job vacancies

Thank you for your interest in working for international development charity, Lively Minds.

We are currently recruiting an IT Business Analyst

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Position: IT Business Analyst

Reports to: Chief Operating Officer

Based: Tamale, Ghana (for first year, flexible location following)

Hours: Full time

Salary: £30,000 - £32,000 for first year, to be reviewed following

Desired start date: Immediately (March 23, 2020)

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THE SITUATION

These are exciting times for Lively Minds. In Ghana, we have recently received results from a Randomised Control Trial conducted by independent evaluators Institute for Fiscal Studies and Innovations for Poverty Action, which demonstrate that the programme has a positive impact on a wide range of child and mother outcomes. The Ghanaian Minister for Education has expressed his commitment to support the scaling up for the programme. We are now working with National Government and other stakeholders in developing our 2020-2025 plans to scale the programme across 60 rural districts in the northern regions of the country, reaching approximately 4,000 kindergartens. During this period, Lively Minds will act as technical consultants, ensuring that Districts embed and sustain the programme. 

Elsewhere, our programme in Uganda is in a test and position-for-scale stage with the long-term aim of national roll-out. Our long-term goal is for the programme to be adopted in several countries in the developing world, so that it can have a large impact in tackling the global early childhood development crisis.

We are looking for an IT Business Analyst to ensure we have the right technology and tools to support scale up of the programme. The IT Business Analyst will be responsible for improving the programme’s efficiency, by studying the organisational needs, its business model, workflows, and its technological systems, and making recommendations to the Chief Operating Officer in technical development projects. The role includes supporting in the sourcing and managing of a Software Developer Consultant to implement new processes and systems for the programme and its stakeholders. The IT Business Analyst will be responsible for maintaining the system developed by the Software Developer, and for training the Ghana IT Admin Officer and field/office teams in how to use new software and tools. He/she will be required to devise creative, low-cost and sustainable technical solutions that are implementable in rural settings. This position will be based in Tamale for at least the first year with possibility of remote work thereafter. The IT Business Analyst will report directly to the Chief Operating Officer.

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This is a unique opportunity to be involved in building scalable and distributed systems, and make a huge impact for a small charity.

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MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

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Solutions Analysis and Stakeholder Requirements

• Acquire knowledge of data, products or services provided by the Lively Minds programme

• Detail stakeholder and software requirements for business processes and systems, and document requirements in a format which allows them to be specific, measurable, achievable, and prioritised

• Research, analyse and advise on possible software solutions to increase work efficiency and contribute to wider government reform, policy and operational objectives

• Interpret data about organisational policies and workflows

• Gather intelligence, identify and evaluate risks and advise on potential risks to the Lively Minds programme

• Support in the recruitment of a software developer consultant to build a live, mobile dashboard

Project Design and Concept Development

• Support software developer and project teams during the analysis and planning stages of software development within Java-based products (i.e. the dashboard)

• Write reports, instructions, and specifications and create flowcharts

• Ensure projects stay within budget and target spending requirements

• Estimate costs and time requirements of projects

• Develop quality assurance practices and assessments

• Establish deliverables

• Act as a liaison between the organisation and its Information Technology (IT) department

• Use spreadsheets to record data on projects

• Evaluate Key Performance Indicators

• Modify the business plan

Implementation, Testing and Launch

• Support software developer and project teams in other project phases like implementation, testing and ongoing maintenance

• Follow-up with key stakeholders to ensure deliverables are completed to time

• Incorporate user suggestions into projects

• Facilitate a successful release handover

• Give final approval on a finished project

• Facilitate meetings and educational workshops for team members

• Support the programme and operational teams to develop lessons plans and materials, staff training, correspondence, systems and protocols as and when needed

• Represent Lively Minds in stakeholders' meetings and presentations as requested

PERSON SPECIFICATION

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Experience

Required experience:

• Minimum 3 years’ experience in programming, buying software, database management and coding in Java

• Familiar with a range of data visualisation packages, including Power BI

Desirable experience:

• Experience in coding in VBA

• Experience in using of APIs to establish interfaces between different softwares, SQL Server (or an equivalent)

Behaviours

To succeed in this role, you will need:

• to be a critical thinker. You must be able to test and deliver solutions in an iterative manner from concept to launch, assessing their value to the Lively Minds programme.

• to have excellent analytical skills. You must employ an evidence-based approach and understand various government compliance requirements.

• to have clear and professional written, visual and oral communication skills. You must be able to write meeting update reports, stakeholder and software requirements, and produce visuals such as process maps, workflow diagrams, business process models, and data and information models.

• to be an excellent collaborator. You must have experience working with senior decision-makers and incorporate ideas from others. You will need to be able to work well with both international and local team members and with those in various positions professionally (above, in-line, and below you).

• to be a self-starter. You must be comfortable working with limited supervision and managing a complex and varied workload. You will need to organise and prioritise time effectively for efficient implementation across multiple projects.

• to be innovative. We operate in resource-poor settings, with challenging stakeholders and with limited resources. You will need to adopt an excellent analytical approach and be prepared to test and learn in order to find creative and sustainable solutions.

• to have a good understanding of information technology and be on top of changes. You must have a constant ear out for software solutions or potential technology changes and opportunities that Lively Minds can feed into.

• to be hands-on. You will need to be out attending meetings, networking and liaising with stakeholders. You will also need to be out in the field in remote areas to  understand process requirements and be able to speak to how it works at the ground-level and how it benefits children, parents, communities, schools and districts.

• to be a leader. You must be knowledgeable about the programme and prepared to deliver engaging presentations to stakeholders. You must also know the ins and out of the systems and be able to interpret and clearly communicate complex data/results to people at different levels.

• to be passionate. You must have a positive attitude towards change to motivate others and build open relationships with stakeholders, finding ways to gain their buy-in and uptake.

• to be assertive and diplomatic. You must be confident in working with senior-level officials and maintaining relationships.

SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

Computer Programming, Information Technology, Leadership, Statistics, Data Analysis, Reporting, Strategic Planning, Business Model Analysis, Data Model Analysis, Process Design, Systems Analysis, Planning, Implementation, Testing, Project Management, Communication, Deliverables, Business, Self-Motivation, Advanced Excel.

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HOW TO APPLY

Please submit your CV and cover letter to by Feb. 13 23:59GMT. In your cover letter, please detail your suitability for the role per the attached job description. We will only contact short-listed applicants.

• Short-listed applicants should be prepared for an assessment from Feb. 14-18.

• Further shortlisted applicants should be prepared for interview on Feb. 19-21.

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