Vacancy

 

IT Consultant: Maintenance and Support

Connect2Dialogue.org - a KAICIID owned website

 

Consultancy

 

 

An Introduction to KAICIID

The International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID) is a unique International Organization which brings together religious leaders, policymakers, and experts with the aim of finding common solutions to shared problems. Our vision is a world where there is respect, understanding, and cooperation among people, justice, peace and reconciliation, and an end to the abuse of religion to justify oppression, violence, and conflict.

 

The KAICIID Programme Division

The primary objective of the Programme Division is to create the conditions, platforms and environment through which religious leaders and other actors, in particular policy makers, can engage in constructive dialogue, thus strengthening mutual understanding and respect.

 

Connect2Dialogue.org

Connect2Dialogue.org is a user focused online platform of innovative tools and resources for practitioners, experts and anyone interested in interreligious and intercultural dialogue (“IRD/ICD”) across the globe. It has been designed to build capacities, raise awareness  and disseminate knowledge in IRD/ICD.  The current environment has been built around its primary components the IRD Directory – a comprehensive listing of international, regional, and national organizations working in interreligious and intercultural dialogue and Who’s Who in IRD – a directory of individuals from across the globe engaged in the field of IRD. Both directories aim to connect individuals and organizations, mapping data on an interactive map alongside a directory of KAICIID Fellows

The platform’s development base is on Wordpress, PHP, MYSQL, JavaScript libraries, Bootstrap and WordPress plugins such as Contact Form 7 and BuddyPress.

 

Your Role

KAICIID is looking for an experienced IT consultant to support the ongoing maintenance and new developments of the online platform that shall align with a strategic shift moving the platform away from a networking focus to a content-oriented focus. This will include further developments in 2025 such as: archiving (but still keeping available as historical data) the IRD directories and interactive map; sunsetting the networking area and moving some of its component features to the open-access site; adding, designing and implementing a new look dashboard landing page; enhancing current and adding newtools and resources.

Working closely with the team responsible for the programme management of the platform and Head of IT, the consultant will play a key role in addressing and resolving existing technical issues, identifying further areas of improvement, and contributing to the development of new features aimed at enhancing the platform’s functionality and user experience. This work includes refining website elements, fixing current bugs, optimizing backend processes, implementing new features, ensuring optimal website performance, security updates, and improving the overall navigation and usability of the platform to better meet the needs of its users and improving their overall experience.

The consultant’s contributions will help ensure that the platform remains efficient, user-friendly, and adaptable to future growth.

 

Objectives

• Issue Resolution:
  
  • Resolve issues with the platform already identified and listed.
  • Identify and fix further technical issues affecting the platform’s performance, administrator and user experience.
• Development: Develop new features and improvements to the platform.
• Optimization: Identify required enhancements for the platform’s efficiency, security, and scalability.

Scope of Work

• Maintain the platform updates for WordPress, Linux, MySQL and plugins, to include:
  
  • Regularly update the operating system, web server, database, PHP, WordPress core, themes, and plugins.
  • Fix bugs and resolve any errors that arise to maintain optimal site functionality.

• Diagnostics, Troubleshooting and Issue Resolution:
  
  • Conduct diagnostics to
    
    • resolve already identified issues and implement effective solutions.
    • Identify further issues and implement effective solutions.
  • Provide on-demand support to resolve technical issues or make urgent updates.
• Feature Development:
  
  • Develop new features based on storyboard, vision, and data provided.
  • Add new functionalities or enhance existing features, including integration of third-party services or plugins
• Performance Optimization:
  
  • Analyze and optimize the platform’s performance.
    
    • Improve server response
    • database optimization
    • SEO optimization
• Security Enhancements:
  
  • Implement security measures to protect the platform from vulnerabilities and threats
  • Implement best practices, regular security checks, malware detection, resolution of vulnerabilities.
• Documentation: Maintain comprehensive documentation of all changes, fixes, and new developments.

 

Deliverables:

The following results are expected as a direct outcome of the consultant’s scope of work:

• • resolved issues and fixed bugs; system updates; successful feature enhancements and new developments,
  • Improved and optimized system performance; effective backup and recovery; enhanced user experience and successful security improvements.
• Monthly Reports: Detailed reports on
  
  • Issues identified, solutions implemented, and progress on new developments.
  • Results and tasks completed, security patches applied backups and performance optimization.
  • Updates on the status of new features and improvements.
• Performance Metrics: Reports on performance improvements and security enhancements.
  
  • Particularly immediate reporting after security checks or performance optimization.

 

Duration and Milestones

The implementation of the strategic shift of the platform - and thus the consultancy - is envisaged to be completed on or before 31 December 2025. The consultant shall implement the following phases in two parts. Part 1 is a milestone-based payment for an inception report and implementation plan in which the consultant shall set out the days/hours required to implement the phases. The phases shall be paid on a monthly basis against consultant invoice and monthly reporting:

PART 1

Platform review, inception report with deliverable plan for the completion of the assignment (to include thedays/hours required and consultant’s rate to complete all phases to 31^st December 2025). The deadline for completion of Part 1 is 31 May 2025.

PART 2

The phases for implementation are as follows:

Phase 1 (June): Platform Adjustments and Preparations

• Resolve issues already identified and address any arising technical issues.
• Deactivate selected platform features and archive directories

Phase 2 (July–September): UAT, revisions and Launch

• Prepare functionalities for content-focus shift and upgrade key sections.
• Finalize designs for the landing page, search functionality, and tools/resources.
• Support the UAT, make any revisions and implement navigation updates.
• Launch the redesigned platform with updated functionalities.

Phase 3 (October–November): Development and Implementation of New Tools and Resources

• Develop and integrate new tools and resources.

Phase 4 (December): Evaluation and Final Reporting

• Evaluate platform performance and gather user feedback.
• Submit a final report on implementation outcomes and recommendations.

 

Our Ideal Candidate:

• Proven experience with Linux, Wordpress, Google Analytics, MySQL, React, PHP, JavaScript, HTML/CSS and plugins such as Contact Form, BuddyPress. To be checked through the portfolio/references;
• Good communication skills to effectively collaborate with the internal team;
• Professional fluency in English;

• Efficiency in fulfilling commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results.

 

Availability

Consultant will be expected to respond and deliver:

• within 24 hours for emergency fixes and maintenance following call or identification(rare);
• within I week to perform routine maintenance following identification of required fixes;
• to advise on time scale within 3 working days but aiming to deliver within 4 weeks for the implementation of new requests or changes to functions following receipt of requests including testing, finalizing.

Consultant will be expected to attend:

• set meeting every two weeks on a day and time to be agreed upon;
• adhoc meetings upon agreement.

 

Terms and Conditions:

The exact timeline for the assignment will be established based on the completion of the recruitment process.

 

Compensation:

Part 1: Lump sum of EUR 2,500.

Part 2: The fee will be offered in accordance with KAICIID consultancy rates, depending on the experience and expertise of the selected candidate. Please kindly indicate your expected daily/hourly fee.

 

Location:

Home based.

 

How to Apply:

Interested candidates should submit:

1. CV and Cover Letter (Weight: 50%)  - Please kindly include your daily/hourly fee in the application for the part two of the assignment.

2. At least two examples of maintenance and development of similar platform that were undertaken in the past (please provide links). (Weight: 50%)

KAICIID is committed to diversity and inclusion and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all religious, ethnic and social backgrounds to apply.

 

Deadline: 25 April 2025 (23:59; Lisbon Time)