Website Developer

Result of Service

The consultant will support maintenance of the current website while developing a modern, scalable and interactive website that significantly improves navigation, storytelling and knowledge discovery, and has AI-powered conversational agents integrated. The architecture should allow for automatic language translation and future expansion of generative AI capabilities, such as automated summaries, knowledge assistants and personalized navigation experiences.

Work Location

Home-based.

Expected duration

105 days between May and December 2026.

Duties and Responsibilities

Background note: Desertification, along with climate change and the loss of biodiversity were identified as the greatest challenges to sustainable development during the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. Established in 1994, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management. The Convention seeks to support countries to address Desertification, Land Degradation, and Drought (DLDD). (www.unccd.int) The G20 (or Group of Twenty) launched a "Global Initiative on Reducing Land Degradation and Enhancing Conservation of Terrestrial Habitats" (G20 GLI) with the ambition of achieving a 50 percent reduction in the amount of degraded land by 2040. The G20 Global Land Initiative (G20 GLI), hosted by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), operates the website g20land.org as a global platform for knowledge sharing, advocacy and engagement on land conservation and restoration. The platform serves policymakers, scientists, businesses, youth, civil society organizations and the media. In preparation for COP17 and future G20 engagements, the Initiative is redesigning the website to improve usability, engagement and accessibility of restoration knowledge. The redesigned website should integrate interactive features, AI-enabled navigation tools and multilingual functionality aligned with UN standards. The platform should also be architected to anticipate rapid developments in generative artificial intelligence. The Initiative is looking for a skilled consultant with expertise in web design to develop a modern, scalable and interactive g20land.org website. The platform should significantly improve navigation, storytelling and knowledge discovery while integrating AI-powered conversational agents. The architecture should allow future expansion of generative AI capabilities such as automated summaries, knowledge assistants and personalized navigation experiences. Duties & Responsibilities: Under direct supervision of the Communications Officer, the consultant will: 1. Maintain current website until deployment of new website 2. Conduct a technical audit of the current website architecture, performance and usability. 3. Design a modern responsive interface aligned with UN accessibility and branding standards. 4. Redesign the website information architecture to support thematic landing pages and knowledge hubs. 5. Develop scalable templates compatible with WordPress and, as needed, Drupal CMS environments. 6. Integrate AI-enabled conversational chat agents for navigation and knowledge discovery. 7. Ensure architecture allows integration of future generative AI capabilities. 8. Implement advanced analytics and performance monitoring tools. 9. Optimize search engine visibility and digital discoverability, including through the use of generative AI. 10. Ensure compliance with cybersecurity and UN data protection requirements. 11. Coordinate with communications teams to structure and migrate existing content, and retire pre-existing website Detailed Specialized Tasks: 1. AI Chat Agent Functional Requirements: Conversational interface to guide users across website sections; Ability to answer frequently asked questions about land restoration initiatives; Context‑aware navigation support across landing pages; Integration with website knowledge resources and documents; Architecture that enables future connection to large language models. 2. Generative AI Governance and Compliance: Ensure AI tools comply with United Nations guidance on responsible use of artificial intelligence; Implement safeguards to prevent misinformation or hallucinated responses; Ensure transparency regarding AI‑generated responses and data sources; Provide configuration options allowing administrators to manage and update knowledge sources used by the AI agent; 3. Multilingual Capability: The redesigned website should support multilingual content delivery consistent with UN practices. The system should enable translation and display of content in the six official UN languages (from English to Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish and Russian translations). 4. The architecture should support automated translation workflows and allow integration of AI‑assisted translation tools while preserving the ability for human editorial review. 5. Website Performance and Impact KPIs: Increase website traffic by at least 5 times within 12 months; Increase average session duration and user engagement; Increase visits to thematic landing pages; Improve search engine ranking and discoverability; Increase interaction with AI navigation tools. 6. Security and Hosting Requirements: Compatibility with secure cloud hosting infrastructure; Protection against common web vulnerabilities; Secure authentication and role‑based permissions; Automated backup and disaster recovery protocols. 7. Scalable architecture capable of handling significant traffic growth.

Qualifications/special skills

- Advanced degree in computer science, web development or related field is required. - Minimum five years professional experience in website development is required - Extensive experience with WordPress content management system, is required, with expertise in the Drupal content management system an advantage. - Advanced proficiency in associated technical skills, including databases management, computer programming and scripting languages are required. Specifically: PHP, MySQL database, HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, Javascript, Elementor, Advanced Customs Fields and Search Engine Optimization is required. - Experience building interactive digital platforms that integrate conversational AI and chatbots is required (include examples of websites developed that have these applications). - Strong UX/UI design capabilities are an advantage. - Experience working with international organizations or multilingual digital platforms is desirable (provide examples) - Coding in multiple languages and experience with CMS is required. - AI, Apps and Chatbots would be an advantage.

Languages

- Excellent writing, editing and oral communication skills in English are required.

Additional Information

Only individuals who can act as independent, individual economical operators are qualified to apply. Individuals who can provide their services only on account of an institution or enterprise are not eligible under this procedure. Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations Secretariat and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultant and individual contractor is responsible for determining tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws. For remote consultancies, the selected candidate will be required to have a laptop or desktop PC (with Windows 11 or newer) or Mac (with the latest MacOS update), as well as a reliable, high-speed internet connection. An Office 365 license will be provided by the UNCCD to enable the candidate to access official emails, SharePoint, OneDrive and other office applications, such as Word and Excel. Further computer requirements: An antivirus application which receives regular updates; Browsers must be a newer version with regular updates enabled; Regular Windows 11 updates should be enabled with Windows laptop or PC. In addition, a mobile phone will be required to enable Multifactor Authentication (MFA) through SMS or the Authenticator App.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.