SFJN is Looking For a Web Developer and Designer

Syrian Female Journalists Network (SFJN) is a nonprofit association, registered in The Netherlands since 2013.

It seeks to build bridges between media and the Syrian women’s movement by enhancing and empowering both females and males working in the field of media, by empowering female journalists to take over leading positions in their institutions, and by activating the role of the media in raising social awareness concerning gender equality and women’s issues. The SFJN also works on improving the representation of women in the media to achieve a Syrian society that is fair to all of its male and female citizens, and to realize a positive social change in thinking and behavior with respect to matters surrounding gender justice and equality. Visit our website for more information: www.sfjn.org 

SFJN is seeking a website development & design consultant to revamp and maintain its websites www.qalat.org and www.sfjn.org

Qalat.org: Qalat is a platform through which a database of Syrian women experts is available for media organizations and journalists who are interested in having women experts from different fields such as politics, technology, environment, religion, history…etc appear in their media productions. 

SFJN.org: SFJN’s website was created mainly as a digital representation of the organization and its work. It tells the story of SFJN as an organization, describes its programs and features some of the most important publications produced over the years. It also offers journalists the chance to join the network as members. Recently, the need for a more comprehensive, effective platform where content and programs are more visible and the identity of the organization is more clear. Essentially, the website is no longer just a branding tool and a contact gateway but rather a fully functional, one-stop website for everything related to SFJN and its work which is continuously growing and is more dynamic than it ever was 7 years ago. 

Duration of Consultancy

This job assignment’s starting date is as soon as possible and ends on 30 March 2021.

Scope of Work

The selected consultant will be responsible for: 

  1. Collecting requirements and identifying problems with the website before implementation
  2. Working with SFJN’s communication officer closely throughout the project
  3. Providing a clear work plan for the project during the planning phase and sharing other documents necessary for the development and design delivery such as a sitemap and wireframes/mockups showing navigation process, use cases and responsiveness for feedback and approval.
  4. Implementing an open-source CMS that is admin-friendly, 100% secure and provides maximum flexibility to maintain and update the website.
  5. Developing the website to create new functionalities and elements and provide solutions to technical and marketing problems to achieve the website’s objectives
  6. Implementing SEO best practices to ensure the best ranking and visibility on search engines:

                  -Optimize the website for indexing the site with search engines. 

                  -Website structure optimization

                  -Content optimization

                  -Image optimization

                  -XML sitemap optimization

                  -Title tag and meta description optimization

                  -URL structure optimization

                  -Optimize Title Tags

                  -Meta Tags Creation & Optimization

                  -Alt-image tags

                  -Google and Bing Webmaster Tools

                  -Robots.txt Installation

                  -Google Analytics Installation

                  -Google Sitemaps Installation

  1. Designing the website to achieve the website’s overall and marketing objectives
  2. Providing a new design that is clean, up-to-date with global design standards and    matching to SFJN’s brand identity and core values.
  3. Make sure designs are responsive to maximize the users experience on mobile and TV smart devices.
  4. Presenting information in a way that is useful to the visitor allowing them to quickly locate what is needed.
  5. Providing quality assurance testing for the website before delivery.
  6. Introducing the new website to the communication officer and conducting a training session for the admin team at SFJN.
  7. Make necessary changes to reflect new requirements throughout the assignment.
  8. Provide support for content upload and management of the two websites
  9. Providing a hosting service for Qalat including:

             -Maintenance 

             -Weekly backups

             -Management and support 24/7

* A full list of tasks will be dependent on the requirements-gathering process.

 

Qualifications And Requirements

As part of SFJN’s team you fully support the organization’s core values and you are committed to realize a positive social change in thinking and behavior with respect to matters surrounding gender justice and equality. You fit well into our team and have a college/academic level of working and thinking. You are motivated to help SFJN grow with your efforts and ideas. 

You and your team are detail-oriented with a good eye for graphic design and a strong knowledge of website optimization and programming. They must have a proven track record of:

Skills and knowledge

  • Coding:
    • Knowledge of programming language and technical terminology.
    • Solid knowledge and experience in programming applications.
    • Proficient in JavaScript, HTML, CSS.
    • Experience with server-side frameworks such as python, ruby, php, Java, ASP, ASP.NET
    • Experience with database systems such as SQL and Oracle
    • Good knowledge of Search Engine Optimization
  • Graphic design: 
    • Knowledge in designing visual imagery for websites and ensuring that they are in line with branding
    • Ability to communicate design ideas using user flows, process flows, sitemaps and wireframes.
    • Ability to Incorporate functionalities and features into websites.
    • Proficiency in graphic design software including Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and other visual design tools.
    • Proficiency in front-end development web programming languages such as HTML and CSS, JQuery, and JavaScript.
    • Good understanding of content management systems.
    • Good understanding of search engine optimization principles.
    • Proficient understanding of cross-browser compatibility issues.
    • Excellent visual design skills.
    • Up-to-date experience with international web protocols, standards, and technologies.
    • Creative and open to new ideas.
  • Strong Customer Service skills
  • Time management: Ability to work within tight deadlines to deliver web pages and provide timely management and technical support
  • Arabic and English language skills: Excellent command of the two languages in the written and spoken forms is required.

Formal education is not required for this job, web consultants from all fields of study are encouraged to apply provided that they prove prior knowledge through past experience with similar clients (ie non-profit organizations, feminist groups, media organizations and the like) and portfolios of websites they have developed and designed before in addition to a proven record of the skills and knowledge areas mentioned above.

Proposal Submission

Interested candidates should send their proposals as per the description below before  30 September 2020 to: jobs@sfjn.org. Any questions or inquiries must be sent no later than 25 September 2020, before the end of working day to s.rahman@sfjn.org  

Proposal Requirements:

  • Cover page in which you express your interest and commitment to SFJN’s core feminist values 
  • Technical proposal (should include portfolios and previous work experience and a proposed working plan for the duration of the assignment)
  • Project timeline
  • Financial proposal (should include total cost in USD/EU and the suggested payment schedule)
  • Project team (the consultant is encouraged to work with a team of experts to fulfill the responsibilities of this assignment). Please list the potential team members, their roles and their relevant experiences.