Local Consultants - IT Support Expert (SSAs)

Background:

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) with 57 participating States is the world’s largest regional security organization. All 57 participating States enjoy equal status, and decisions are taken by consensus on a politically, but not legally binding basis. For more detailed information on the structure and work of the Secretariat, please see: http://www.osce.org/secretariat

Since 2004, the OSCE has been engaged in supporting a long-term and comprehensive process to strengthen transboundary water co-operation and sustainable development in the Dniester River basin between Moldova and Ukraine. The evolving co-operation resulted in a number of milestone achievements including the signing and ratifying by Moldova and Ukraine of the bilateral Treaty on Co-operation on the Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Dniester River Basin (Dniester Treaty); the development of the Strategic Framework for Adaptation to Climate Change in the Dniester River Basin and its associated Implementation Plan; the establishment of the Commission on Sustainable Use and Protection of the Dniester River Basin (the Dniester Commission) as well as, more recently, the development and endorsement of the Strategic Action Programme for the Dniester River Basin for the period 2021- 2035.

Following this, the OSCE in close co-operation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) initiated the development of a 4-year Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded project “Advancing transboundary co-operation and Integrated Water Resources Management in the Dniester River Basin through implementation of the Strategic Action Programme (SAP)”.

The key project components are: 

• Strengthening Moldovan-Ukrainian cooperation in the field of water resources management;

• Strengthening the regulatory framework and national capacities to implement the SAP, country commitments under the UN Water Convention and the EU Water Framework Directive (EU WFD) in the Dniester River basin;

• Reducing anthropogenic impact to improve ecological status in the Dniester River basin as defined in the SAP;

• Adaptation to climate change and increasing preparedness for and resilience to natural disasters;

• Public awareness and involvement projects to empower and raise the capacity of stakeholders, project communications and outreach;

• Enhancing research for governance in the Dniester River basin as identified in the SAP.

The project started implementation on 17/04/2025, with the signature of the Agreement between UNDP and the OSCE.

This Dniester Commission website was designed in 2018 to provide all stakeholders with up-to-date information on the status of the Dniester River basin, work of joint basin management bodies, and progress of the Global Environment Facility’s project “Enabling transboundary co-operation and integrated water resources management in the Dniester River Basin”. Over the period of 2019-2021, it was maintained by the communications expert and assistant of the foundational GEF Dniester project. In May 2021, the management of the website was handed over to the Dniester Commission team.  Since then, there have been updates only in the news section of the website.

In order to maintain the website as key source of the up-to-date information on the project’s progress and facilitate an inclusive access to information, the web site has to be updated and expanded by including all relevant information, including gender mainstreaming related information. In addition, the new project's subpage will be designed and made functional to gather project relevant information items and make them available to all relevant stakeholders as well as to the wider public.

This Consultancy is needed to implement agreed improvements to the Website, including its back-end.
 

Objective of Assignment: 

The Consultant will be responsible for improving the design and functionality of the Dniester Commission Website, ensuring it is fit-for-purpose for stakeholder needs and in line with the GEF-UNDP-OSCE Dniester River Basin project document.
 

Duration of Assignment:

December 2025 – December 2026 

Up to 180 working days within one calendar year.
 

Tasks and Responsibilities:

• Perform Improvements to Website Functionality, Backend and Structure

Deliverables:

1.    Assess and plan improvements to the website by undertaking the following:

• Develop a Website Improvement Plan outlining the structure, design concept, and proposed functionalities. (The Plan will be based on the results of a preceding Consultancy determining the website architecture, design and performance, as well as missing functionalities). 
• Conduct stakeholder consultations (Dniester Commission Members, PCU,  national representatives, partners) to define user needs and desired features.
• Migrate the website to its own server, updating the front-end and back-end of the current website.

2.    Implement technical improvements to the website architecture by undertaking the following:

• Upgrade the Content Management System (CMS) 
• Implement Search Engine Optimization (SEO)  best practices and metadata structure.
• Improve the website’s search engine functionality, in particular by adding the ability to conducted advanced searches with nested results
• Integrate web analytics (Google Analytics or Matomo) to monitor engagement.

3.    Update the website design and structure by undertaking the following:

• Redesign the homepage and navigation to improve clarity, accessibility, and engagement.
• Develop a clearer and more consistent information hierarchy (About, Commission Activities, Documents, News, Basin Information, Partners, Contacts).
• Ensure that the website has a responsive design which functions well on desktop, tablets or mobile phones
• Work to ensure the full functionality of the website in all official languages (particularly on the Ukrainian language pages)
• Add interactive visuals (maps, infographics, data dashboards) to communicate key information 
• Add spatial data visualization and related tools and services to the latest web standards and technology, also in order to integrate with the addition of a Geographic Information System portal to the website

4.    Add additional Communication & Outreach Features by implementing the following:

• Add a newsletter subscription system.
• Integrate social media feeds (Facebook, X/Twitter, YouTube).
• Include photo/video galleries for project visibility.

5.    Ensure successful website management and transferability

• Prepare a user manual, technical specifications for management of website content to ensure a sustainable handover for future website managers
• Organize and conduct training sessions for key stakeholders to learn back-end operations and website content management

Necessary Qualifications:

• Minimum 4 years of professional experience in full-stack of website development roles;
• Proven experience maintaining or rebuilding an existing website’s backend;
• Experience integrating APIs, CMS systems (WordPress, Strapi, etc.), or e-commerce platforms;
• Good communication, planning and project management skills;
• Professional fluency in English, including excellent communication and drafting skills;
• Knowledge of either one of the national languages of the project countries is a strong asset;

• Demonstrated gender awareness and sensitivity, and an ability to integrate a gender perspective into tasks and activities;

   

  Ability and willingness to work as a member of team, with people of different cultural, and religious backgrounds, different gender, and diverse political views, while maintaining impartiality and objectivity.

   

Remuneration Package:

Remuneration will be based on the selected consultant's/expert's qualifications, experience, the tasks and deliverables for this position and in accordance with the OSCE established rates.

If you wish to apply for this position, please use the OSCE's online application link found under https://vacancies.osce.org/.

The OSCE retains the discretion to re-advertise/re-post the vacancy, to cancel the recruitment or to offer an appointment with a modified job description or for a different duration.

Only those candidates who are selected to participate in the subsequent stages of recruitment will be contacted.

The OSCE is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all religious, ethnic and social backgrounds to apply to become a part of the Organization. 

Candidates should be aware that OSCE officials shall conduct themselves at all times in a manner befitting the status of an international civil servant. This includes avoiding any action which may adversely reflect on the integrity, independence and impartiality of their position and function as officials of the OSCE. The OSCE is committed to applying the highest ethical standards in carrying out its mandate. For more information on the values set out in OSCE Competency Model, please see https://jobs.osce.org/resources/document/our-competency-model.

Please be aware that the OSCE does not request payment at any stage of the application and review process.