Recruitment of 3 Senior Full-Stack Software Engineers — Ministry of Information and Technology of Ethiopia

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST (CONSULTING SERVICES – INDIVIDUAL SELECTION) Country: Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Name of Project: Eastern Africa Regional Digital Integration Project (EARDIP) Project ID: P180931 Assignment Title: Recruitment of 3(Three) Senior Full-Stack Software Engineers for Optimization of Ethiopian eServices Platform. Reference No.: ET-MINT-570555-CS-INDV • Background

The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has received financing from the World Bank toward the cost of the Easter Africa Regional Digital Integration Project (EARDIP) and intends to apply part of the proceeds for the services of hiring qualified and experienced professionals to work as part of the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) for Easter Africa Regional Digital Integration Project established under Ministry of Innovation and Technology (MInT). MInT want to hire qualified and experienced enior Full-Stack Software Engineers for Optimization of Ethiopian eServices Platform. 2. Objective The overarching objective of this consultancy assignment is to source, embed, and utilize top-tier technical professionals to ensure the successful delivery, scaling, and maintenance of national e-Government services and their associated public infrastructure modules. In alignment with the current national digital strategy, Digital Ethiopia 2030, these experts will spearhead the modernization of public service delivery by strictly adhering to international digital government benchmarks. This includes the systematic implementation of mobile and API-first architectures, cloud-native approaches, open-source technologies, and deep interoperability frameworks rooted in user-centered service design. 3. Main Responsibilities The Senior Full-Stack Software Engineers will take complete technical ownership of the engineering lifecycle governing the nation's e-Government platforms. They will lead active coding sprints, define microservice patterns, manage versioning branches, and ensure the absolute operational continuity of public-facing live systems. Their detailed responsibilities include: 3.1.1 Defining Optimization and Establishing a Baseline • Conduct Current-State Assessments: Perform an initial assessment of the existing platform to establish an architectural baseline and build a unified consensus with MInT on optimization priorities before prescribing future modernizations. • Formulate a Quantifiable KPI Framework: Support MInT in defining and formalizing and defining the optimization of KPIs through a clear taxonomy, setting precise data sources and evaluation frequencies to transform broad optimization goals into measurable technical metrics. • Collaborate, Define, and Track Key Indicators: Collaborate with MInT stakeholders to establish baseline performance metrics and directly define, implement, and track key platform optimization indicators—including transaction processing times, online application completion rates, system availability, and transaction success rates. • Embed Institutional Sustainability and Knowledge Transfer: Integrate structured mentoring, paired-working arrangements, and continuous knowledge sharing into daily baseline activities to prepare MInT technical staff for long-term platform ownership. Concrete Deliverable: Knowledge Transfer and Institutional Sustainability Package To ensure knowledge transfer is a defined, measurable output rather than a generalized activity, the following tangible assets must be delivered: • Technical Training Artifacts & Delivery: Development and execution of practical technical training sessions for MInT developers and operational staff, accompanied by training materials, code walkthroughs, and recorded sessions covering system architecture, deployment environments, and operational workflows. • Comprehensive System Documentation Suite: Delivery of an up-to-date, centralized technical repository containing architecture diagrams, database schemas, API specifications, automated deployment procedures, configuration maps, troubleshooting guides, and operational runbooks. • Structured Mentoring & Competency Log: Implementation of a paired-programming and co-engineering schedule with designated MInT technical counterparts, validated by a brief competency sign-off log documenting the shared handling of system tasks. • Formal Platform Handover & Control Transfer: A verified handover package ensuring that all source code, deployment artifacts, infrastructure configurations, and administrative access controls are fully transferred to, and natively managed under, MInT's exclusive infrastructure control. 3.1.2 Full-Stack Architectural Design and Feature Development • Lead the comprehensive end-to-end design, system modeling, backend programming, and frontend user-interface construction of new modules within transactional e-Government applications. • Develop modular, reusable, and testable components, ensuring strict separation of concerns and adherence to international clean-coding standards. • Provide technical support, routine maintenance, and immediate bug-fixing for existing live public-facing platforms to ensure zero service disruption. • Construct dynamic, cross-browser compatible, and mobile-responsive frontend user experiences that match modern public design systems. • Design and execute highly efficient database schemas, indexing strategies, and raw query optimizations for complex enterprise relational and non-relational storage layers. • Optimize application performance, scalability, and code quality while ensuring integration with national digital ID and payment gateways. 3.1.3 Foundational National System Integrations • Architect and program secure, low-latency RESTful and gRPC API channels to connect e-Government applications directly with the national single sign-on (SSO) and the Fayda National Digital ID ecosystem. • Integrate multi-channel fintech infrastructures into the core, allowing real-time, verified payment processing across commercial banks, electronic wallets, and state-backed payment clearings. • Implement secure data exchange protocols (including tokenization and cryptographic signing) to safely transmit cross-ministry records without compromising data integrity or privacy. 3.1.4 Platform Maintenance, Optimization, and Zero-Disruption Support • Take immediate accountability for the active, live production environment of public e-services, minimizing downtime through preventative server-side optimization and resource scaling. • Provide immediate, tier-3 diagnostic support and rapid bug-fixing routines for errors identified by public citizens, civil servants, or automated monitoring frameworks. • Implement containerization technologies (e.g., Docker) and orchestrate deployments via Kubernetes clusters to support zero-downtime rolling upgrades and automatic failure recoveries. • Configure automated application performance management (APM) systems and centralized logging pipelines to track error conditions and system bottlenecks in real-time. 3.1.5 Code Quality, Governance, and Sustainable Knowledge Transfer • To guarantee long-term state capacity and institutional sustainability, the consultancy team shall treat knowledge transfer not merely as an ongoing activity, but as a defined, verifiable project output. The consultants shall establish strict engineering governance and execute the following structured mandates:

• Rigorous Peer Review & Branch Governance: Establish and enforce rigorous peer code review processes, requiring all engineering branch merges to satisfy strict security protocols, comprehensive test coverage baselines, and mandatory documentation updates before production deployment. • Comprehensive System Documentation & Runbooks: Draft, maintain, and publish complete technical system documentation under version control. This must include comprehensive architecture diagrams, database schemas, interactive API specifications (e.g., Swagger/OpenAPI), deployment configurations, troubleshooting guides, and step-by-step operational runbooks. • Practical Technical Training Sessions: Develop and deliver practical, structured technical training sessions and deep-dive code walkthroughs for MInT developers and designated technical staff. Training must thoroughly cover the optimized application architecture, the core codebase, cloud deployment environments, and daily operational procedures. • Structured Counterpart Mentoring: Establish a practical, daily mentoring and paired-working arrangement with designated MInT technical counterparts throughout the duration of the assignment to systematically build internal engineering capabilities. • Absolute Handover & MInT Control: Execute a formal, documented handover process ensuring that all source code repositories, deployment artifacts, technical documentation, configuration keys, and operational knowledge are fully transferred to, verified by, and maintained under MInT’s absolute institutional control. 4. Required Technical Competencies and Experience 4.1 Senior Full-Stack Software Engineer Profiles (Core Team Structure) Candidates submitted for evaluation under these profiles must explicitly demonstrate a mature engineering pedigree, characterized by a history of shipping scalable, secure, and production-proven web applications. Rather than maintaining uniform generalist responsibilities, the consultancy team shall be deployed across three distinct areas of deeper technical focus while sharing a unified engineering core. 4.1.1 The Cross-Functional Collaboration Framework (Explicit Relationships) To ensure the elimination of traditional development silos, all three engineering profiles must execute tight, continuous synchronization with separate Business Analyst and UX/UI design functions through the following defined responsibilities: • Requirement Translation: Collaborate closely with external UX/UI designers and Business Analysts to seamlessly translate citizen, business, and governm