icddr,b is a Bangladesh-based international health research institute that strives to solve key public health problems through high-quality scientific research and innovation. icddrb as a values-based organization encourages women and people with disabilities.

icddr,b invites applications from suitable candidates for consultancy for the project titled “ Developing an Open-source Software Application for Community Level Cholera Outbreak-Risk Prediction and Feedback through Early Warning Systems (CholOut-EWS): A Pilot Study in Dhaka and Matlab, Bangladesh under the Health Systems and Population Studies Division (HSPSD). As a prime, icddr,b , will lead and conduct the study funded by Wellcome Trust .

Assignment/Activity: The primary objective of this assignment (consultant) is to develop open-source software application (EWS) that identifies areas (neighborhoods) and days of high cholera outbreak risk, Pilot test the EWS.

Location: Dhaka

Expected start date of assignment: October 20, 2024

Duration: 96 days

Scope of work:

The project “ Developing an Open-source Software Application for Community Level Cholera Outbreak-Risk Prediction and Feedback through Early Warning Systems (CholOut-EWS): A Pilot Study in Dhaka and Matlab, Bangladesh” under the Health Systems and Population Studies Division (HSPSD) aims to develop an open-source software application (EWS) that identifies areas (neighborhoods) and days of high cholera outbreak risk, pilot testing of the EWS, scaling up in the pilot- Upazila (District) health office for sustained decision support system for cholera disease risk management.

icddr,b seeks to hire a consultant to provide support to the research project. The consultant must comply with the overall Terms of Reference for the consultancy. In particular, s/he will cover the below assigned task as planned under this consultation:

• Support development of the climate-cholera outbreak algorithm, model optimization and parameter refinement by engaging with experts/project team/data-science expert;
• Attend monthly team meetings and Technical Advisory Group (TAG) meetings;
• Develop framework for software development and share with the PI and team and TAG;
• Develop back-end and front-end interface for the software, design and create CholOut-EWS software application (Both Web and Android Interfaces);
• Create technical documentation of the software (outline of the architecture, code-structure, and APIs of a system and other process documents);
• Create user manual, online help documentation for users and systematic tracking of software development activities for maintenance and continuous improvement of the app;
• Integration of the software with Public messaging toolkit, deployment and testing of the software;
• Implementation of pilot test of the CholOut-EWS software application: at the end-user level at the community and sharing of the pilot-test findings with the working group;
• CHAOSS metrics framework for tracking progress;
• Conduct trouble shooting software versions based on pilot experience;
• Embedding CholOut-EWS with District Health Information System (DHIS2);
• Handing over a fully functional CholOut-EWS software application in both Android and web interfaces to the PI.

Expected Deliverables:

• Software development (SDLC) and evaluation framework;
• Front end and back end development;
• Technical documentation and user manual;
• Public messaging toolkit integration;
• Conduct pilot testing;
• Upgrade and software finalization;
• Process documentation report submission.

Required qualifications and experience:

• The consultant must have a background in engineering with a Master’s Degree in Bionics;
• The consultant must have over 8 years of experience in projects providing software solutions for health and well-being;
• Proficiency in both front-end and back-end development is essential, with extensive experience in Android and web application development, and expertise in creating software applications;
• Strong skills in creating comprehensive technical documentation, including knowledge of architecture, code structure, and APIs will get preference;
• Must have experience in developing health-related applications or software and expertise in documentation that supports user manual creation and tracking software activities;
• Must have skills in integrating complex systems, including RESTful APIs, cloud services (AWS), and geolocation services (Google Maps SDK);
• Knowledge of metrics and tracking systems, with experience in version control and CI/CD practices will get preference;
• Skills in integrating complex systems and databases, with experience supporting software embedding with DHIS2 is required;
• Must have experience in developing open-source software and establishing communication through a Graphical User Interface – Early Warning System (GUI-EWS).

Notes of attention:

• Only short-listed candidates shall be invited for the selection process;
• icddr,b does not charge any fee at any stage of the selection process.

Interested candidates who fulfill the requirements should submit online applications using icddr,b website: career.icddrb.org by October 10, 2024