PAHO Consultant - Software Engineer

Software Engineer

The incumbent will serve as a Software Engineer within the Data Management, Analytics, and Products team of the Health Emergency Information Management and Risk Assessment (HIM) Unit of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO). Under the broader framework of the PROTECT (Pandemic Response Optimization Through Engaged Communities and Territories) project, the consultant will provide technical expertise in the design, development, deployment, and continuous maintenance of digital tools that strengthen health emergency preparedness and response in the Region of the Americas. Work performed under this contract is complementary to, and coordinated with, the ongoing development of the Community-based Event-Based Surveillance (CEBS) mobile application and its core backend, focusing on the web administrative layer, cloud infrastructure operations, integration services, quality assurance, and country-level implementation support.

Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the Head of the HIM Unit and the direct supervision of the Advisor, Data Management, Analytics, and Products, the consultant will produce the following deliverables:

1. Document describing the development and progressive refinement of the data model of the CEBS system within the context of the PROTECT project, including entity definitions, relationships, and database structure using MariaDB and SQLAlchemy. The document includes an entity-relationship diagram and reflects ongoing adjustments through versioned migrations.
2. Document containing the development and consolidation of the operational data dictionary of the CEBS system as applied in the PROTECT project, describing fields, data types, relationships, and data sources, including ODK Central and external APIs. The document includes sample SQL queries and reflects iterative improvements in data structure definition.
3. Document describing the implementation and continuous enhancement of backend API services of the CEBS system in support of the PROTECT project, using Flask and modular Blueprints, including endpoint definitions, request/response structures, and integration with the database and external services. The document reflects the progressive structuring and standardization of backend services.
4. Document describing the implementation and refinement of authentication and security mechanisms of the CEBS system within the PROTECT project, including session management with Flask-Login, encryption routines, and role-based access control. The document outlines the evolution of applied security practices and access control strategies.
5. Document describing the implementation and initial evolution of the ETL pipeline of the CEBS system for the PROTECT project, including data extraction from ODK Central APIs, transformation using pandas, and loading into MariaDB. The document reflects the structuring and early optimization of the data ingestion process.
6. Document describing the continued enhancement of the ETL pipeline of the CEBS system as part of the PROTECT project, including data normalization, error handling, and performance improvements. The document captures the iterative refinement of data processing workflows.
7. Document describing the development and improvement of data export functionalities of the CEBS system supporting the PROTECT project, including generation of structured Excel files using openpyxl. The document outlines the evolution of mechanisms enabling external data analysis and reporting.
8. Document describing the implementation and progressive enhancement of frontend components of the CEBS system in the context of the PROTECT project, using Jinja2 templates, Bootstrap, and JavaScript, including data visualization features and integration with backend services. The document reflects ongoing usability and interface improvements.
9. Document describing the implementation and expansion of automated tests for the CEBS system within the PROTECT project, using pytest, including unit, integration, and end-to-end tests. The document includes test coverage results and reflects the continuous strengthening of the testing strategy.
10. Document describing the adoption and ongoing improvement of code quality and security practices applied to the CEBS system in support of the PROTECT project, including static analysis, formatting, and dependency auditing using tools such as black, isort, flake8, bandit, and safety. The document outlines the progressive enhancement of code reliability and maintainability.
11. Document describing the setup and iterative improvement of the infrastructure and deployment configuration of the CEBS system within the PROTECT project, using Docker and Docker Compose, including service definitions, environment configuration, scheduled tasks, and health checks. The document reflects the evolution of system stability and reproducibility practices.
12. Document describing the implementation and maturation of continuous integration and operational practices for the CEBS system as part of the PROTECT project, including automated test execution, pre-commit hooks, and validation workflows. The document outlines the progressive strengthening of development and operational processes.

Education requirements (Qualifications)

Essential: A master's degree in computer engineering, Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a closely related field from a recognized institution.

Desirable: A postgraduate degree (specialization or master's) in Software Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related area.

Experience requirements

Essential: At least 9 years of professional experience in full-stack software development, including demonstrable experience across the following areas:

• Design, development, deployment, and maintenance of web applications using modern JavaScript/TypeScript frameworks (e.g., React, Next.js, Angular, or Vue) and Node.js or Python-based backends.
• Mobile application development for Android (Java or Kotlin), including integration with device features such as camera, geolocation, and offline-first data synchronization.
• Hands-on administration of AWS cloud services (EC2, S3, RDS, Route 53, IAM, CloudWatch, Lambda) including CI/CD pipeline setup, monitoring, and cost-effective infrastructure management.
• Relational and non-relational database design and management (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB), including stored procedures, indexing strategies, and data migration.
• Design and implementation of RESTful APIs and integration services, including authentication/authorization mechanisms (OAuth 2.0, JWT) and secure data exchange.
• Version control with Git and modern collaborative development workflows (code review, pull requests, branching strategies).
• Quality assurance practices, including automated testing (unit, integration, end-to-end), performance/load testing, and security vulnerability assessment.
• Strong experience with Python 3.11-based backend development using Flask and its ecosystem (Flask-SQLAlchemy, Flask-Login, Flask-Caching), including modular application design with Blueprints and server-rendered architectures using Jinja2.
• Experience with containerized environments using Docker and Docker Compose, including multi-service orchestration, environment configuration, scheduled jobs (cron), and health checks.
• Practical experience in building and maintaining ETL pipelines, including data ingestion from external APIs (e.g., ODK Central), transformation using pandas, and data export using tools such as openpyxl.
• Experience with MariaDB/MySQL in production environments, including use of JSON columns, schema versioning via migrations, and performance-oriented query design.
• Frontend development experience using server-rendered templates combined with modern UI frameworks (e.g., Bootstrap) and data grid libraries (e.g., AG Grid), along with vanilla JavaScript for dynamic interactions.
• Experience implementing authentication and security mechanisms, including encrypted credential handling, session management, and integration with external identity services.
• Familiarity with libraries and data exchange protocols (requests, JSON APIs), including handling of encoding, reliability, and external service integration

Desirable: Experience in or sound knowledge of PAHO and WHO processes for epidemic alert and response. Knowledge of statistical methods. Familiarity with machine learning integration. Android or iOS development.

Languages

Excellent knowledge of English, Spanish or Portuguese. Working knowledge of a second official language of PAHO (English, Spanish, Portuguese, or French) will be an asset.

Remuneration (Band level Range) and expected duration of contract

Band/range: B / $314.00 daily cost

Expected duration: From the signature of the contract until 30 June 2027. This consultancy is expected to entail a full-time commitment.

Location: The incumbent will be expected to perform this position's duties and responsibilities remotely.

Relocation required: No

Additional Information

• This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.
• Successful candidates will be placed on the roster and subsequently may be selected for consultancy assignments falling in this area of work or for similar requirements/tasks/deliverables. Inclusion in the Roster does not guarantee selection for a consultant contract. There is no commitment on either side.
• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
• All applicants are required to complete an on-line profile to be considered for this consultancy. For assessment of your application, please ensure that your profile in