Database Management Consultant at World Food Programme (WFP)

World Food Programme (WFP)

Position: Database Management Consultant

Application Deadline: September, 14/2023 

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes. Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

JOB PURPOSE

Consumer Price Index (CPI) in Ethiopia is derived from data collected by the Ethiopian Statistics Service (ESS) from 120 markets around the nation on the prices of hundreds of food and non-food items. The process of gathering, storing, organizing, processing, and disseminating data is fragmented under the current system, which makes it laborious, slow, and error-prone. ESS requested WFP Ethiopia to help with the capacity-building initiative of the national market data collection and analysis system in order to address these issues with the current system. WFP agreed to finance and provide technical support for the project, which led to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 25 August 2021 between WFP and ESS. The agreement establishes the framework for the cooperation between WFP and the ESS aimed at supporting the efforts to enhance the capacity of the Government of Ethiopia to collect, analyze, disseminate, share and use strategic data for policy/programme planning and monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes.  

While the electronic market information system (eMIS) development is nearing completion, unanticipated activities critical for successful project completion were identified. In the initial MoU, it was planned to fill the system administration-related gaps by providing short-term training to the ESS staff. However, this proved not a viable solution, as seen during the project database management activities – the database is too complicated for the existing ESS staff to manage. To fill this gap, ESS officially requested WFP to hire a professional database expert to accommodate the needs of eMIS by capacitating ESS experts to the level of proficiency in managing the system's database independently.

The professional to be recruited primarily focuses on equipping the ESS staff with a state-of-the-art database administration during the first months of the implementation of eMIS. This ToR is developed to outline a statement of the proposed responsibilities of the Database administrative consultant. The objective of this technical assistance to ESS is threefold: 

1) To help the ESS database programmer and administrator staff understand and maintain the e-MIS database.

2) To integrate the developed database with other similar databases that informs data harmonization in the agency 

3) To enhance the capacity of ESS experts with cutting-edge technology and methods in database management. 

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

The intended assignment of the consultant is expected to have six main activities:

Activity 1: Support the handover of the software from the developer to ESS (15 days)

• Ensure that all specifications and performance of the system are up to the standard.

• Ensure the handover of the system to ESS is flawless.

• Ensure all system documents, source code, user manuals, and training materials developed by the developers are complete and up to the standard. 

Activity 2: Review e-MIS database schema and existing ESS database for integration (30 days after step 2)

• Examine the database structure and schema of the eMIS system and current databases in ESS.

• Ensure the integrity of the database in the institution in consultation with thematic area experts of ESS.

• Develop a schema of the proposed relational database for ESS.

• Run a test of the developed relational database (with some records) to check the functionality and fix all types of bugs.

• Develop full report/documentation of the relational database with a clearly identified Primary key for integration.

Activity 3: Database Administration (30 days after step 2)

• Devise/Review the authorization and access control system of the developed database (e-MIS) and enforce security for all the databases in ESS.

• Administer and monitor all database objects, including tables, clusters, indexes, views, sequences, and procedures.

• Create and maintain all databases required for analysis with an automatic versioning manner Maintain and update production documentation that accurately reflects any changes.

• Perform troubleshooting on databases and applications, identify issues and document procedures to troubleshoot any issue in timely resolution of the same.

• Test the performance of the database queries and implement performance optimization as defined, planned and implemented backup/ recovery strategies for the database.

Activity 4: System Administration (15 days after step 3)

• Ensure that the database is up and running 24*7 working with IT unit of ESS to offer high fault tolerance.

• Enforce and adhere to the data center and IT security policies of ESS (advice best practices) and include them in the documentation for future reference.

• Ensure the security and integrity of the data.

• Perform replication/mirroring of data between DC/DR

• Migration and configuration of application and system environment for at DR site on the application and database front.

Activity 5: Capacity Strengthening Activity (Most activities will be executed in parallel while running other activities, however, 15 days is assigned for dedicated training)

• Provide job training for ESS database administrators and statistical programmers in line with the documentation (the consultant can arrange dedicated training when needed)

• The technical assistance will mainly focus on the application of state-of-the-art technology in the area of database management systems. 

• The consultant's main role is to mentor and capacitate ESS staff to fully handle the developed relational database system independently and ensure that the monthly progress report is shared with ESS management and briefed to the e-MIS task force.

• Develop full documentation of the whole process – this is critical.

Activity 6: Handover of the developed system and support (15 days after step 5)

• ESS-trained staff with close guidance and follow-up from IT and Price Directorate will be responsible for the handoff process and ensure that they run the system independently. The consultant will give oversee support during his stay for 15 days.

These jobs are found in Headquarters (HQ), Regional Bureaux (RBs) or Country Offices (COs) and job holders report to a more senior Programme Policy Officer.

Job holders are likely to be working under the close support and guidance of a more experienced professional staff member receiving guidance and regular feedback on work performed. They are typically involved in programme or policy activities or similar nature and analytical work of limited complexity. 

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

The database consultant will deliver the following outputs: 

a. Database with functional assessment tracking module 

b. Documentation of the whole process (approach of the documentation will be decided later in consultation with ESS)

c. On job Training delivered to database administrators and statistical programmers that enable them to independently run the system.

d. Technical Report (including updated data dictionary, performance optimization measures undertaken, and other documentation)

e. Integrated database in the institution - establish the relational database.

Job requirements

Education:

• Masters in relevant fields (Computer science, Information technology, MIS and related fields). Certification in the below areas will have an added value.

• Certification in data center management and professional (CDCMP), Any type of Oracle Certified Professional (OCP), MySQL administrator profession.

• Experience: Should have worked in the relevant field for at least three to five years Excellent Detail oriented and high degree of accuracy. Direct experience in the database management area would be preferred.

Language: Fluent in both oral and written communication in English.

WFP has a zero-tolerance approach to conduct such as fraud, sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to WFP’s standards of conduct and will therefore undergo rigorous background verification internally or through third parties. Selected candidates will also be required to provide additional information as part of the verification exercise. Misrepresentation of information provided during the recruitment process may lead to disqualification or termination of employment

WFP will not request payment at any stage of the recruitment process including at the offer stage. Any requests for payment should be refused and reported to local law enforcement authorities for appropriate action.

How to Apply

Register using this LINK