Project Development Specialist, United States

• Organization: UNICEF - United Nations Children's Fund
• Country: United States
• City: New York
• Office: UNICEF New York
• Follow @UNjobs

UNICEF 633 3rd Avenue New York, NY (212) 497-0193

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Job no: 498186
Work type: Consultancy
Location: United States of America
Categories: Consultancy
If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.
For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.
Background & Rationale
In February 2015, UNICEF launched a Learning Management System (LMS) to offer an easy, structured and centralized access to learning opportunities and to improve reporting and evaluation of learning activities. The platform, called Agora ( https://agora.unicef.org ), is now used by over 25,000 learners (internal and external) and it includes over 1200 off-the-shelf courses and resources from specialized providers, custom UNICEF online courses, and face-to-face and blended programmes from both UNICEF and external providers. As of January 2016, Agora is management by the newly formed Learning and Knowledge Exchange (LKE) Unit in the Division of Data, Research and Policy (DRP). Through this organizational change, the organization aims at reinforcing and strategizing its programme learning offering and at better integrating formal learning (courses) with informal learning (peer-to-peer discussions / CoP).
Purpose
Under the supervision of the Learning and Development Specialist, the LMS project development specialist will support the development of Agora (UNICEF's LMS - https://agora.unicef.org ) by supporting the design and testing of new features developed by external providers, provide technical support to various users and stakeholders, systematise a decentralized access to quality learning and development reports and contribute to reporting and evaluation exercises for the Agora LMS initiatives.
Expected results
Within the delegated authority and under the given organizational set-up, the incumbent may be assigned the primary, shared, or contributory accountabilities for the following areas of duties and key end-results: LMS development support

• Contribute to the design of detailed specifications for the new features to be developed. Ensure the clear documentation of processes and detailed specifications of developments.
• Test of new features and services being developed, and work with collaboration with the developers to ensure the timely delivery of quality products, within budget.
• Support enhancements and improvements with the new development planning solution on Agora, integrated with the performance management platform (Achieve).
• Support integration with the new Onboarding system, SharePoint dashboards and other UNICEF systems
• Contribute to quality assurance and testing. Suggest improvements of the platform

LMS administration support

• Support the effective rollout of the custom development planning solution of Agora, with end-users and managers, in collaboration with the Performance Management team in the Division of Human Resources.
• Support with reporting (e.g. preparation of templates, expertise in creation of reports and automation of assignment of report when possible)
• Support with management and assignment of roles.
• Support with the creation and management of audiences.
• General quality control, testing and troubleshooting. Management of technical assistance requests submitted through the Service Manager portal.

System sustainability and strategic development

• Contribute to the Totara Community discussions and identify opportunities for contribution or collaboration.
• Remain alert of Moodle/Totara developments, as well as wider technological advances (e.g. new integration standards or solutions).
• Develop partnerships with other Totara users, in particular NGOS.
• Find strategies and manage solutions to ensure the long-term sustainability of the project (e.g. consistency of content published, communication, maintenance of custom features, support of external users)

Duty Station
Open to home based with occasional travel to NYHQ.
Timeframe
Start date: 19 September 2016 (negotiable)
End date: 1 September 2017 (11.5 months if different start date)
Key competences, technical background, and experience required Deadline
Education

• Advanced university degree in instructional design, adult learning, or online and distance education highly desirable.
• Social science or management degree (human resources, business administration, international relations, psychology, etc.) possible if complemented with relevant on the job experience. Additional professional training an advantage.

Work Experience

• At least 5 years' experience in implementing and/or managing Moodle and/or Totara Learning Management Systems.
• Demonstrated experience leading the development of new features for Moodle/Totara platforms.
• Exposure to international professional contexts and/or multicultural environments.
• Proven ability to innovate and implement unique solutions to respond to specific
• learning requirements.
• Experience providing end-user support and technical assistance.
• Experience working with external developers / vendors, as we as a variety of project stakeholders.

Language Proficiency

• Fluency in English is required.
• Working knowledge of other UN languages a plus.

Competencies and skills

• Strong project management skills (possibly including various concomitant projects).
• Strong analytical skills. System-minded, capable of identifying solutions or opportunities.
• Strong understanding of UX (User Experience) design principles.
• Attention to detail, excellent organizational skills, ability to work well with others.
• Ability to work with virtual teams (vendors, subject matter experts, testers, etc.)
• Strong networking skills.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills. Demonstrated ability to write project documentation, in particular specifications documents.
• Ability to search information and learn quickly, whether through the intranet, printed documentation, or with relevant experts. Researcher / explorer-minded profile.
• Advanced knowledge of Totara LMS or Moodle LMS environments.
• Ability to delivery training sessions and/or presentation to different audiences

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Please indicate your ability, availability and daily rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above (including travel and daily subsistence allowance, if applicable) as well as 2-3 references and indication of projects you have worked on. Applications submitted with missing information will not be considered.
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organisation.
Advertised: Jul 27 2016 Eastern Standard Time
Application close: Aug 12 2016 Eastern Standard Time