Software Developer and Programmer for the Microfinance Industry

Very Important:

You must be fluent in English and Philippines Native language Filipino.

If you are not fluent in both English and Filipino, your application will not be considered.

You are required to code a large volume of qualitative data collected in the Filipino language. Proficiency in reading Filipino is essential to accurately interpret, validate, and categorize the handwritten qualitative records.

Job Summary

We are seeking a talented and dedicated Software Developer and Programmer to join our team specializing in the microfinance industry. The ideal candidate will be responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining innovative software solutions that support microfinance operations. This role involves working on application development, web development, and integrating APIs to enhance financial services for underserved communities. The position offers an exciting opportunity to contribute to impactful projects using cutting-edge technologies in a collaborative environment.

Responsibilities

• Develop, test, and deploy web applications and software solutions tailored for microfinance operations.
• Design and implement scalable backend systems using SQL databases such as MySQL and SQL Server.
• Build and maintain APIs for seamless integration with third-party services and internal platforms.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams utilizing Agile methodologies to deliver high-quality software products.
• Manage source code using version control systems like GitHub, SVN, Git, and Azure DevOps.
• Optimize application performance through front-end development with JavaScript, C#, Python, Ruby on Rails, and other relevant technologies.
• Ensure software security, reliability, and compliance with industry standards.
• Participate in code reviews, documentation, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Stay updated with emerging technologies such as AWS, Azure cloud platforms, RESTful services, and Linux environments to enhance system capabilities.

Requirements

• Proven experience in application development with proficiency in Java, C#, Python, Ruby on Rails, C++, VBA, or similar languages.
• Strong knowledge of web development frameworks and front-end technologies including JavaScript and front-end development best practices.
• Hands-on experience working with SQL databases like MySQL or SQL Server; familiarity with database design and optimization.
• Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS or Azure is highly desirable.
• Familiarity with REST APIs, API integration, GitHub, Git, SVN, and Agile development processes.
• Knowledge of Linux operating systems for deployment and server management.
• Ability to develop software solutions that meet client requirements within a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent problem-solving skills along with strong communication and teamwork abilities.

This position is ideal for professionals passionate about leveraging technology to improve financial inclusion through innovative microfinance solutions.

Job posting No. J26/0702

Job Title: Software Developer and Programmer for Microfinance Industry

Organization: Ontario International Development Agency

Job Title: Software Developer and Programmer for Microfinance Industry

Hours: 35 hours per week

Pay: $54 per hour

Summary of Experience: Microfinance banking procedures, Microfinance staff Payroll.

Type of Job: Contract full-time.

Duration: 9 months and possible extension

Note: You must be available after developing software to address bug fixes and smooth functioning of the program up to two years.

Project Goal:

OIDA's ultimate goal is to establish a microfinance banking system that deviates from the traditional banking system. This system will be implemented in rural, underprivileged communities with access to bank programs in Canada, Africa, and South Asia.

Overall, Purpose

Reporting to the Manager of Business Performance, the Software Developer and Programmer is responsible for providing support and analytic advice to Senior Leadership including supporting projects that will enhance the use of data, involving complex analysis and research in Micro finance project in Philippines.

• Supports the development of the organization’s data strategy, including the data collection and analysis framework.
• Proactively identify analytical opportunities and provide recommendations that improve all elements of the data analysis process and increase analytical capacity throughout the organization.
• Leverage advanced analytical techniques to conduct business analysis and identify meaningful insights, interpreting data and turning it into knowledge that informs tactical and strategic business decisions including analysis of current projects, programs, and policies.
• Provides analytical leadership and expertise.
• Maintains technical expertise through ongoing research of innovative practices and engaging with professional networks and professional associations.

This work seeks to improve the outcomes of enhancing microfinance community’s (public) trust

Major Responsibilities

Supports the development of the organization’s data strategy, including the data collection and analysis framework.

• Provides recommendations to develop or enhance systems of data collection.
• Provides statistical expertise, determining the validity of data, constructing meaningful indices, and determining the limitations of data.
• Establishes standards and guidelines for data collection, modeling, and analysis to ensure consistency and accuracy.
• Facilitates meetings with internal and external clients to help define analytical opportunities, provide expertise in data collection methods, and make recommendations on solutions.

Proactively identify analytical opportunities and provide recommendations that improve all elements of the data analysis process and increase analytical capacity throughout the organization.

Leverage advanced analytical techniques to conduct business analysis and identify meaningful insights, interpreting data and turning it into knowledge that informs tactical and strategic business decisions including analysis of current projects, programs, and policies.

• Identifies and documents analytics needs, records requirements, provides data insights to support narrative, and develops project plans that incorporate agile delivery practices.
• Leverages advanced analytical techniques to conduct analysis and produce reports for the provision of human rights and equity analyses for senior management and the community.
• Measures the effectiveness of initiatives and programs, identifies trends, emerging issues, and implications, and builds baselines against which future metrics can be measured.
• Applies a user-centred development approach to build reports and dashboards employing best-practices.
• Presents reports, results of analyses, and recommends data collection and analytic strategies to help advance equity in the workplace and in the community through police policies, procedures, and practices.
• Expand community access to open data to increase transparency, build trust, foster innovation, and enable co-design/ co-production of improved community safety and well-being outcomes.
• Liaise with related statistical agencies to ensure adherence with data analysis standards and benchmark results.

Provides analytical leadership:

• Establishes collaborative working relationships with stakeholders/partners (Incl. the community) and acts as a change agent helping to building a continuous improvement culture.
• Contributes as a subject matter expert on data analytics projects and represents the Unit / Police Service in this capacity on committees, task forces, working groups, meetings, as assigned.
• Responds to routine and non-routine inquiries or requests for information from outside agencies and partners, municipalities, vendors and/or members of the public, escalating issues where appropriate.
• Provides supervision, guidance, and mentoring to Analysts, researchers, and others in the organization on equity, inclusion, and human rights data collection and analysis.
• Remains current with local, provincial, and national and international legislative changes or emerging good practices that impact or influence the provision of data equity or social identity data collection or analysis.

Research innovative practices relating to data collection, statistical analysis, and data visualization.

OIDA is searching for a Software Developer and Programmer to act as a liaison between business stakeholders and ensure solutions are developed and delivered on time, efficiently, and with high quality for OIDA's Microfinance projects.

Project activities and support functions operate within an unstructured, rapidly changing environment with very tight deadlines where delays or errors can result in substantial losses. New systems, procedures, conventions and continual changes in technology and the securities industry cause a high frequency and degree of change within operations, thereby increasing stress.

The successful candidate will have a results-oriented and curious mindset with strong technical skills. You will work closely with third-party cross-functional teams, including engineers, solutions architects, and business teams, to develop and implement market-leading solutions that are scalable and deliver excellence and value to our business partners and customers.

Expectations

• Responsible for the overall success of the project and its delivery, working with cross-functional matrix team and stakeholders to identify resource needs, planning, scope, cost, and day-to-day oversight of project deliverables, ensuring that the program’s business objectives and stakeholder expectations are met
• Define project governance and identify senior stakeholders and sponsors (as needed). Work with the project sponsor and stakeholders to prepare appropriate information for dissemination to the Steering Committee.
• Manage project participants and relationships, ensuring project teams are cohesive and operating to common objectives and priorities.
• Work with the Project Sponsor to establish the project's scope and then manage it according to that scope. Ensure Project Change Notifications are raised where necessary and approved. Identify impacts on the Sponsor and/or Steering Committee if the scope changes.
• Hold meetings and work sessions as necessary to ensure that project management deliverables are met i.e. project planning, risk management, issue management, status meetings
• Motivating the Project Team and maintaining the momentum of the Project against a background of changing and occasionally conflicting priorities
• Ongoing communication of project status, completing monthly Project Status Reports and escalating issues with potential solutions and recommended next steps.
• Ensure the documentation and archiving of project activities, deliverables, tools and findings and for use in future projects
• Responsible for required deliverables as part of OIDA’s Enterprise Delivery Framework (EDF), working with the various teams as needed
• Demonstrate an informed knowledge of business functions to resolve problems and capitalize on improvement opportunities.
• Ensure business specifications/requirements documentation is accurately prepared and comprehensive to support sizing/development efforts and as input to various project documentation.
• Develop and deliver Business Requirements Documents, Design Documents, Use Cases, and Process Models as required.
• Participate in developing detailed project plans, monitoring progress against planned objectives, conducting financial reviews, and securing consensus and cooperation from users and senior management.
• Work closely with OIDA technology teams (mostly third parties) during all stages of the system development life cycle and bridge the gap between the solution's business and technology sides.
• Liaising between the business community and the IT organization to provide technical solutions that meet user needs.
• Build relationships and communicate effectively with colleagues in Global regions.
• Support production issues and handle escalations during Release cycles as needed.
• Perform ad hoc work as needed

Qualifications

• Fluent in English, and Filipino including written communication from day one.
• Experience working across multiple teams and functions as Delivery Lead or Scrum Master with a minimum of 4+ years of experience leading technology projects
• 3+ years of practical experience and product business knowledge in capital markets.
• Minimum 3 years’ working knowledge of databases such as SQL Server, with the ability to create and run queries independently.
• Proficiency in Agile methodologies and ceremonies (Scrum, Kanban, etc.) with proven working knowledge in Jira and Confluence tools.
• Hands-on experience leading release management activities for successful delivery of product launches
• Experience working with all phases of SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle).
• Proficient with Unix Tools, shell scripting (Bash, Perl, Python, etc.), SQL queries, PL/SQL, and SQL Loader - or equivalent
• Ability to adapt quickly to new processes and standards, with a strong commitment to providing exceptional customer service.
• Proven ability to translate business requirements into technical specifications and deliver working results.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• A recognized undergraduate degree or diploma in computer science or a related field is required.
• Excellent working experience with Microsoft suite of products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project). An understanding of the Bank’s application system and software from a business/technical viewpoint is required to assess the impact of development and/or changes to the overall data processing environment).
• Experience managing projects that span change in front, middle or back-office systems and teams.
• Experience with but not limited to PL/SQL, SQL Loader, UNIX Tools, shell scripting (Bash, Perl, Python), JAVA, XML, HTML, is an asset.

Skills and Experience

· Candidates should have an in-depth understanding of the collateral management domain and market practices, with experience with the Colline (Vermeg) application and other Capital Markets trading or operations environments assets.

· Candidates must have strong collaborative, written and interpersonal communication, facilitation, and presentation skills supported by well-developed analytical competencies.

· Candidates should have a conceptual understanding of platform design, data and workflows, and related processing capabilities, modules, and interfaces and be able to produce and maintain related documentation.

· Candidates should be able to gather and analyze data from various sources and use BI tools to support decision-making and present findings to stakeholders.

· Candidates should have experience working with business partners to identify, assess, and document business requirements into Business Requirements Documents, recommending business priorities, and advising business on options, risks, and costs.

· Candidates must have good time management and organizational skills to effectively manage support and project demands concurrently.

· Candidates must be able to show initiative, commitment, and motivation to investigate, analyze, problem-solve and recommend solutions in the absence of established precedents.

· Candidates must be able to work independently using initiative and good judgment.

Accountabilities

· Consistently exhibit and promote our “OIDA” culture and values (client-centric, with integrity, inclusion, and accountability) and related behaviours to deepen client relationships and “win as one team”.

· Contribute to the delivery of Level 1 production support to global users, maintenance support (scheduled releases, regulatory changes, configuration updates), vendor management, system enhancements, production bug fixes, Quality Assurance testing (UAT), and resolution of complex operational/systems problems.

· Keep appraised of scheduled releases, ensuring the business lines are aware of coming changes and their impacts and scheduling to ensure sufficient resources/time are allotted for testing and implementation. Provide recommendations and guidance on client-initiated operational and system solutions, ensuring that OIDA’s and stakeholder interests are served.

· Ensure the maintenance of stable and secure processing platforms per Bank IT control, information security and risk policies. Contribute to the delivery of solutions with vendors and internal technology partners where issues or negative trends that threaten defined SLAs are identified.

· Work in tandem with OIDA Technology teams and external service providers to deliver Change under the agreed systems strategy. Contribute to sprint plans and retrospectives and help foster a learning mindset and culture of improvement.

What OIDA offer to you:

• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion - We strive to create an inclusive culture where employees are empowered to reach their fullest potential, respected for who they are, and embraced through bias-free practices and inclusive values across OIDA. We embrace diversity and provide opportunities for all employees to learn, grow & participate through our various Employee Resource Groups that span diverse gender identities, ethnicities, races, and ages.
• Accessibility and Workplace Accommodations - We value the unique skills and experiences everyone brings to the Bank and are committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive and accessible environment for everyone. OIDA continues to locate, remove, and prevent barriers to build a diverse and inclusive environment while meeting accessibility requirements.
• Remote-friendly work environment will provide you with the flexibility to perform at your best.
• Upskilling through online courses, cross-functional development opportunities, and tuition assistance. 
• Competitive Rewards program including bonus, flexible vacation, personal, sick days and benefits will start on day one.
• Community Engagement - no matter where you choose to work from; we offer opportunities for community engagement & belonging with our various programs such as hackathons, contests, cooking with friends, Humans of Digital and much more!

Additional Competition Information:

Please submit your resume and cover letter demonstrating your skills and experience matching the job posting by email to

oida@ontariointernational.org.

While we appreciate all submissions, only selected applicants will be contacted.

Pay: $54.00 per hour

Benefits:

• Casual dress
• Company events
• Dental care
• Employee assistance program
• Extended health care
• Flexible schedule
• On-site parking
• Paid time off
• Vision care
• Wellness program

Work Location: In person