[Hiring] Open Source Software Development Consultant Advisor @AGORA

Role Description

UNICEF Office of Innovation's Solutions team is seeking an experienced Open Source Software Development Advisor to provide technical advisory and mentorship support to early-stage technology startups, explorations, and initiatives across the Solutions team. This consultancy will contribute to the Venture Fund efforts to strengthen the technical capacity, scalability, and sustainability of innovative digital solutions in the Fund's portfolio, addressing challenges faced by children and young people.

• Provide technical mentorship to the Solutions team on areas including:
• Software architecture
• Product strategy
• Software development lifecycle management
• Engineering best practices
• Code quality
• Security
• Scalability
• Open-source development approaches
• Contribute to the development and maintenance of technical guidance, tools, and resources that support startups in building high-quality, sustainable open-source digital public goods.
• Work directly with Venture Fund portfolio companies to assess technical needs, identify risks and capability gaps, develop tailored support roadmaps, and connect teams with relevant expertise and resources to accelerate progress toward agreed milestones and deliverables.
• Help strengthen the technical execution, product maturity, and long-term sustainability of the supported solutions by Office of Innovation through regular engagement with startups and collaboration with internal UNICEF stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Masters in Computer Science, Engineering, or another relevant field.
• A minimum of 8 years of relevant professional experience in developing applications, with preference given to full-stack software development projects.
• Extensive experience with system integration, interface design, and API development.
• Proven capacity to work with collaborative teams across various locations and with different technical skills.
• Experience in knowledge sharing, capacity building, or training for innovation is desirable.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.
• A track record of providing technology-centered mentorship and assistance to early-stage products.
• Experience identifying and developing technical assistance tools for companies.
• Demonstrable understanding (and ideally experience) of how frontier technology can be applied to social impact solutions.

Requirements

• JavaScript front-end frameworks (React, Vue, Angular, etc.).
• Languages: Node.js, Ruby, Python, Java, Rust, Go, C++, Bash, Powershell, etc.
• Cloud services: Azure, AWS (Amazon Web Services), Google Cloud, etc.
• Geospatial DBs, libraries, and data structures.
• SQL and NoSQL database systems.
• Experience with git, pull requests, and continuous integration and deployment.
• Experience working in an Open-Source project community with an active upstream community.

Benefits

• Diverse opportunities for professional and personal development.
• Attractive compensation and benefits package.

Company Description

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence. At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

• UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does.
• The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.
• UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence.