National Consultant and Project Manager
Closed Vacancy
Background
The e-Governance Agency is seeking to enhance its capacity for development and uptake of Government digital solutions for the education sector. In this effort, the e-Governance Agency is supported by USAID and Sweden via the Tekwill Project, the goals of which are to sustain an inclusive high-performing digital education ecosystem and strengthen digital skills and competences for the digital age.
Objectives
A Project Manager will be hired to join the Project Implementation Department of the e-Governance Agency to support development, management and implementation of Government digital solutions for the education sector. The Project Manager’s roles will be to:
- Consult the e-Governance Agency, and Government overall, on assessment, prioritization and development of Government IT solutions for education (data exchange, electronic services, access to Government data, etc) to streamline business operations and minimize the compliance burden.
- Manage development and implementation of selected IT solutions for education sector, implemented through the support of the e-Governance Agency;
Proactively coordinate and orchestrate the policy agenda for digital transformation of education, such as a Roadmap for the Education Sector with a specific focus on digitization and digitalization of the education process and public services, to ensure alignment of objectives of key stakeholders, including Government, education institutions, private sector, tech multinationals and development partners.
Scope of Work
The Project Manager will undertake the following tasks:
- Lead, coordinate and manage the development of concepts, technical requirements, terms of reference required for development of Government solutions for education sector (data exchange, electronic services, access to Government data) and consolidation of shared Government digital platforms and services[1] associated to this sector;
- Ensure ongoing monitoring. mapping and prioritization of needs and opportunities for IT solutions used by the education sector;
- Develop roadmaps and progress reports for implementing IT solutions;
- Moderate working groups and task forces established for developing IT solutions for the education sector; facilitate collaboration between eGA and Ministry of Education (as well as key education institutions) in implementing IT solutions for the education sector;
- Participate in technical meetings internally and externally with counterparts, as appropriate, to help identify and implement integrated IT solutions in e-education sector
- Review and provide consent/guidance on any technical platform, product, services coming from/to the public sector in the area of education
- Contribute to development of bidding documents, in collaboration with the project implementation unit, as required;
- Take part in selection process of contractors for digitalization of public services, including, evaluation of technical proposals, assisting the project implementation unit in compiling the evaluation report, taking part in contract negotiations;
- Manage the contractors and stakeholders in implementing the information systems supporting digitalization of Government services for businesses, according to agreed timeframes, budgets and quality criteria;
- Manage and coordinate the needed integration between information systems (Mconnect interoperability platform);
- Validate and coordinate any modifications, change requests, new functionalities of the information systems under development, , according to agreed timeframes, budgets and quality criteria;
- Perform day-to-day project management activities, including, but not limited to:
- Develop, organize and keep project records based on PMI PMBOK[2], Agile development methodology and eGA templates as appropriate for the project
- Store all project records using eGA infrastructure (O365 SharePoint and/or Azure DevOps);
- Estimate the resources needed to achieve project goals;
- Maintain overall control of the scope, schedule, tasks and deliverables;
- Maintain effective communication with all project stakeholders:
- Develop, organize and keep project records based on PMI PMBOK[2], Agile development methodology and eGA templates as appropriate for the project
- Store all project records using eGA infrastructure (O365 SharePoint and/or Azure DevOps);
- Estimate the resources needed to achieve project goals;
- Maintain overall control of the scope, schedule, tasks and deliverables;
- Maintain effective communication with all project stakeholders;
- Manage project expectations with team members and other stakeholders;
- Identify and manage project dependencies and critical path;
- Proactively manage changes in project scope, identifying potential crises, and devising contingency plans;
- Build and develop relationships with project stakeholders, vital to the success of the project;
- Develop lessons learned, best practices and tools for project management;
- Develop and deliver and present periodic progress reports to project stakeholders;
- Assist eGA and beneficiary institutions with validation and sign-off of project deliverables.
- Identify, together with eGA legal team, beneficiaries and suppliers, legal changes required to implement the services and platforms according to newly designed processes and contribute to their development;
- Participate in technical team meetings internally and externally with counterparts, as appropriate, to help identify and implement integrated IT solutions;
- Provide ongoing support to eGA counterparts in the implementation of ICT systems related to the organization’s work plan.
- Based on lessons learned, provide recommendations to improve future performance on projects.
[1] Includes the platforms for authentication and authorization (MPass), electronic signature (MSign), payments (MPay), data exchange and interoperability (MConnect), notifications (MNotify), document deliveries (MDelivery), Journaling (MLog), public services portal (servicii.gov.md), open data portal (date.gov.md) etc.
[2] https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/foundational/pmbok
Timing
This is a full-time assignment expected to commence in December 2021 with a three-month trial period. The initial contract will be signed for a period of 6 months and can be extended subject to the Consultant’s good performance and the same fee rate.
Institutional arrangements
The Consultant will work under the direct supervision of and report to the Head of Project Implementation Department/ Chief Digital Officer of the eGA.
The eGA will assign projects to the Consultant, in coordination with Tekwill Project, funded by USAID and Sweden, implemented by ATIC. The assigned projects must be in line with the goals and objective of USAID and Sweden.
After the trial period, the Consultant will undergo an evaluation of performance using an individual standard eGA Performance Evaluation Form. Performance Evaluation will be completed every 12 months.
Resources
The eGA will provide necessary working space, as well as any other necessary means and support for Consultant to carry out this assignment. Tekwill will provide the Consultant with a laptop. The consultant will be hired within Tekwill Project, funded by USAID and Sweden, implemented by ATIC.
Qualification requirements
Mandatory requirements
• University degree in areas such as Economics, Computer Sciences, Engineering, Telecommunications, business administration, public administration;
• Demonstrated experience in IT project management in public or private sectors (5 years);
• Demonstrated experience in managing development of enterprise-level ICT systems;
• Familiarity with PMI Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK);
• Familiarity with Agile software development methodologies;
• Familiarity with software development lifecycle, enterprise architecture, cloud computing and SOA concepts;
• Excellent communication skills, written and spoken, in Romanian. Knowledge of English would be a strong asset;
• Excellent time-, team-, meeting- and conflict- management skills;
• Strong self-organization and planning skills;
• Autonomy and ability to work with minimum supervision.
Preferred requirements
• International certification in project management (PMP, PRINCE2, Certified Agile Product Owner / Scrum Master/Practitioner or equivalent) would be an asset;
• Knowledge of e-Governance agenda would be an asset;
• Knowledge of the digital needs and experience in IT project management particularly in the education sector would be a strong asset;
• Experience with development organizations and public-sector reform would be an asset.
Application procedure:
The job position has been filled
Interested candidates shall submit the following documents in English:
- Motivation letter.
- CV of the applicant.
The application package shall be submitted via email to: achirita@ict.md and osuruceanu@ict.md with the subject line: Name/Surname/ “National Consultant – Project Manager”, by January 31, 2022 (17:00).