Senior Deployment Engineering Consultant, Mifos, Philippines

Grameen Foundation USA is a global non-profit organization that combines microfinance, new technologies, and innovation to empower the world's poorest people to escape poverty. The Mifos Initiative (www.mifos.org), managed out of the Grameen Technology center, is a unique management information software system designed for Microfinance Institutions (MFIs). Mifos will capitalize on the open source model to provide MFIs unprecedented flexibility and opportunity to scale their operations in order to serve more of the world’s poorest individuals.

Mifos is seeking a senior technical consultant to provide development support, including application configuration, data migration, and report development, for the next one-to-two upcoming Mifos deployments in the Philippines . This contractor will be responsible for developing tools to aid and support the deployments. In addition, the consultant will manage, monitor and provide on call support for our first one-to-two hosted instances of Mifos. The consultant will be expected to develop a deep technical and functional understanding of Mifos to provide excellent technical support to our next customer(s).

This consultant will work closely with the Philippine-based Mifos Technical Program team and the US-based Mifos Program Management team. This position will require significant domestic travel within the Philippines (30 – 40%) and some limited international travel. The contract will be for a period of 6–12 months.

Contractor Obligations:

• Provide on-site development and system support during the next one-to-two Mifos deployments, including application configuration and set-up, migration of legacy data into Mifos, technical training, building customized reports and completing other technical tasks required to successfully deploy the product at the customer site.
• Design and build re-usable tools to support the one-to-two Mifos deployments including data migration tools, scripts for exporting Mifos financial data into accounting systems, etc.
• Provide additional technical professional services to new Mifos customers: development of additional reports; technical training sessions on configuration steps, report development, Mifos database structure, etc.
• Establish and document procedures and processes for managing hosted instances of Mifos including back-up processes, escalation processes, and monitoring procedures and processes. Identify and write additional monitoring scripts needed to ensure the health of the application.
• Set-up, monitor and maintain our first one-to-two hosted instances of Mifos, providing tier 2 on call support Monday through Saturday during business hours to the MFIs; Troubleshoot technical issues, escalate critical infrastructure issues to hosting provider, and application issues to the Mifos product team.
• Collect lessons learned from the deployment and ensure that best practices are shared within the Mifos community. Foster Mifos community discussions related to deployment related tools and technical strategies.
• Other activities as mutually agreed to between Grameen Foundation and the consultant.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Strong technical skills - solid understanding of SQL, ability to read and understand data models and relational databases, and familiarity with web technologies (CSS, HTML, JavaScript). Proven ability in troubleshooting technical issues required. Experience with reporting applications (e.g. Crystal reports, BIRT, Jasper reports) desired.
• Experience with Python, Ruby or Perl and writing software that interfaces with SQL databases. Experience with data migration highly desired.
• Experience with Linux/Unix command-line required. System administration experience, including monitoring and troubleshooting applications, managing back-ups, determining security set-up, creating scripts for application monitoring is highly desired.
• Experience working on open source projects desired; passion for open source required.
• Experience with accounting systems, microfinance and other financial applications desired.
• Written and spoken fluency in English required.

Education and experience:

Bachelor’s degree required.

A minimum of five years progressive and relevant experience.

Expected Pay:
Pay Range between 80k-120k Philippine pesos per month, commensurate with experience.
Submit cover letter and resume by e-mail. Only finalists will be contacted.  No Calls Please.

NOTE: THIS IS NOT AN EMPLOYEE POSITION.  AS A CONSULTANT YOU WILL NOT BE ENTITLED TO GRAMEEN FOUNDATION BENEFITS OR INSURANCES.  YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR PAYMENT OF ALL REQUIRED FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL, SELF EMPLOYMENT TAXES AND OTHER SIMILAR TAXES AND FOR OBTAINING APPROPRIATE VISAS AND INSURANCES FOR THE COUNTRIES IN WHICH SERVICES ARE PROVIDED.