National Consultant - Software Developer for Education Research Database Platform

Overview

Design, develop, and deploy new system features and functionalities within the existing SALA Digital platform to establish an ICT- and AI-related education research repository database.

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct system assessment and prepare inception report.
• Define and document functional and technical requirements.
• Design system architecture, information architecture, metadata schema, taxonomies, and tagging frameworks.
• Develop the ICT/AI Education Research Repository module, ensuring bilingual metadata presentation and researcher submission feature.
• Develop advanced search, filtering, and browsing functionalities.
• Design and implement Open APIs and/or secure metadata harvesting mechanisms.
• Design and implement an administrative analytics dashboard.
• Ensure compliance with cybersecurity, data protection, copyright, and ethical use of research content.
• Develop technical documentation, administrator manuals, and user guidelines.
• Deliver hands-on training and mentoring to technical teams.
• Support the development of governance, sustainability, and scaling strategies.
• Support the preparation of presentations and donor reports.

Required Experience

Minimum of 5 years of professional experience in the design, development, and enhancement of enterprise-level digital platforms, information systems, or knowledge management systems; Demonstrated experience in developing and maintaining web-based platforms using modern frameworks and databases; At least 3 years of professional experience with Rust programming language, Next.js and/or MongoDB; Proven experience in API development, system integration, and interoperability, including secure data exchange and metadata harvesting; Demonstrated experience with advanced search, indexing, or discovery systems, such as digital libraries or research repositories; Demonstrated experience implementing data security, access control, and privacy safeguards; Demonstrated experience working with government counterparts, public institutions, and development partners, preferably in the education sector.

Qualifications

A relevant university degree (Master’s level or higher preferred) in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software Engineering, Educational Technology, Information Management, or a closely related field.

Other Details