Technical Expert, Connectivity Credits
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Contract type: Consultancy
Duration: 12 months
Application deadline: 18 February 2024, at 11.55 pm CET
Summary
We are seeking an experienced Connectivity Credits Technical Expert to join Giga, an initiative to connect every school in the world to the Internet and every young person to information, opportunity and choice. The Technical Expert will work with a multidisciplinary team to provide technical expertise and strategic guidance for the development of the Giga Connectivity Credits Marketplace, a blockchain-based system designed to incentivize companies to provide sustained internet access to underserved communities.
Your responsibilities will be…
- Explore and draft different technical architectures and designs for a global “Connectivity Credit Marketplace”, ensuring scalability, reliability and security.
- Collaborate with product managers, software engineers, external partners and other stakeholders to understand and translate project requirements into technical solutions for a global “Connectivity Credit Marketplace”
- Build proof of concepts (PoC) for some of the identified solutions to validate their feasibility.
- Offer strategic guidance on technical decisions impacting the success of the Connectivity Credits initiative.
- Provide technical assistance in reviewing submissions from external vendors and partners, assessing the technical aspects of proposals, including feasibility, quality, innovation and alignment with Giga’s mission.
- Conduct regular technical reviews of vendor and partner work to ensure it meets quality standards and projects stay on scope, on time and on budget.
- Create and maintain technical documentation about the proposed designs for a global “Connectivity Credit Marketplace”.
Please access the full Term of Reference (ToRs) and read a more detailed description of the assignment in this file in order to prepare your financial proposal and know more about the role: Technical Expert, Connectivity Credits ToRs.
To qualify for this position, you will have…
- An advanced University degree (Master’s or higher) in a related field (e.g. Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology) or equivalent work experience. *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
- A minimum of 5 years of experience in designing, developing and implementing technology solutions
- Experience with blockchain and/or cryptocurrency products
- Knowledge of blockchain technologies
- Understanding of smart contract development and implementation and corresponding languages such as solidity, Java
- Strong analytical skills and ability to use data to make informed decisions.
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
- Fluency in English is required. Proficiency in an additional official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.
Payment details and further considerations
- Payment of professional fees will be based on the submission of agreed deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.
- Consultant is responsible for his/her own health and travel insurance.
- Consultant is responsible to arrange his/her own travel, including visa.
How to apply
- Interest applicant is required to submit a financial proposal with all-inclusive fee.
- Financial proposal must include travel costs (economy class) and daily subsistence allowance, if travel is required as per TOR and any other estimated costs: visa, travel/health insurance.
Applications without a financial proposal will not be considered. Please find attached the financial proposal template.
About our team
We are a fast-paced, multi-disciplinary team of software engineers, finance specialists, data scientists, policy experts, and much more. Our team is a distributed workforce and plans to remain distributed into the foreseeable future. We are growing fast. Our team has grown by over 400% in the last 6 months as we rapidly scale to meet our stated mission.
About Giga
Giga is a joint initiative of UNICEF and ITU to connect every school in the world to the Internet by 2030. Working with corporate and non-profit partners, Giga maps schools’ Internet access in real time, creates models for innovative financing, and supports governments contracting for connectivity. It is part of ITU’s Partner2 Connect Coalition, UNICEF’s Reimagine Education initiative, and the UN Secretary General’s Common Agenda and Roadmap for Digital Cooperation.
Follow Giga on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
About UNICEF
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone. And we never give up.
UNICEF has a 70-year history of innovating for children. We believe that new approaches, partnerships and technologies that support realizing children’s rights are critical to improving their lives.
About ITU
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs), driving innovation in ICTs together with 193 Member States and a membership of over 900 companies, universities, and international and regional organizations.