Consultant Information Technology

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS 13 November 2026-23:59-GMT Greenwich Mean Time (Abidjan) 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 World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of extreme weather shocks. At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP's values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves. To learn more about WFP, visit our website: https://www.wfp.org and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok. WHY JOIN WFP?
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•

We offer
an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this vacancy announcement). Title: Lead Software Architect Org. Unit: Research and Development Department (R&D), Duty Station: ARC Remote Contract Type: When Actually Employed (WAE) Consultancy Duration: 40.5 billable days over a period of 3 months with the possibility of extension. Reporting to: Biniam Taddese, Risk Analyst Background and assignment African Risk Capacity (ARC) is a Specialised Agency of the African Union.1 The ARC Agency leads the ARC Group, a development finance institution that provides financial tools and infrastructure to help countries manage natural disaster risk and adapt to climate change. It counts 39 AU countries as members and is supervised by a ministerial level governing board elected by its Conference of the Parties. The ARC design and establishment phase was managed by WFP, under an MoU with the African Union, and WFP continues to provide administrative services support to the ARC Agency through an administrative services agreement. In 2014, ARC launched its initial risk insurance product for member states through its financial affiliate the ARC Insurance Company Limited (ARC Ltd). ARC Ltd is a specialist hybrid mutual insurance company and Africa’s first ever disaster insurance pool, aggregating risk by issuing insurance policies to participating governments and transferring it to the international market. ARC uses the satellite weather surveillance software Africa RiskView to estimate the impact of drought on vulnerable populations – and the response costs required to assist them – before a season begins, and as it progresses, so that index-based insurance payouts, based on Africa RiskView, are triggered at or before harvest time if the rains are poor. In 2020, ARC expanded its portfolio by adding an insurance product tailored for drought risk in pastoral areas and launching the first tropical cyclone (TC) insurance product in Africa. The first of its kind in Africa, the insurance policy will provide rapid financing and early response to countries affected by tropical cyclones. In addition, ARC has been developing a flood risk and loss estimate model to underpin a sovereign flood insurance product. The flood product demand among ARC member states has especially increased in the aftermath of the 2020 flood events in Western and Southern Africa. For countries exposed to tropical cyclones, the flood model will enrich the TC product by providing the loss estimate due to excessive rainfall peril which is not covered in the current ARC TC model. Together the tropical cyclone and flood products will prove vital tools in safeguarding lives and livelihoods and making African countries more resilient to extreme climate events. Responsibilities Since May 2020, the ARC Secretariat Research & Development (R&D) Department is the first department that has been re-organised within the OneARC Programme. The R&D consists of three teams. One of these teams is the IT Development. The Lead Software Architect will have the daily technical lead of this team. Africa RiskView (ARV) is the core technical engine of the ARC programme. It is currently being used to underpin the active insurance contracts in ARC’s insured countries and will be basis for expansion of the ARC Ltd insurance programme to more country clients and more perils, in particular flood, cyclone and locust risk. An experienced quantitative developer and software engineer, the Lead Software Architect has been working with the ARC, providing critical technical support to the development of ARV since 2010, acting as lead software developer since 2012. As the ARC initiative has now entered its operational phase, with ARV poised to become the go-to natural disaster financial risk management tool for many African countries and partners underwriting significant volumes of risk, ensuring the tool and its related applications can continue to grow and meet user demands smoothly is a critical operating issue for both ARC Agency and ARC Ltd. The Lead Software Architect will be leading the IT Development in an Agile self-managing environment. The Lead Software Architect will be responsible for the daily decisions of the team regarding the technical directions and the overall quality of the IT environment within ARC. Working in coordination with the other ARC Secretariat R&D Teams, and reporting to the ARC R&D Director, the responsibilities will include: 1.
Daily technical lead of the IT Development team, being responsible for technical directions, overall quality of work, coaching and motivating the people within the team. 2.
Overseeing the activities of other IT Development Team members including the production of the annual ARV Calculation Engine and input data for ARC Ltd to underpin each new insurance pool and the development and refinement of ARV Online and other ARV applications as they develop. 3.
Organizing and managing IT Support for the ARC Secretariat as a whole, including the DG’s office. 4.
Ensuring the architecture across ARC platforms is aligned and harmonised as much as possible and appropriate, to streamline the further development and maintenance of the different applications. 5.
Design and manage development of new risk modules for ARV, including for flood, cyclone and other risks, as they are developed and working with the other ARC Secretariat R&D Teams to ensure new risk additions are ARV-compatible. 6.
Developing functionalities and enhanced processes in ARV Desktop in order to produce, translate, aggregate and display ARV information requested by users, with an emphasis on accuracy, replicability and speed optimization. 7.
Ensuring all ARV applications are robust, secure and works efficiently in a range of downloading, operating and data failure environments and can accommodate future modifications, updates and improvements with ease, suggesting and making modifications where required. Ensuring that the team resolves any critical issues in a reasonable time. 8.
Lead the testing and cross-checking of new releases to ensure accuracy and consistency of calculations, particularly for the development of the annual ARV Calculation Engine for ARC Ltd. 9.
Providing support, input and guidance to collaborations with technical partners on ARV and participating in team meetings, conferences and missions as required. 10.
Performing other tasks as directed by the R&D Director and working closely with the ARC Secretariat R&D Team, as required. Qualifications and experience required

Education:
Advanced university degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering, Natural Sciences, or other relevant quantitative discipline.

Experience:
Minimum of 12 years of experience working on software development and the design and development of systems and applications needed to fulfil business requirements. Experience in Africa, working with African governments, a strong asset. Knowledge &

Skills:
Programming skills in Delphi, Visual Studio, ASP.
NET, MySQL, HTML, CSS, JavaScript and C#. Demonstrable experience in building Apps for phones and tablets is a strong asset. Strong problem solving capabilities. Experience in identifying problems and reviewing related information to develop, evaluate and implement software and App options. Demonstrated ability to take a strategic view across a large complex programme with the ability to follow, develop and lead a given scope of work. Languages: International Professional: Fluency (level C) in English. Another ARC working language a strong asset. WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK WFP Leadership Framework guides to the common standards of behavior that guide HOW we work together to accomplish our mission. Click here to access WFP Leadership Framework REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION WFP is committed to supporting individuals with disabilities by providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process. If you require a reasonable accommodation, please contact: global.inclusion@wfp.org NO FEE DISCLAIMER The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web. REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION
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your profile
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