National Consultant: Technology Governance Expert

The consultant shall produce the following: a. An agreed workplan and methodology. b. An Inception Report, including desk review findings, data-collection tools and methodology. c. A Baseline System Landscape and Data Inconsistency Report, with a narrative audit and a field-by-field discrepancy data matrix. d. A Master Classification Registry (MCR) in JSON, XML and CSV, with a human-readable PDF reference. e. A Unified Data Dictionary and Metadata Schema (JSON Schema/XSD), with supporting technical documentation and legal mapping. f. A Case Information Exchange API Contract (OpenAPI 3.0 YAML specification). g. A validation workshop report on the design outputs. h. A Legacy System Migration and Crosswalk Playbook, with SQL and Python scripts and an implementation guide. i. A Validation Toolkit and Pilot Report, including a Python validator, a Postman collection and pilot findings. j. An Operational Governance Charter, including a draft legal notice for gazettement. k. A Semantic Versioning (SemVer) Protocol for future MCR and API updates. l. A final consultancy report, in the template provided, with all deliverables annexed.

Home-based with travel to and within PLEAD focal counties in Kenya

02 November 2026 - 25 February 2027 (60 Working days)

1. Background of the Assignment As the global guardian of the United Nations standards and norms in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, UNODC is mandated to support Member States in upholding the rule of law, promoting crime prevention and effective, fair, humane and accountable criminal justice systems In line with this mandate and within the framework of the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme, UNODC’s project titled “Programme for Legal Empowerment and Aid Delivery (PLEAD) Phase II, aims to support the Government of Kenya to reinforce the rule of law, improve access to justice, increase efficiency and accountability in the justice system and use of technology as an enabler of justice while addressing capacity needs and persistent bottlenecks affecting service delivery in the justice sector, advance digitalization to streamline the administration of justice and countering corruption to improve access to justice for all Kenyans, including those at risk of exclusion and marginalization. The PLEAD II component implemented by UNODC targets support for the following institutions in the justice chain (national partners): National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ), Judiciary, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), Probation and Aftercare Service (PACS), Witness Protection Agency (WPA), Directorate of Children Services (DCS), Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), Kenya Prisons Service (KPS) and National Police Service (NPS).   2. Purpose of the assignment The National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ), established under the Judicial Service Act, Cap 8A, to ensure a coordinated, efficient, effective, and consultative approach to the administration of justice in Kenya. To fulfil this mandate, NCAJ established its ICT working committee to identify legal, institutional, administrative, and financial barriers to adopting information and communication technologies and to spearhead digital transformation initiatives across justice sector institutions. The purpose of this assignment is to develop a standardised Criminal Case Taxonomy that provides a common Kenyan framework for classifying, identifying and exchanging criminal case information across justice sector information systems. Justice sector institutions have invested significantly in digital systems. However, differences in terminology, classification structures, case identifiers and metadata continue to limit effective information exchange. As a result, case records are fragmented, duplication occurs, and tracing related matters becomes difficult, including criminal cases that arise from, or are linked to, matters first handled as civil cases. The assignment will build on the Justice Sector ICT Policy and Action Plan, the lessons and technical recommendations of the Estonia Knowledge Exchange Programme, and the findings of the Year III assessment of integrating the Case Processing and Information Management System (CPIMS) with the Judiciary e-Filing and Case Tracking Systems and other criminal justice systems. The Consultant will first assess existing criminal case classification and identification practices across the sector. Based on these findings, the Consultant will develop the taxonomy components: a conceptual model; a hierarchical classification structure with codes; standard identifier schemes; node metadata mapped to applicable legal provisions; and interoperability standards and exchange schemas/APIs. The Consultant will also recommend arrangements for the taxonomy's governance, maintenance and sustainability. In doing so, the assignment will operationalise the interoperability principle of the Justice Sector ICT Policy and support NCAJ's mandate to ensure a coordinated, efficient and effective administration of justice. 3. Specific Tasks to be performed by the consultant: The consultant will work under the overall supervision of the PLEAD II Programme Manager at UNODC ROEA, and under the direct supervision of the Programme Officer, working closely with the NCAJ Chairperson and the respective Head of Department of the NCAJ ICT Committee at the NCAJ Secretariat, in performing the following substantive duties and responsibilities. The Consultant shall perform the following tasks: a) Inception and Current State Review: • Review the Justice Sector ICT Policy and Action Plan, relevant laws creating criminal offences, and existing case classification and identification approaches, system documentation, data structures, coding practices and interoperability arrangements in justice sector institutions. • Review the lessons and technical recommendations from the Estonia Knowledge Exchange Programme and the Year III assessment of CPIMS integration with the Judiciary e-Filing and Case Tracking Systems and assess their relevance to the taxonomy. • Review applicable international standards and good practice on crime and case classification and justice-sector data exchange. • Agree the scope, methodology, approach and timelines with the NCAJ Secretariat and the NCAJ ICT Committee. • Develop the review framework and data-collection tools for mapping institutional systems, classification practices and data fields. • Prepare an Inception Report setting out desk review findings, preliminary consultation findings, the review framework and tools, methodology and workplan. b) Baseline Assessment and Gap Analysis • Map the information systems that generate, process, manage or exchange criminal case information across justice sector institutions, and document their classification structures, identifiers and metadata. • Undertake a gap analysis to identify gaps, inconsistencies, overlaps and challenges in terminology, classification structures, identifiers, metadata, legal mapping and interoperability requirements. • Assess current practices for classifying and linking criminal cases that arise from, or relate to, matters first handled as civil cases. • Prepare a Baseline System Landscape and Data Inconsistency Report, with a supporting data matrix logging field-by-field discrepancies across systems, and prioritised recommendations. c) Development of the Criminal Case Taxonomy • Develop a conceptual model setting out the key concepts, relationships and classification principles for criminal cases. • Develop a hierarchical classification structure, including levels, codes, definitions and coding rules. • Develop standard identifier schemes to enable consistent identification and linkage of criminal cases across systems, including a mechanism for linking related civil and criminal matters while preserving the distinct legal and procedural character of each. • Define node metadata requirements, including data elements, definitions and specifications, and map taxonomy elements to applicable legal provisions and other authoritative sources. • Develop interoperability standards and exchange schemas/APIs to support the exchange of criminal case information across justice sector systems. • Prepare Draft 1 of the Criminal Case Taxonomy with its associated technical outputs. • Develop recommendations for the governance, maintenance, updating and periodic review of the taxonomy, including institutional roles, change-control procedures and a versioning protocol for future updates. • Prepare a Taxonomy Governance and Sustainability Framework. d) Stakeholder Consultation and Validation • Consult justice sector institutions and technical stakeholders on Draft 1 to assess its technical soundness, institutional applicability and alignment with existing systems and processes. • Facilitate engagement with the NCAJ Working Committees, including Traffic Reforms, Civil Justice Reforms, Criminal Justice Reforms, Court Users' Committees, Anti-Corruption, Administration of Justice for Children, and Review of Laws and Policies on SGBV. • Incorporate the feedback received to produce Draft 2 of the Criminal Case Taxonomy. • Present Draft 2 to the NCAJ ICT Committee for review and validation. • Incorporate the agreed revisions into the final Criminal Case Taxonomy and associated technical outputs and prepare a validation workshop report. e) Final Consultancy Report • Submit to NCAJ and UNODC a final consultancy report, in the template provided, summarising all tasks undertaken, methodology applied, stakeholders engaged and findings, with all deliverables annexed.

An advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in Information Technology, Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Science, Software Engineering or a related field is required. A first-level university degree in the above fields, combined with two (2) additional years of qualifying professional experience, may be accepted in lieu of the advanced degree. Professional certification in one or more of the following is desirable: • IT governance (such as COBIT or ITIL) • Enterprise or data architecture (such as TOGAF or CDMP) • Systems integration or API design 1. A minimum of five (05) years of progressively responsible professional experience in ICT governance, enterprise or data architecture, systems integration, or digital transformation, preferably in the public or justice sector is required. 2. At least five (5) years of demonstrated experience designing data standards, classification systems or taxonomies, data dictionaries and metadata schemas (JSON Schema/XSD) is required. 3. Experience developing interoperability frameworks and API specifications (such as OpenAPI/REST) for information exchange across multiple institutions or systems is desirable. 4. Experience in legacy data migration, including crosswalk mapping, ETL processes and data profiling using SQL and Python is required. 5. Experience in system validation, compliance testing and pilot implementation, including the use of automated testing tools such as Pytest and Postman is desirable. 6. Experience developing ICT governance frameworks, change-control procedures and versioning protocols, with at least two (2) comparable assignments completed is required. 7. Demonstrated knowledge and experience in Kenya's justice sector institutions, their case management systems (such as CPIMS and the Judiciary e-Filing and Case Tracking Systems) and the criminal justice process is desirable. 9. Experience working with the NCAJ or with development partners such as the UN on justice sector digitalisation is desirable.

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this position, fluency in oral and written English is required. Knowledge of other United Nations Secretariat languages 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.