Terms of Reference for the recruitment of:

IT Solution Architect for the Smart Africa Digital Academy.

Position

IT Solution Architect, Smart Africa Digital Academy.

Introduction

SMART Africa is a bold and innovative commitment from African Heads of State and Government and a wide range of stakeholders including the private sector, international non-government organizations, and academia to accelerate sustainable socio-economic development on the continent, ushering Africa into a knowledge economy through affordable access to Broadband and usage of Information and Communications Technologies.

The Smart Africa agenda is led by visionary Heads of State who believe in ICT’s power for the advancement and betterment of the African continent. This agenda will lead Africa to the 04^th industrial revolution, using the transformative power of ICTs through successful implementation and deployment of major ICT infrastructure, applications, services, and creating locally relevant content for Africa while developing a vibrant ICT industry and creating jobs.

Smart Africa aims to put ICT at the Center of the National socioeconomic development agenda of member countries, improve access to ICT, especially Broadband, improve accountability, efficiency, and openness through ICT. It promotes the introduction of advanced technologies in telecommunication while putting the Private Sector first, and leveraging  ICT to promote sustainable development.

About the Smart Africa Digital Academy

Over the past decade, Africa has made great strides in enrolling children in school, with some countries providing free primary education for the first nine years. Despite this achievement, the average Human Capital Index (HCI) falls below the average, with one of the highest being 52 on a scale of 100, education is a major determinant factor.

With a population estimated to approximately 1.3bn people who are majorly youthful, ensuring quality jobs to leverage on the continent’s demographic opportunity is set to be one of Africa’s game-changer. An estimated 15 to 20 million increasingly well-educated young people will join the African workforce every year for the next three decades

The Smart Africa Digital Academy (SADA) is the delivery vehicle of the Smart Africa capacity building and skills development activities across the various digital skills spectrum. It is a pan-African dynamic learning ecosystem in which African citizens of all ages and social classes can gain or improve their digital skills, gain qualifications, meet the emerging talent needs of employers, industry or be self-reliant.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Smart Africa Secretariat would like to recruit an IT Solution Architect to support the Smart Africa Digital Academy implementation.

Responsibilities include:

• Full front and back end design and development of the SADA platform;
• Technical IT support on various phases of the Smart Africa Digital Academy portal implementation;
• Design and integration of APIs for different content providers;
• Daily operational management of the SADA platform for optimized experience by users;
• Understanding and implementing SADA project requirements ;
• Coordinating with consulting firms and agencies the development of SADA’s portal, reviewing final layouts and suggesting improvements when necessary;
• Project support activities, including input into project planning and documentation, assistance with implementation resources, monitoring, and reporting on project progress;
• SADA Event support through preparation of communications materials in alignment with Smart Africa’s branding;
• Concepts planning and illustration by designing examples and submitting them for approval;

Other responsibilities will include:

• Any other assignments or projects, which will be assigned from time to time by the leadership of Smart Africa;

Key qualifications

Education and Professional experience:

• A Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and all related fields.
• A minimum of proven five (5) years of full-stack programming experience with front and back end development of web platforms and applications.
• Experience in cloud-based server deployment.
• Experience in deployment and integration of application program interface (APIs).
• Proficiency with fundamental front end languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
• Proficiency in server-side languages such as Python, Ruby, Java, PHP, and .Net.
• Familiarity with database technology such as MySQL, Oracle, and MongoDB.
• Familiarity with JavaScript frameworks such as Angular JS, React, and Amber.
• Knowledge of design techniques such as Prototyping, Instructional Design, etc.
• Familiarity with graphic design tools will be an added advantage

General experience and skills:

• Good interpersonal skills with experience in networking with partners at all levels;
• Creativity and problem-solving abilities
• Ability to work in a team;
• Ability to work with little supervision.
• Strong competence in the use of standard software productivity tools (such as Microsoft Office Suite or others).

Languages:

• Excellent Knowledge and Fluency in French or English.
• Good working knowledge of another language will be an added advantage.

Duration of the assignment

The appointment will be for one (1) year renewable subject to availability of fund and performance assessment.

Reporting requirements

The Project Support Assistant will report directly to the assigned supervisor under the digital Infrastructure department.

Location 

Kigali, Rwanda

Please send your Curriculum Vitae, cover letter, either French or English to the following email address:[email protected] not later than 11^th January 2021 5:00 pm Kigali time.