The GBIF Secretariat is seeking a Project Coordinator for the Development of the Nodes Portal Toolkit (NPT)

1. Introduction

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is a multilateral initiative that facilitates access to, and sharing of, data relating to the world's biodiversity via a global network of institutions and organisations. Currently GBIF comprises a membership of 54 countries and 44 international organisations (referred to as GBIF Participants). Each GBIF Participant is expected to establish a functional Participant Node, which can be defined as the coordinating team, informatics infrastructure and institutional setup that facilitates the discovery, mobilisation, publication and use of biodiversity data at the participant level, according to GBIF standards and policies.

Since 2003 GBIF Participant Nodes, through the NODES Committee (http://www.gbif.org/participation/participant-nodes/nodes-committee/), have recommended the development of a suite of tools to deploy biodiversity data portals at the Participant level (known as the Nodes Portal Toolkit or NPT). In August 2009, a survey among Participant Nodes confirmed the need for such a toolkit, and provided the basis for a roadmap that was discussed and adopted by the NODES Committee during its 10th meeting held in October 2009 in Copenhagen. As a result a technical advisory group from the Nodes was convened and a technical meeting held in December 2009 in Montreal, Canada (http://community.gbif.org/pg/groups/3507/nodes-portal-toolkit-npt-workshop/).  The main recommendations from this group are summarised below:

• To fully engage the NODES community in the design, development, testing and deployment of the NPT. 
• To ensure tight integration of the NPT with the GBIF Informatics Infrastructure, while benefiting from a wide array of additional biodiversity-related web services.
• To adopt an open source content management platform such as Drupal, upon which to build and develop specific NPT modules (specifically those for integration, visualisation, and access of biodiversity-related data and information).

In addition to this, the advisory group recommended to design the NPT to be multilingual, user-friendly, scalable, and easily customisable to national, regional or thematic contexts and needs.

The NODES community has already expressed their support to this approach, and many national or thematic Nodes have expressed their interest to contribute towards its development, especially concerning specific NPT modules or services.

The NPT has the potential of becoming one of the most important toolkits for any group or organisation responsible for the coordination of a national, regional or thematic biodiversity information network or facility.

2. Scope

In this context the GBIF Secretariat is seeking an expert to coordinate the first development phase of the NPT (from the capture of requirements to the development of the release version 1.0). This phase is expected to start in September 2010 and finish in November 2011. The responsibilities of the NPT Project Coordinator will be:

• To serve as the liaison between the GBIF Participant Nodes and the GBIF Secretariat for the development of the NPT
• Through active interaction with the Nodes, the GBIF Secretariat, and other relevant parties, capture, compile and validate the NPT technical requirements and specifications
• Based on the technical requirements, prepare a detailed NPT development plan; discussing and refining this plan with the Nodes and the GBIF Secretariat.  During this stage a Content Management Platform (CMS) will be selected as the foundation upon which to build, and sound reasoning for this decision will be documented
• Coordinate a distributed team of developers (from several Nodes, the Secretariat and partner organisations) during the first development phase of the NPT
• Lead the process of developing the NPT release version 1.0.  This process will include the periodic deployment of pre-release versions for gathering community feedback and ensuring user guidelines and technical documentation are produced
• Convening technical workshops or coding camps to rapidly advance the development of core NPT components or modules
• Preparing and submitting to the GBIF Secretariat and the NODES Committee regular progress reports, and a final report on the first development phase of the NPT
• Undertaking any other activities pertinent to the coordination of the NPT development process

3. Duration and conditions

The contract is expected to start on 15th September 2010, and end on 15th December 2011 (16 months in total). Although the contractor can be based anywhere in the world, they will be required to spend at least one week at the GBIF Secretariat in Copenhagen every two months; the contractor also must have availability to convene and participate in virtual meetings or teleconferences with the Secretariat, the Nodes, the NPT developers and other key partners on a regular basis. Relocation to Copenhagen for the duration of the contract will not be considered. The contractor must be available for international travel, also facilitating at least two developers’ workshops or coding camps (in locations and dates yet to be identified and agreed). Understanding that the priority is to deliver on the responsibilities listed above, the contractor will have time flexibility; the contractor will be required to allocate on average 20hrs a week to these activities for the duration of the contract.

4. Requirements

Suitable candidates for this consultancy should have the following expertise:

• Knowledge of or experience in the field of biodiversity informatics
• Familiarity with GBIF, the GBIF Informatics Infrastructure and the GBIF Participant Nodes community
• Minimum 5 years of proven experience in the role of manager or primary contributor to software development projects; this should include experience and knowledge about planning and managing full development cycles, from capture of requirements, design, collaborative development, launching, packaging, support and evaluation of software products or informatics solutions
• Experience developing web-based multilingual and multiplatform applications
• Excellent knowledge of and experience in developing applications for open source content management platforms such as Drupal
• Demonstrable experience of at least one major programming language from PHP, Python, Ruby on Rails, Java, C or C++ and use of a software version control system such as Subversion
• Fluency in written and spoken English; fluency in other UN languages (preferably Spanish or French) would be an asset in this role
• Ability to interact simultaneously with a wide range of partners located all over the world
• Experience in coordinating teams of developers based in different geographical locations (distributed teams) and from different language backgrounds would be advantageous. 

Candidates from the GBIF Participant Nodes Community who intend to use the NPT within their own institution to serve as a high profile thematic or national biodiversity portal will be of particular interest.

5. Budget

This contract will be for a total amount of EUR 48,000 to be disbursed in 6 installments as follows:

• One installment of 30% at the signature of the contract
• Four installments of 15% each every three months, and depending on satisfactory progress on the agreed activities and work plan
• One installment of 10% after finalisation of the contract and contingent to satisfactory delivery of agreed products, reports and activities

This amount covers the full remuneration for all the activities performed by the contractor under this contract. Any additional expenses related to insurances or taxes should be deduced from this amount and paid directly by the contractor. Travel expenses for the contractor related to the execution of this contract will be covered by the GBIF Secretariat according to the GBIF Travel Guidelines. Expenses related to the workshops or coding camps facilitated by the contractor will also be covered directly by the GBIF Secretariat.

 
6. Application process

The deadline for applications is 3rd September 2010. Applications should be sent to nptcoordinator_@If you can read this, please upgrade to a modern browser.gbif.org, including the following:

1. Cover letter summarising your experience and knowledge relevant to this job, and clearly explaining why you consider yourself the best candidate to coordinate the development of the Nodes Portal Toolkit
2. Curriculum Vitae
3. Links to sample applications or relevant software developments
4. Two references
5. Letter of institutional support in case the applicant is (or works for) a GBIF Participant Nodes or an organisation publishing data via GBIF

7. Contact

In case you have any questions on this call please contact Juan Bello, Senior Programme Officer for Nodes at nodes_@If you can read this, please upgrade to a modern browser.gbif.org.