The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) is a leading Africa-based, African-led, international research institution headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, and conducting policy-relevant research on population, health, education, urbanization and related development issues on the continent.  The Center seeks to engage a website developer to make various improvements on the organization’s website www.aphrc.org. These include improvements on website structure and layout design, navigation, ease of accessibility, usability, maintenance/update and information retrieval.

Tasks and Responsibilities

The successful consultant will submit a costed workplan to incorporate the following tasks plus a maximum three days cumulative of responding to ad hoc requests. Uncosted workplans or incomplete applications will not be considered for this bid.

1. Be briefed on the overall goals of the consultancy, to include a website review session to identify, document, and track progress on fixes and updates to aphrc.org
2. Provide expert guidance on how web content and design features can be streamlined, automated, made internally coherent, and achieve organizational communication goals
3. In the initial contract period, carry out the following tasks:
   1. Develop content uploading guidelines to ensure consistency and appropriate use of SEO features
   2. Offer guidance on compressing bottom navigation and execute
   3. Redesign  Blog section on home page
   4. Redesign main blog pages to appear more like editorial
   5. Redesign blog single page to have blog categories, as well as links to related blog posts
   6. Create a “top/best/most read” list post under each blog/ news item
   7. Install search engine optimization features for publications
   8. Change placement of email/get updates subscription form to be prominent though out the entire site to capture more leads.
   9. Change placement of the African Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship page
   10. Develop a widget to allow whistle-blowers to report malfeasance
   11. Suggest methods of sharing content beyond the website itself and to generate additional traffic, for example, by installing features enabling website to submit blog posts to Digg, stumbleupon, reddit & alltop.
   12. Create a “Workshops” page within the site: currently found at http://aphrc.org/workshop
   13. Change placement and appearance of Microdata Portal to attract more users
   14. Install podcast features on website
   15. Install ‘new’ mark on publications to demarcate publications uploaded within the last 30 days
   16. Interlinking blog posts — link to old posts from new ones and edit old posts to link to more recent ones appropriately
   17. Redesign events calendar on home page to automatically populate from content on “Events” page
   18. Redesign Funders & Partners page so that all the funders appear on one page to show an equal appreciation to all of them
   19. Install a website antivirus and website firewall to enhance security
   20. Create training/registration forms that are easier to manage, store data in addition to its current function of sending an email, and are compatible with processing online payments
   21. Change website slider
   22. Identify and fix all broken links; correct all typographical, grammatical and formatting errors
   23. Monitor and communicate new website functionalities to the Policy Engagement and Communications team
   24. Make recommendations for software, hardware, and other back-end applications related to web development and web analytics

Qualifications/ Selection Criteria

1. Consultant must be a legal entity registered in Kenya
2. Consultant must have several years of experience in the field, including expert knowledge and experience with content management systems
3. Strong layout and design skills – please note software and level of proficiency
4. Solid knowledge on website security and website hosting service
5. Strong work ethic, ability to be self-directed and self-motivated
6. Proof of attention to detail, including in written and verbal communication
7. Ability and desire to work in the office approximately one day per week (with the remaining time completed remotely)

How to Apply

If interested please email procurement@aphrc.org  and copy ddoughman@aphrc.org  with a cover letter, CV, and a proposal including a brief work plan with costs and timelines. Please include links to your portfolio and three professional references.

Application Deadline is February 10, 2016. We regret that we will be unable to respond to all applicants.