RapidSMS CommunityCoordinator UNICEF UGANDA

UNICEF Uganda – Terms of REFERENCE (TOR)

Project/Assignment Title: RapidSMS Community Coordinator


1. Background (attach documents if necessary):

In 2008, UNICEF HQ began work on an open-source software framework called RapidSMS for developing server side, mobile applications.

Subsequently, UNICEF Country Offices, including Ethiopia, Madagascar, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe initiated RapidSMS projects, some of which are in the process of scaling nationally. Additionally, a community external to UNICEF began to use and support further software development to enhance this framework, including private companies such as Dimagi, Thought Works and Nyaruka, as well as Development Partners such as the Millennium Villages Project.

Currently, there is a distributed community of users, with over 300 registered RapidSMS Google Group members. While there is a lot of work that has been contributed to the RapidSMS codebase by these users, there is an urgent need to add additional code and document / package existing work in order for RapidSMS to be fully useable by UNICEF Country Offices and other users without sustained support from external software consultants.


2. Purpose of Assignment:

The purpose of this position is to address gaps in the current RapidSMS release (0.95 Alpha), and working with the RapidSMS community, develop a stable version of RapidSMS that:

• Can be simply deployed as a hosted service, and

• Is well-documented, easily-extensible, and accessible to novice software developers.

This position will be required to drive the RapidSMS community to strengthen regular communication, improve software development process, track new features and issues, and establish a process for continued collaboration and improvement.

General duties will include regular correspondence on the RapidSMS mailing list, maintenance of and additions to documentation, improvement of installation processes, and coordination of software development including some direct coding.

The consultant will also perform additional related duties, including:

• Organization of community code jams, chat sessions, and other coordination of community activities

• Outreach to key stakeholders in the development community and developers of other software platforms with similar goals, including posts on relevant discussion boards and participation in events

• Coordinate with UNICEF Uganda, Zambia, Malawi and other active CO’s to ensure continued maintenance and improvement of tools developed in said deployments, and that overall RapidSMS goals, including extending RapidSMS as a generic, modularized framework for quickly developing customized mobile applications, are met

• Coordinate with UNICEF NY and the UNICEF active Regional Offices to ensure global requirements are met by the RapidSMS framework, and coordinate strategic efforts for wider adoption of the RapidSMS framework.

• Improve strategic relationships between RapidSMS and other open source communities, providing a sustainable strategy for the ongoing work of the RapidSMS community. This includes introducing new software developers to the RapidSMS framework, and identifying and assessing ways that RapidSMS can work with open-source tools such as OpenXData, Vumi, FrontlineSMS and Ushahidi.

• All core development, merges, releases and other technical decisions should follow the RapidSMS Community Guidelines (http://docs.rapidsms.org/Development), which describe the need for transparency, communication and consensus. The RapidSMS Community Coordinator is expected to not only adhere to, but also actively promote the larger objectives behind the RapidSMS Community Guidelines, as well as build consensus to revise the current guidelines as needed to match the current structure and goals of the community.


• This position should allow the consultant to focus on larger RapidSMS community needs, without the competing demands of individual projects.


• Much of this work can be done remotely. Preference will be given to candidates already in duty stations corresponding to UNICEF RO locations or UNICEF Country Offices with technology for development initiatives.


3. Duration: 7 months


4. Duty station: Flexible – will be fixed preferably in a Regional Office country or Country Office with strong ICT team


5. Supervisor: Supervisor, UNICEF Innovations HQ, with support from UNICEF Uganda T4D Team Lead


6. Payment plan

• Monthly payment submitted upon review of deliverables with supervisor; note exception for Deliverable 3, which will constitute two months worth of work

• Consultant is responsible for his/her own health insurance

• Consultant is eligible for standard in- and out-of-country DSA for all work-related travel outside of the agreed-on Duty Station country.


7. Qualifications or specialized knowledge/experience required for the assignment


Education, Training and Experience

• Any combination of education and training equivalent to possession of a Master's degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Engineering or Mathematics that demonstrates the ability to perform the duties and responsibilities as described, or at least 3 years experience directly developing RapidSMS software modules.

• Proven experience working with open source communities

• Proven experience managing distributed/remote software development teams

• Experience with building software developer capacity, preferably in East Africa

• Extensive experience with mobile data collection projects


Knowledge of:

• RapidSMS framework, knowledge of tools developed by Uganda, Zambia and Malawi a plus

• At least two of PostgreSQL, MySQL, MS SQL Database Systems

• Server hardware and software technologies including Linux

• Python language and development tools including Django, Nosetests, and Fabric

• Documentation tools including mediawiki and sphinx


Skill and Ability to:

• Communicate effectively in both oral and written forms; interact with users and office staff in non-technical, clear terms

• Build consensus among stakeholders with differing project requirements

• Promote open-source and agile standards and improve process efficiency

• Set priorities and organize work to meet strict deadlines

• Make decisions on a variety of complex matters

• Establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with those contacted during the scope of the contract

• Ability to adapt to changes in technology


To apply, send letter of interest and CV to jobst4d@gmail.com and
ugderecruit@unicef.org

Additionally, applicants must provide links to finished products, sample code or online repositories, with a clear description of their contributions, to be considered.

Applications must be received by 22 December 2011