Information Systems Expert (Agricultural Information Management System – AIMS)

Organizational Setting 

FAO's Subregional Office for Southern Africa (SFS) is responsible for developing, promoting, overseeing and implementing agreed strategies for addressing subregional food, agriculture and rural development priorities. It develops and maintains relations with subregion-wide institutions including Regional Economic Integration Organizations (REIOs). The Subregional Office is a subsidiary of FAO's Regional Office for Africa (RAF). The office provides technical assistance and support to governments and country offices in the sub-region developing policies, programmes and projects to achieve food security and to reduce hunger and malnutrition while using their environmental and natural resources in a sustainable manner.

The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Secretariat established a regional agricultural information management system (AIMS) during STOSAR I to enhance information on agricultural production, sustainability & competitiveness for evidence-based decision-making. 

Reporting Lines

Under the general supervision of the FAO Subregional Coordinator and Director of the Food Agriculture and Natural Resources (FANR Directorate) at the SADC Secretariat, with the guidance of the Head of the Information Communication and technology (ICT) Unit under Infrastructure Directorate at SADC Secretariat, the Information Systems Expert will work under direct supervision of the STOSAR II Regional Project Coordinator and the technical supervision of the FAO Information Technology (IT) Officer; and will facilitate the development and implementation of IT systems activities in liaison with the SADC Senior Information, Communication and Technology Officer in close consultation with SADC Secretariat’s colleagues from relevant Directorates, national partners working in Ministries of Agriculture and National Statistics Offices.

Technical Focus

FAO/SADC are looking to recruit an experienced Information Systems Expert to support development of a centralized system with basic data, based on existing national systems and linked to agricultural information systems run by other organizations, as well as revamping of the Livestock Information Management System (LIMS) and development of an Early Warning System (EWS). The incumbent will oversee the implementation of Component 1 of the Action at regional and national levels by coordinating, managing as well as implementing the information management project activities. The Project’s Component 1 on Agricultural Information Management Systems (AIMS) is ‘Enhancing information and knowledge on sustainable and competitive agri-production allowing evidence-based decision-making, providing standardized data for analysis and research and facilitating intra-regional trade.’

Tasks and responsibilities

•    Provide the overall management, coordination and direction on all aspects of Component 1 (AIMS) project implementation 
•    Ensure planning, implementation, and monitoring of AIMS component, and adherence to timelines, budgets and efficient utilization of resources and quality standards.
•    Coordinate the integration of Livestock Information Management Systems (LIMS) and Early Warning Systems (EWS) with AIMS.
•    Review information system needs and develop, improve system requirements documents 
•    Provide technical inputs and ensure technical quality of the products and documents 
•    Organise regional and national workshops in the most cost effective and efficient manner
•    Identify appropriate partners and short-term consultants, develop terms of reference (ToR) or Letters of Agreement (LoA), support selection, and engaging partners for LoAs and manage LoAs
•    Networking, Partnerships and Collaboration: Establish and maintain partnerships related to AIMS, with the SADC Secretariat, government agencies etc. for synergy and effective delivery of Component 1 of the STOSAR II Project
•    Information Sharing and Knowledge Management: Facilitate knowledge sharing and exchange among stakeholders to enhance collective efforts in delivering of Component 1.
•    Communication, Documentation and Reporting: Communicate AIMS Component 1 progress, prepare project plans for dashboard development and comprehensive quarterly implementation reports (on evolutive and security maintenance work undertaken), cloud migration strategies, documentation, and presentations on project activities, outcomes, and impact.
•    Develop policy documents, quality assurance protocols, integration reports, needs assessment documents, system linkage guides, training materials/reports, process improvement plans, informational pamphlets, web content, and real-time information flowcharts to facilitate effective support.
•    Provide generic IT support to the AIMS platform and technical / operational support to all application end-users, as well as perform corrective, evolutive and security maintenance tasks.
•    Support the SADC Secretariat and its Member States in the management of issues and problems that could be encountered with the AIMS application, including fixing of bugs etc.
•    Assess the necessity of introducing hardware changes (such as upgrading the server, migration to Cloud or the network infrastructure) and eventually schedule and supervise the required interventions to minimize application downtime.
•    Ensure alignment and synergy of activities with other STOSAR II project components.
•    Evaluate and lead the update of existing AIMS Modules and the AIMS public facing website.
•    Facilitate data coordination activities for AIMS Technical Committees, and Focal Points.
•    Facilitate development and Cloud Migration of AIMS Dashboards.
•    Establish a System for Monitoring and Reporting User Satisfaction with AIMS.
•    Coordinate the enhancement of analytical capabilities of AIMS modules and dashboard Integration.
•    Conduct capacity building exercise on Business Intelligence tools to augment Analytical Skills of AIMS focal points.
•    Support Development and Integration of the National AIMS Systems of SADC Countries into the Regional AIMS.
•    Contribute to the Coordination and Quality Assurance in AIMS.
•    Disseminate Information on AIMS, LIMS, Food and nutrition security (FNS), and EWS and regularly report on usage analytics.
•    Conduct technical support travel missions to SADC countries to support STOSAR II implementation.
•    Perform any other related duties, as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•    Advanced Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or any other related fields with focus on development of web applications for data management, analysis and data dissemination.
•    Minimum of 10 years’ experience (Categroy A) in software development and systems implementation and in web-based software development such as Java, NodeJS, PHP, C# or python, out of witch minimum of 5 years in SQL Server, MySQL, MongoDB database design, configuration and management.
•    Working knowledge (Level C) of English.  

FAO Core Competencies

•    Results Focus
•    Teamwork
•    Communication
•    Building Effective Relationships
•    Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

•    Substantial hands-on experience with the most common tools and platform for source control, issue tracking, continuous-integration and automated build.
•    Experience in the management of information and technology services including planning, performance, strategy development and policy frameworks.
•    Excellent communication, interpersonal, relationship building and basic customer service skills.
•    Ability to develop good working relations with a variety of stakeholders and excellent team player
•    Excellent communication, written and presentation skills in English
•    Good organizational, reporting and record keeping skills
•    Extent and relevance of experience in Software Development (front-end web application development, UI/UX design, Drupal and / or Java backend development, system administration tasks and applications lifecycle management).
•    Extent and relevance of experience in Database design - Familiarity with the applications and its features. The consultant must be able to understand what is going on, answer on what to do, also, have technical knowledge of the source of the problem to inform the FAO/SADC Secretariat.
•    Familiarity with more than one programming language (Java, C#, JavaScript, PHP etc)
•    Project management skills including familiarity with the development of results frameworks project work plans and budget
•    Knowledge of latest HTML5/CSS3 standards.
•    Ability to design / implement / update complex software architectures using the most appropriate design patterns.
•    Ability to account for the seamless integration of additional features / independent components within existing software architectures and minimize the impact of both the development and adoption phase.
•    Proven experience in development of Agricultural Information Management Systems for non-profit organisations
•    A good understanding of the Agricultural Sector
•    Working experience with SADC or similar organisations in the region is an added advantage
•    In-depth experience in statistical data analysis and presentation
•    Demonstrated ability to provide comprehensive and analytical review of very technical documents with exceptional attention to detail. 
•    Ability to distil complex information into actionable knowledge that end-users can use.
•    Demonstrated ability to work under limited supervision, with latitude for independent judgment, and ability to handle multiple tasks, and deliver assignments on time,
•    Computer literacy