Consultant, outsourcing study for website monitoring

Vacancy ISDR/C/27/2012

United Nations Core Values:

Integrity ● Professionalism ● Respect for diversity

Background

Created in December 1999, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) is the designated focal point in the United Nations system for the coordination of disaster reduction and to ensure synergies among the disaster reduction activities of the United Nations and regional organizations and activities in socioeconomic and humanitarian fields. Led by the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, UNISDR has around 100 staff located in its HQ in Geneva, Switzerland, and 5 regional offices. Specifically, UNISDR coordinates international efforts in disaster risk reduction, and guides, monitors and reports on the progress of the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action; campaigns to create global awareness of disaster risk reduction benefits and empower people to reduce their vulnerability to hazards; advocates for greater investments in disaster risk reduction to protect people's lives and assets, and for increased and informed participation of men and women in reducing disaster risk; and informs and connects people by providing practical services and tools such as PreventionWeb, publications on good practices, and by leading the preparation of the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction and the organization of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Organizational setting and reporting relationships

The Consultant will work under the direct supervision and report to the UNISDR Senior Information Management Officer, in collaboration with other Information Management Unit colleagues.

Objectives and targets

In support of the Hyogo Framework for Action, the UNISDR secretariat has developed an information portal on disaster risk reduction (DRR) called PreventionWeb. The primary purpose is to facilitate the work of professionals involved in disaster risk reduction and promote understanding of the subject by non-specialists. PreventionWeb provides a common platform for institutions to connect, exchange experiences and share information on DRR, and is designed to allow distributed data entry as well as provide options for content syndication to partner sites. The site is updated daily, and contains news, DRR initiatives, event calendars, online discussions, contact directories, policy documents, reference documents, training events, jobs, terminology, country profiles, factsheets as well as audio and video content. As part of the daily update, PreventionWeb content managers monitor several hundred partner websites for new content. The purpose of this consultancy is to explore the options and opportunities for the outsourcing of these data monitoring functions with the aim of populating the PreventionWeb database in a distributed manner.

Key outputs

• Oversight of the offsite content management workflow process
• Identification and hiring of local information management officers
• Training and development support to local information management officers in line with UNISDR PreventionWeb information management officer training programme
• PreventionWeb is updated daily with relevant news and information according to UNISDR PreventionWeb guidelines

Competencies

Professionalism: Proven experience in developing monitoring systems and process flows for distributed data entry and website content management for large scale websites.

Planning and Organizing: Demonstrated effective organizational skills and ability to handle work in an efficient and timely manner, working to tight deadlines.

Technological Awareness: Fully proficient computer skills, particularly in using relevant information databases, internet services, contact sources.

Qualifications

Education: High school diploma or equivalent.

Experience: A minimum of 5 years of working experience in development of monitoring and data entry systems for large scale websites.

Language skills: Fluency in written and spoken English