IT and Data Management Specialist (Consultant)

Vacancy Announcement

The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), is an international NGO that supports the building of democratic societies around the world. With funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), IFES Nepal provides technical assistance to the electoral cycle to enhance citizen participation and strengthen civil society, governance and transparency.

Existing legislation grants the Election Commission of Nepal (ECN) a mandate to oversee political party and campaign finance. To fulfill these duties, and to complement the ECN’s existing IT architecture, the ECN will create an electronic political finance oversight system to be used by the ECN and political actors to track the raising and spending of funds by political parties and candidates during electoral periods.

IFES Nepal is seeking an IT and Data Management Specialist (Consultant) to provide technical assistance to support the ECN as they develop the political finance. This position will liaise with IFES’ International IT Consultant and is needed starting March 2018 for an estimated six months.

Role and Responsibilities:

• Support development of ECN IT based political finance oversight system including the development of software ensuring compatibility with existing ICT infrastructure;
• Become familiar with the existing ECN IT database systems such as the voter list and candidate database in order to ensure the political finance system is fully integrated;
• Support the ECN to facilitate stakeholder consultations and focus group discussions with political and electoral stakeholders to inform system design decisions and expand awareness of the ECN’s political financial oversight improvement initiatives;
• Facilitate communication between IFES Nepal, the ECN, and the IT services company if any;
• Support in developing ECN IT based Election Dispute Resolution (EDR) case management system to manage election complaints and objections, tract and analyzes data, publish information and decision on complaints filed.
• Advise and support ECN to facilitate coordination with the judiciary on referrals and appeals.
• Support and oversee production of internal or external data analysis reports: Database cross checks, anomaly reports, demographic statistics, geographical statistics, user statistics, website and search statistics, and ad hoc queries that arise during election planning;
• Review the proper implementation of security protocols: ensure the protection of ECN data at the central level and the proper management of assets; review server logs to identify new risks and potential intrusions; notify the ECN of new or previously undetected security risks;
• Improve and test existing backup/recovery procedures;
• Support the development of user-friendly manuals for new systems developed for the ECN;
• Identify new training needs for election staff who will use the system.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information technology, software or a related field, with 4+ years of experience supervising technology projects;
• Previous experience working with the ECN or other government agencies preferred;
• Experience with DevOps and Agile + Scrum IT project management methodologies;
• Familiarity with software testing tools and methodologies;
• Comfortable using SQL to crunch data, scripting for ETL tasks, and creating compelling data visualizations;

·         Understanding of digital security.

The position is opened for Nepali nationals only and is based in Kathmandu. Selected candidate will be offered a six-month full-time consultancy contract with the possibility to extend.

Interested candidates are requested to send their application and an updated CV, with 2 references to: ifesnepalvacancy@gmail.com mentioning the position title in the subject line of the email. The application deadline is 4:00 PM, February 27, 2018.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview and written test. Undue influence at any stage of the processes will lead to automatic disqualification. People with disability, women and candidates from marginalized groups are highly encouraged to apply.