Database Systems Web Developer – Alumni Portal Project at School of ST Jude

Database Systems Web Developer – Alumni Portal Project at School of ST Jude

We’re Looking for a Qualified and Passionate Database Systems Web Developer – Alumni Portal Project

Location: Arusha, Tanzania / Hybrid

Duration: 6 Months (Consultancy Basis)

Department: CA Team – Systems & Applications Development

1. Background

The School of St Jude is a pioneering educational institution in Arusha, Tanzania, committed to fighting poverty through education. As part of our long-term strategy to empower our alumni and reinforce the school’s lifelong impact, we are initiating the development of a dedicated Alumni Portal.

This portal will serve as a centralized digital platform for networking, career opportunities, mentorship, and community engagement, extending the school’s mission beyond graduation. We are seeking a qualified, experienced, and mission-aligned Database Systems Web Developer to join the CA Team on a contractual basis and lead the development of this project.

2. Position Objective

To design, develop, test, and deploy a secure, scalable, and user-friendly Alumni Portal that serves over 1,000 graduates. The system must also be structured to support seamless extension into Android and iOS mobile applications and integrate with other digital platforms used by the school.

3. Key Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end development of the Alumni Portal
• Collaborate with the CA Team and stakeholders for requirement gathering and planning
• Develop secure and scalable backend and frontend systems
• Design modern, responsive, and accessible user interfaces
• Conduct regular fortnightly/monthly knowledge transfer sessions with the internal CA Team developers
• Ensure thorough testing, documentation, and technical training for future maintenance
• Suggest and implement additional features to enhance functionality, upon mutual agreement

4. Deliverables

1. Platform Architecture & Accessibility

• Fully responsive web-based Alumni Portal accessible via desktops, tablets, and smartphones, based on the School of St Jude colour themes and logos. 
• Backend designed with scalable architecture and shared APIs to support seamless development of future Android and iOS mobile applications as well as integration with other platforms. 

1. Multitenant User Account & Profile Management

• Role-based access control (Alumni, Admins, Moderators, Staff)
• Secure account provisioning via admin-imported verified emails (no self-registration)
• Custom profile fields (academic, professional, interests)
• Alumni can edit and update profiles with admin review workflow

1. Dashboards & Analytics

• Visual dashboards for user engagement, login trends, content interactions
• Real-time analytics using best standard tools and features (e.g., Graphs, Google Analytics)
• Admin tracking by role, location, activity type, and growth metrics

1. Interactive Opportunity Board

• Jobs, internships, and scholarships posting with expiry countdowns and status badges
• Features: like, comment, share, document attachments
• Alumni-contributed listings subject to admin moderation

1. Events Management System

• Calendar/list views of alumni reunions, webinars, and workshops
• Features: RSVP, join events, like, comment, discussion threads, automated reminders

1. Alumni Service & Business Board

• “Alumni Marketplace” where alumni showcase goods/services for staff, alumni, and community
• Listings include descriptions, attachments, contact info, post expiry, etc.
• Interactive features: like, comment, share
• Admin approval required

1. Alumni Contribution & Support Section

• Forms for volunteering, donating, and contributing to alumni-administered initiatives
• Support categories (Donation, Mentorship, Sponsorship, Skill Sharing)
• Submissions routed to admins with email notifications

1. Community Groups & Interest Circles

• Interest- or profession-based alumni groups
• Group creation with admin approval
• Group-level news feeds, documents, discussion threads
• Interactive features: like, comment

1. Alumni Connect – Learning Resource Centre

• Career development repository: courses, guides, articles, videos, PDFs, DOCX, links, etc. 
• Users can like, rate, comment, and bookmark materials
• Content managed by admins and moderated alumni contributions

1. Feedback & Survey System

• Form-based tools to collect user experience, feature requests, and engagement data
• Optional anonymous submissions
• Results visualized in the access given users’ dashboard

1. Communication Tools & Notifications

• Real-time messaging between users: Alumni, Admins, etc.
• Support Chat with category-based routing
• Multi-channel notifications: email, in-portal alerts, and SMS
• Admin-controlled communication templates

1. Secure API Integration Framework

• RESTful API with access control for external service integration
• Token-based authentication (OAuth2/API Keys)
• Developer documentation for internal/external use

1. Social Media Interaction & Sharing

• Ability for users to share posts, events, and opportunities directly to and from social media platforms
• Integration of social sign-in and profile linking (e.g., LinkedIn, Facebook)
• Real-time display of alumni social mentions, highlights, or achievements

1. Security & Privacy Enhancements

• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)-style privacy settings
• Consent-based data usage and session management
• Audit logs, encrypted sessions, login alerts, and secure file storage
• Comprehensive system logs capturing all user activities and admin operations for audit purposes

1. Hosting, Launch & Technical Documentation

• Virtual Private Server (VPS)-based deployment with staging and production
• Secure Socket Layer (SSL) configuration, performance optimization, automated backups
• Source code and documentation on the School of St Jude GitHub Account
• Admin and developer handover, training sessions, and user manuals

1. Data Export & Reporting Capabilities

• All user-generated data (profiles, posts, submissions, etc.) and analytics can be exported in multiple formats including XLS, CSV, and PDF
• Role-based access to reporting tools for data visualization and download

1. Interactive Capabilities Summary

All applicable content types (opportunities, events, resources, groups, service listings, posts, comments, attachments, etc.) will support:

• Like
• Comment
• Share
• User edits (own content), while giving the selected admins access to historical edits
• Admin moderation
• Etcetera 

5. Required Qualifications & Experience

• 5+ years in full-stack web application development
• Bachelor Degree in Computer Science, IT, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering or any other related field. 
• Proficiency in:
  • Backend: PHP (Core + Frameworks)
  • Frontend: Bootstrap, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, jQuery, AJAX
  • Database: MySQL/MariaDB
  • Web servers: Apache, Nginx, IIS
  • Version control: GitHub
• Strong grasp of web security and RESTful API development
• Experience with remote consulting and international projects
• Proven a minimum of three previously delivered projects actively in use using the mentioned technologies (provide proof from the clients)

Preferred:

• Mobile app development experience (Android/iOS)

6. Working Conditions

• Work Mode: Hybrid / On-site (at the School of St Jude, Arusha) 

Are you interested?

Send your cover letter and an up to date Curriculum Vitae to [email protected] (subject line must include the reference number: TSOSJ/HR/SIS/HO/CONS/CA/06/25), portfolio of similar projects (three at a minimum), short technical proposal (development methodology). 

Applications close on 4th July, 2025.  only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.