Software Developer

OPM TA Team Short term technical assistance ToR

Title: Software developer

Working with

MEHE IT & SIMS teams and relevant directorates

Reports to

OPM TA Team Leader and in coordination MEHE Chief Information Officer (CIO)

Contribution to Output:

Output 2: Improve Data Management

Scope and description of the Task

In recent years, Lebanon has become the country with the highest refugee per capita in the world. Officially, there are more than 1.5 million registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon, a third of which are school going aged children. In 2013, the Government of Lebanon (GoL) opened a second-shift in its public education system to cater for the enormous numbers of refugee students. In 2017/2018, non-Lebanese students outnumbered Lebanese students in the public education system. The responsibility for educating all these students resides with the Lebanese Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) who, alongside external donors, launched the Reaching All Children with Education II (RACE II) programme in 2016.

The World Bank (WB) and GoL, especially the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) and the Centre for Education Research and Development (CERD), designed Support to RACE II (S2R2) to deliver on significant parts of RACE II as the strategy relates to the formal education sector. S2R2 is designed to complement other work developed to support RACE II, such as activities planned and implemented with UNICEF, UNHCR and UNESCO.

The UK FCDO in Lebanon’s contribution to the education sector includes support to S2R2 as well as the provision of a technical assistance team to MEHE and a separate team to CERD. In March 2018, a three-year technical assistance project was awarded to Oxford Policy Management, which expanded an existing TA facility to serve MEHE priority areas to achieve the objectives of RACE II. The TA team supports the GoL to deliver the immediate objectives of the S2R2 programme while building the capacity, systems and processes which underpin a medium-term sector development strategy.

Level of effort

1. Objectives and deliverables

BACKGROUND:

The School Information Management System (SIMS) implemented by MEHE serves as the unique Educational Database for K-12 Lebanese public schools. SIMS is the main repository for decision makers to run all aspects of public schools and to support academic achievement through the operation of a robust, effective, and efficient suite of education systems and services.

Based on a request from the DG of the general education in Lebanon, OPMTA is at the latest stage of developing a new budget model for public schools. This one is a “needs based” budget school.  Once approved and validated, this model will be deployed to all public schools in the country along with different directorates and departments of MEHE to match the resources dedicated for Lebanese Education sector with its expenses and to strategize accordingly.  The MEHE’s committee formed to follow up on the implementation of this budget model advised the automation and integration of it within the SIMS in place.  OPMTA is looking for a consultant (Company/Organization) to automate this budget model and integrate it within SIMS.

Role

The consultant will work in close collaboration with OPMTA PFM expert and in direct contact with the ICT department at MEHE to develop a module for the new budget model and integrate it with SIMS.  He/she has to work in full technical coordination with the ICT department at MEHE and under the guidance of the Public Finance Expert of OPM for any functional aspect of the task.

The consultant will report to OPM TL.

Duties and responsibilities

• Develop a functional specification document translating new budget model developed by the PFM expert to an automated financial module embedded within SIMS.
• Develop and program the new web based budget model on SIMS.
• Assure offline and web based operations of the new automated budget with all relevant reports and analysis needed.
• Discuss the client’s requirements with the IT and SIMS units at MEHE.
• Write and test code to develop the required solutions.
• Assure the technical compliance integration and security with SIMS architecture and interfaces.
• Assure compliance of the new automated budget with relevant policies and regulations.
• Solve any bugs pertaining to the new budget model’s module integration within SIMS.
• Write relevant documentation and operating manuals (technical, administrative and user based)
• Test and modify codes/programs to ensure that they operate reliably.
• Design user training and support.
• Respond to amendments and justifications requested from the client during the consultations and three months after it is over and implemented at the public schools.
• Fault finding, diagnosing and fixing bugs pertaining to the developed budget module.
• Respond promptly and professionally to bug reports relevant to the developed budget module.
• Review and repair legacy code when needed during consultation period.
• Conduct required program analysis and development, with limited support from relevant professional staff, to keep the intended financial module working with changing technologies.
• Analyze, design, coordinate and supervise the software’s development cycles to form a basis for the solution of information processing required.
• Document code consistently throughout the development process by listing a description of the program, special instructions, and any changes made in database tables on procedural, modular and database level.
• Work with IT and SIMS teams at MEHE on the solution architecture options, their impacts and decisions on work.
• Oversee the integration of the new budget solution with legacy (existing interfaces) systems to satisfy MEHE’s requirements
• Work closely with the IT and SIMS teams to evaluate key technology decisions pertaining to achieving the task in hand.
• Review of project schedules, project reviews and gap analysis.
• Design and deliver training for appropriate development.
• Conduct relevant capacity building sessions as required.
• Deliver the source code to the ICT department properly, including technical trainings and all technical documentation.

DELIVERABLES AND TIME FRAME:

Deliverables

Date

Functional

1. Planning

Maximum of 15 working days

Initial meetings with MEHE & OPM staff

Devise work plan of the project

1. Analysis & design

Technical requirements and feasibility analysis

Project workflow

Model the system (mock ups and prototypes)

Technical

1. Development & Coding

Maximum of 50 working days after accomplishment of the functional part.

Requirements specifications

Programming & Coding

1. Integration & testing

Integration with SIMS

Functionality, integration & interoperability tests

Acceptance tests +Quality Assurance

1. Implementation and deployment

Installation & configuration

Build server packaging

Pre & post deployment testing

Training

User’s development manual

Total number of days

65 days

Qualifications

• Strong past performance in software developments, architecture and coding.
• Previous experience in school information management systems/education management information systems are highly desirable.
• Previous experience in developing Enterprise Resources Planning module specifically financial and budget modules.
• Team members with Bachelor degree in software engineering, computer sciences, programming or any related field combined with at least 7 years of experience in working in similar technical and functional environments.
• at least 7 years of experience as a senior developer in a well-established organization.
• Certified Professional Programmer, Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer App Builder (MSCD) are highly required.
• Proven experience with Microsoft .NET technologies including, ASP.NET/ MVC ADO.NET. 
• Preferable Languages: C#, VB.Net, SQL/TSQL, JavaScript/DHTML, VBScript, HTML, XML, SSIS, SSRS.
• Experience developing online/windows based solutions and system integrations.
• Demonstrable experience in backend software design in some of the following:  SQL Server, Stored procedures, ASP.NET, VB.NET, C#.
• Excellent knowledge of SQL/Oracle including database design & administration.
• Working experience with Content Management Systems/SharePoint/Software Source Control.
• Experience of managing multiple projects with multiple deadlines.
• Ability to complete all phases of software development life cycle including analysis, design, functionality, testing and support.
• Ability to develop large scale web/database applications. 
• Ability to communicate clearly with people at all levels of with different levels of knowledge.
• Ability to construct user guides and documentation.
• Ability to innovate and provide functional applications with intuitive interfaces.
• Ability to work under pressure with least supervision.
• Fluency in Arabic and English.  French is desired.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Excellent computer and IT skills.
• Ability to work under pressure with least supervision.