Job Opportunity: Officer Software Engineering – Uganda Revenue Authority

Description:
Tasked with the development of software applications and conduct software quality assessments.

About URA:
The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) was established by the Uganda Revenue Authority Statute of 1991 and set up in September of the same year as a central body for assessment and collection of specified revenue, to administer and enforce the laws relating to such revenue and to provide for related matters.

This statute incorporated all the laws that were in force then regarding tax collection. The new organization (URA) amalgamated the three tax administration departments that were responsible for all the taxes collected by the Central Government of Uganda.

Job Summary:
The Officer – Software Engineering will be tasked with the development of software applications and conduct software quality assessments to enable automation and interfacing of business processes in order to enhance organizational efficiency and improve tax payer compliance.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:
1. Develop software to automate business processes as the need may arise from time to time.

• Gather user requirements to inform development of software.
• Keenly analyze the requirements to come up with software design.
• Write computer applications that suit the gathered requirements/satisfy user needs.
• Deploy developed applications into production.
• Provide technical advice on acquisition of outsourced software.

2. Carryout software testing to evaluate whether it meets the user requirements and the business needs:

• Develop test plan to guide the software testing process.
• Set-up test environment (where test runs are conducted) which mimics the production environment.
• Develop test scenarios and test cases (which guide the actual testing and where the test results are recorded).
• Conduct actual test to determine system functionality.
• Write test report to document and inform stakeholders of the test results.

3. Conduct software quality assessments to evaluate the effectiveness of its functionality:

• Research, identify and develop templates for documenting processes, designs and test results.
• Conduct regular reviews on technical documents to identify gaps in processes and ensure conformity to URA / industry standards.
• Make recommendations on how gaps can be fixed or how documents can be aligned to standards.

4. Carryout system upgrades to improve the effectiveness and integrity

• Identify inefficiencies in exiting systems and processes.
• Gather recommendations from users on how to improve the current systems of existing systems.
• Develop and deploy patches (new software versions) to improve the effectiveness of exiting systems.

5. Provide user support to improve service availability and application usage:

• Develop user manuals for developed software.
• Carry out user sensitization and training on how to use the developed application.
• Receive user queries and provide feedback.
• Engage business units and guide the documentation of business processes.
• Perform any other IT related work like Computer configuration, networking on projects.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

1. The applicants for the URA Officer – Software Engineering job opportunities should hold Bachelors degrees in Computer Science, Information Technology, Bachelor of Science (Computer Science), Bachelor of Statistics with computing option or Engineering with Computing Option.
2. Oracle Certified Associate Java SE Programmer or Oracle Certified Professional Java SE Programmer, Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer (MCSD) or Oracle database Management System/Certification, Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA).
3. Microsoft SQL Server is desired A minimum of two years of active Software Development ideally with exposure to the full software lifecycle (from requirements through production).
4. Good understanding of the programming languages (Java, C# etc.).
5. Prior exposure and experience in mobile application development for Android, IOS, and Windows mobile.
6. Ability to document requirements and specifications in a concise but comprehensive manner.
7. Practical experience in designing interactive applications.
8. Previous exposure and experience working on projects in teams and with code repositories such as GIT SVN, Microsoft Team Foundation.
9. Broad working knowledge of software quality assurance standard (IEEE, ISO/IEC etc.).
10. Software testing standard (IEEE829, ISO/IEC/IEEE29119).
11. Excellent knowledge working with a diverse range of Relational Database management systems and development using Oracle RDBMS, MS SQL Server, Postgres, and MySQL.
12. Previous experience developing web applications using at least one popular web framework (JSF, GWT, Spring MVC, .NET MVC 2/3 Framework ).
13. Working knowledge and usage of software testing tools (security, test case management, automation testing, stress and performance management).
14. Ability to Work under pressure.
15. Good team player.
16. Analytical thinking skills – able to simplify complex problems, processes or projects into component parts, explore and evaluate them systematically.
17. Critical thinking skills able to actively and skillfully conceptualize, apply, analyze, synthesize, and/or evaluate information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.
18. Ability to work for long hours.
19. Interpersonal skills – able to build and maintain effective working relationships with a range of people. Works co-operatively with others to be part of a team, as opposed to working separately or competitively.
20. Self-directed and very creative.
21. Strategic thinking able to identify a vision along with the plans, which need to be implemented to meet the end goal, evaluating situations, decisions and issues in the short, medium and long term.
22. Influencing and persuading – able to present sound and well-reasoned arguments to convince others. Adapts to the situation and can draw from a range of strategies to persuade people in a way that results in agreement or behavior change.
23. Communication – able to get ones message understood clearly by adopting a range of styles, tools and techniques appropriate to the audience and the nature of the information.

How to apply:
All suitably qualified and interested candidates who wish to join URA should apply online by visiting the URA website.

Please go to Careers link, CAREERS -> EXPERIENTIAL HIRING -> Login (If new, register, else continue) to view detailed job description of the roles and responsibilities and other required competencies.

All applicants are required to scan and attach copies of the required academic documents only e.g. Transcript, O Level, A level, Degree certificates. Each attachment should not exceed a limit of 1MB and ONLY Portable Document Format (pdf) are allowed.

Note: The list of shortlisted and successful candidates will be published on the URA website.

Academic documents for the successful candidates will be vetted and background checks conducted before they are considered for appointment into the Authority.

Any applicants found with forged academic documents will be charged in the courts of law.[related-posts]

Deadline for submission is Thursday, 23rd June 2016 at 11:59pm.