Are you a Software Engineer and want to help make governments in Africa more accountable?

The Revenue Development Foundation (RDF) is a Norwegian technology-driven non-profit organisation that delivers robust solutions to governments of low income countries at a fraction of the cost of what is available to them in the commercial sector. The current systems are built using modern open source technologies and have lowered the bar for government ICT staff to adopt and maintain the implemented solutions. Our solutions target natural resource management in the mining and forestry sector as well as local government revenue mobilization from property tax and business licenses.  In addition to providing ICT solutions the foundation advises and engages governments in good governance, accountability, transparency and open data. All RDF systems support publication of data to public online repositories. The repository is central to making information available to the public and is the key component to RDFs open data policy.

We have projects in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Malawi and Mali. All four countries have adopted the Mining Concessions Administration System, and Sierra Leone and Malawi have also adopted our Forestry Concessions Administration System and Local Government Revenue Mobilisation system. RDF is a vibrant organisation built on the enthusiasm of a young team of professionals committed to achieve real impact on improving governance in Africa.

Role of a Software Engineer/Developer 

Are you motivated by seeing direct impact of your work? The ideal candidate will be team oriented and have the proven ability to coordinate our focused team of developers. You will manage system releases based on requirements gathered by our in country specialists who engage with the client on a daily basis.  The position requires a lot of innovation and the Engineer/Developer will be at the forefront of resolving some of the most strategic challenges in Africa today.

RDF software solutions have gone through several major releases, user feedback and re-building. Most systems are now based on a stable web-based platform that provides a solid basis for further development. As we continue to grow and develop solutions for our existing sectors we are also looking at further developing new solutions for upcoming projects.

Responsibilities

Lead Developer for web-based applications and mobile software solutions
Delegate issues and manage development sprints.
Manage the JIRA system and country team requirement sheets
Delegate development tasks within the development team.
Discuss and identify requirements with country teams
Help design application features and make sure that scalable/sustainable frameworks are implemented. – “ future proofing”
Quality control and deployment support

Requirements

Bachelor degree in Computer Science or equivalent
Strong knowledge and implementation experience of Java-based programming language (JREE), Hibernate, Apache Tomcat/Spring environment.  Products are built using Groovy/Grails Open Source Web Application Framework for JVM. Eclipse IDE
Ability to work with open source DBs such as PostGres, MySQL etc.
Knowledge of windows based deployments. Most clients run  windows based architectures.
Some knowledge of Google Android environment for mobile solutions
Understanding of web application architecture and data models
Proficient in the English language both written and spoken
Some experience with Agile, release management, CVS and Amazon Web Services
Ability to work independently and with remote teams
 

What We Offer

An opportunity to help resolve some of the most strategic challenges in Africa today
Flexible working hours and environment
For the more adventurous we also offer the opportunity to travel to support in country installations and training.
The opportunity for you to give back in a sustainable manner!
A reasonable salary with a huge dose of job satisfaction.