Web Development Expert

Organizational context

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) hosts the CITES Secretariat in Geneva. CITES is an international agreement to protect endangered species from threats posed by international trade. This role supports the CITES Secretariat's programme of work by developing and maintaining critical online systems, ensuring their security, and improving user experience.

Job purpose

The purpose of this role is to deliver, maintain, and enhance the CITES.
ORG web systems, ensuring they are secure, up-to-date, and user-friendly for CITES editors and international parties. This involves developing new functionalities such as submission and review mechanisms, public registers, and an enquiry support system, while also performing routine maintenance and security updates. The goal is to provide robust, sustainable web solutions that support the CITES mandate and Secretariat priorities, reducing reliance on ongoing developer support and improving operational efficiency. The role contributes to the effective implementation of international agreements on wildlife trade.

Responsibilities

Design, build, and hand over reusable, access-controlled facilities for Party submissions and Secretariat review, including searchable publications. Develop and publish thematic web pages and registers, such as those for diagnostic samples and musical instruments. Construct a web-based tracking system for captive-bred trade reviews, including case records, status workflows, and dashboards. Build a unified system for four public registers with self-service capabilities for external users and moderation workflows for the Secretariat. Automate routine maintenance tasks and enable Parties to self-update their information resources, reducing manual data entry. Implement website design improvements, including new designs for news pages and the homepage, and revise the main menu structure. Develop a guided enquiry system with a branching decision-tree Q&A in multiple languages and an editor backend for content management. Perform routine maintenance of the CITES.
ORG Drupal instance, including core/module updates, security patching, bug fixes, and performance monitoring. Deliver minor design and functionality enhancements as prioritized by the Secretariat.

Education

An advanced university degree in computer science, information systems, or a related field is required. A first-level degree with two additional years of relevant experience may be accepted as an alternative.

Work experience

A minimum of two years of progressive experience in web development, information systems, or software development, with substantial hands‑on Drupal full‑stack development (Drupal 7-11) is required. Experience in technical leadership, live-site maintenance, CI/CD deployment, third‑party data integration, and content migration is also necessary.

Skills

Drupal full-stack development (Drupal 7-11), configuration-first development, role-based access control, searchable registers, self-service workflows, data import/integration, site maintenance, technical leadership, requirements gathering, functional specifications, client communication, live-site operations (patching, security, backups, performance), CI/CD (Docker, Ansible, Jenkins, GitHub Actions), API integration (REST/OData/SOAP), SQL, UN/MEA Drupal portals, large-site revamps/migrations, secure reporting tools, Drupal community contribution (search indexing, migration, role-based security), data visualization dashboards (Highcharts), UN system experience, public-facing UN websites, fluency in English.

Desired languages

French, English, Spanish