching results while ensuring an efficient process. 
• Collaborating: You involve relevant parties and encourage feedback. 
• Taking the lead: You take ownership and initiative while aiming for innovation. 
• Communicating: You listen and speak effectively and honestly. 
• Demonstrating integrity: Upholding and promoting the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct in relation to DRC’s values and Code of Conduct, including safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.

Conditions
Contract:    One year renewable with possibility of extension, subject to funding and performance. Salary and conditions in accordance with the Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment for National Staff in Kenya

Start Date:    April 2021 

Duty Station:     Nairobi, Regional Office

Commitments:     

DRC has a Humanitarian Accountability Framework, outlining its global accountability commitments. All staff are required to contribute to the achievement of this framework.