Consultancy: Senior Software Engineer
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Location: Johannesburg, South Africa, with first months in Heino, The Netherlands
Duration: 4 months, with scope for extension
Background
African Risk Capacity (ARC) is a Specialized Agency of the African Union. 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 32 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 a 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 Ltd uses the satellite weather surveillance software Africa RiskView, developed by WFP, 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. With a USD 200 million initial capital commitment provided by the governments of Germany (through KfW on behalf of BMZ) and the United Kingdom (DFID), ARC Ltd issued drought insurance policies totaling USD 129 million for a total premium cost of USD 17 million to a first group of African governments – Kenya, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal – in May 2014, marking the launch of the inaugural ARC pool. ARC aims to reach up to 30 countries with drought, flood and cyclone coverage totaling up to USD 1.5 billion in sum insured by 2020.
Accountabilities and Responsibilities
Africa RiskView is the core technical engine of the African Risk Capacity (ARC) programme used to underpin ARC Insurance Company Limited (ARC Ltd) insurance contracts and is the basis for expansion of the ARC insurance programme to more country clients and more perils, in particular flood and cyclone risk. As the ARC initiative continues advancing, with Africa RiskView becoming 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. Within this context an experienced quantitative developer and software engineer will join the Africa RiskView Development Team to provide critical technical support to the development of Africa RiskView and to ensure Africa RiskView meets the needs of ARC and its clients across different operating platforms (Africa RiskView Desktop, Calculation Engine, Online).
Supporting and working in close coordination with Arjen de Ruijter, the ARC Lead Software Architect, the other members of the Africa RiskView Development Team and reporting to the ARC Director of Research & Development, the Senior Software Engineer’s responsibilities will include:
- Design and develop functionalities and enhanced processes in Africa RiskView Desktop, Online and Calculation Engine, and any other Africa RiskView platform that may be considered, in order to produce, translate, aggregate and display Africa RiskView information requested by users, with an emphasis on accuracy, replicability and speed optimization, as required by ARC.
- In close cooperation with the Lead Software Architect, lead the alignment and harmonisation of the architecture across Africa RiskView platforms, to streamline the further development and maintenance of the different applications.
- Design new risk modules for Africa RiskView products, including for flood and cyclone, and the development of additional analysis tools required to support the implementation of these new risk modules.
- In close cooperation with the Led Software Architect, fully lead the design and development of new modules in Africa RiskView Desktop, Online and Calculation Engine, including new interfaces and functionalities, leading to an enhanced user experience by improving the look and feel of Africa RiskView products.
- Cross-check new releases to ensure accuracy and consistency of calculations.
- Ensure all Africa RiskView applications are robust, secure and work efficiently in a range of downloading, operating and data failure environments and can accommodate future modifications, updates and improvements with ease; suggest and make modifications where required; and endeavor to resolve any critical issues regarding the code in a reasonable time.
- Provide support, input and guidance to collaborations with technical partners on Africa RiskView and participate in team meetings, conferences and missions as required.
- Perform other tasks as directed by the Director of Research & Development, the Lead Software Architect, senior ARC staff and work closely with the ARC Secretariat Technical Team and Africa RiskView users, as required.
In addition, particularly initially, the Senior Software Engineer will be required to travel and spend significant time with the rest of the Africa RiskView Development Team in Heino, The Netherlands, to ensure alignment with the existing team.
Deliverables:
In addition to timely, seasoned technical assistance to the ARC Development Team and Research & Development Department, the output of this work will be fully documented code satisfying the requirements outlined in “Responsibilities” above, to ensure that all code can be fully supported and modified by ARC independently moving forward.
Qualifications & Experience Required
Education: Advanced university degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering, Natural Sciences, or other relevant quantitative discipline.
Experience: Minimum of 10 years of experience working on software development and the design and development of systems and applications needed to fulfill 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. 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.