Open Development Initiative seeks National IT Officer

Open Development Initiative is looking to hire a National (from any of the Lower Mekong Countries) to help support the ongoing maintenance and development of the opendevelopmentmekong.net (ODM) platform and country sites. ​

  • Application:  Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until filled.
  • Email:  recruitment@opendevmekong.net
  • Commencement:  As soon as possible
  • Position​ ​type:  National candidates only
  • Work environment: This is a remote position with flexible hours, depending upon the country of origin there is opportunity to work from local partner offices if prefered.

About​ ​ODI:

The Open Development Initiative (ODI) is an open data and information network developed by East-West Management Institute, Inc. (EWMI) that sheds light on development trends in the Mekong Region. The Mekong Basin is a trans-boundary ecosystem shared by 6 countries providing a central livelihood and food security to 60 million people as the largest inland fishery in the world. ODI’s objective is to increase public awareness, enable individual analysis, improve information sharing, and inform rigorous debate – all contributing to the sustainable development of the region from a social, economic and environmental perspective. By combining open data, data journalism, and research capacities and approaches, the initiative offers one-stop shopping for data on country or regional development for civil society, the private and public sector. Our regional platform (http://www.opendevelopmentmekong.net/) has been established and now has active partners in Cambodia and Myanmar. We are currently looking for partners in Laos, Vietnam and Thailand.

Objective​ ​of​ ​the​ ​position

The role is expected to be full-time to perform the following tasks:

● Ensure maintenance, optimization and security of the Open Development regional platform, ensuring that the site’s servers and other supporting systems are optimized for both back-end and front-end efficiency

● In consultation with other team members, partners, and contractors, contribute to design of processes for technical improvements to bridge the various platform components and to enhance elements such as navigation, usability, data visualization,

●Participate in discussions and consultations to decide and agree any new features, customizations, or revisions.

● Facilitate the uploading and updating of data sets via graphical interface by the data entry staff.

● Troubleshoot issues that arise in regional platform development, use and maintenance: identify and assess concerns and propose and implement solutions.

● Train, guide and monitor country staffs, in regard to their technical performance.

● Ensure all the feature and function updates must have agreement with OD country team and work properly for all OD platforms.

● Add/Update the guideline documentation on the wiki

Knowledge​ ​and​ ​Skills:

The candidate should be familiar with the following technologies:

● WordPress CMS

● PHP

● Javascript, Jquery, HTML, CSS

● Git

● MySQL & PostgreSQL database

● Python

● CKAN

● Apache Solr

● Ansible

● Geoserver

● Leaflet

Additionally the candidate should possess the following skills and knowledge:

● Object Oriented Programming

● Test-Driven Development (TDD)

● Proven ability to effectively troubleshoot technical problems and learn/teach new technologies as needed

● Ability to work in English and one or more regional national languages. Including good writing, reporting skills and conversation skills

● Familiar with “open” movement and concepts (open source, open data and open access), past participation in the open community.

Desireable:

● Knowledge of Google Analytic Report

● Experience with social media (Facebook, twitter, etc)

● Mapping (QGIS and ArcGIS ) and data visualization skills

● Having an interest in development issues affecting SE Asia and in particular the Mekong region would be of benefit as well as an understanding of development and environmental sustainability.

Qualifications:

● Bachelor in Computer Science, IT development studies, Programming courses both online and offline.

● Masters or higher level qualifications are desirable.

● Previous work experience in developing or managing local platforms within south-east Asia.

● English language certificate.

Terms​ ​of​ ​the​ ​contract:

The position is a full-time posting with on the job training and support. Within the first 3 months of the posting a performance review will be conducted and additional responsibilities and tasks may be asked should the candidate perform well. EWMI-ODI would like to invest in the candidate to build their skills and ability to contribute to the OD Mekong site over the longer term. This is contingent upon funding.

Applications will be received on a rolling basis, only qualified shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Please send a motivation letter and CV with references addressed to Alex Corbi at recruitment@opendevmekong.net.

ODI