International Individual Contractor (Application Developer)

Under the day-to-day supervision of DASS and under the overall supervision of the Office of the Chief, Research and Trend Analysis Branch, the individual contractor will undertake the following activities to improve the User Interface of cloud-based data management tools, modify workflows related to data processing and undertake further enhancement of related data visualization tools. This includes but is not limited to: • Gather requirements for the creation of new modules in the cloud application. • Conduct analysis of user requirements for new workflows and interface enhancements. • Identify and document components, libraries required for the implementation of the new modules. • Design and develop new user interface components in VueJS in line with existing application architecture. • Integrate new workflows and UI components with existing APIs, backend services and data sources. • Ensure workflows include appropriate validation rules, error handling, and status messaging. • Conduct unit testing and functional testing of all newly developed workflows and UI components. • Support testing and validation to ensure MongoDB upgrades and optimizations do not disrupt existing application functionality. • Design and develop large-scale analytical models via Power BI Dataset and Azure Analysis using multiple Azure services (SQL database, and Azure Synapse Analytics (SQL Data Warehouse) to serve as a semantic layer for data visualization, report development, and ad-hoc analysis. • Undertake modifications to PowerBI architecture to ensure integration of multi-themed datasets.

Home-based

June-November 2026

Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan in 2025 decreased by 20 per cent compared to the previous year, The sharp contraction, together with market indicators, suggest that opium production and trafficking are undergoing major shifts in the region. At the same time, trafficking in synthetic drugs, especially methamphetamine, seems to have increased since the drug ban in Afghanistan, with seizure events in and around Afghanistan higher than before, indicating a growing risk of synthetic drug substitution as opiate production falls. To support the monitoring of these emerging threats, automation and standardized processing have become essential for analyzing large volumes of text-based information. The vast quantity of unstructured data generated daily requires UNODC to deploy a combination of Artificial Intelligence (AI), data processing tools, and analytical methods to collect, generate, interpret and deliver quantitative data effectively. In parallel, efficient and regular communication with Member States is necessary to ensure the consistent submission of essential drug seizure data. These data are critical for producing timely and accurate statistics and analyses, which in turn strengthen evidence-based and strategic responses to existing and emerging drug issues. The purpose of this assignment is to support the enhancement of the existing application environment of the data management tools used to support and visualize drug seizure data. This includes refactoring and improving the current codebase to increase maintainability and scalability, designing additional workflows and user interface components, and developing and updating Power BI dashboards to strengthen analytical content, visualization and functionality of the data management tools. In parallel, the individual contractor will optimize semantic models related to cloud computing and storage consumption to ensure efficient data structuring, and improve MongoDB performance to ensure efficient querying, data handling, and overall system responsiveness.

• High School Diploma or equivalent is required. • A minimum of 5 years progressively responsible experience in web applications development (VueJS, MongoDB, FastAPI), data management, integration, modeling, and optimization is required. • Knowledge of Power BI Dataset, Azure Analysis including Azure services (i.e. SQL database, Azure Synapse Analytics and SQL Data Warehouse) and ability to maintain and develop Azure based infrastructure is required • Experience in designing data integration and pipeline architectures which include ingesting data through different methods such as message queues, database connections, flat files, REST, or specific API’s, is required. • Experience in DevOps tool chains consisting of tools such as Git, Jenkins or Bamboo – or equivalent tools - and experience with the deployment of data pipelines is required. • Experience in managing large datasets, and knowledge of Python is required. • Ability to communicate complex quantitative analysis in a clear, precise, and actionable manner is required. • Familiarity with industry standards and best practices related to web application security is desirable. • Demonstrated skills in communication and teamwork, preferably in an international environment requiring cultural sensitivity and knowledge of different political, administrative and legal systems is desirable. • Experience working on drugs and crime data is desired.

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. Fluency in English, i.e. oral and written proficiency, is required. Knowledge of another United Nations official language is an advantage.

Not available.

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.