ThaiNGO

Consultancy:        Mission Critical Database Redesign and Migration 
Project:        Urban Refugee Program             
Reports to:        Country Director 
Location:        Bangkok, Thailand   
Starting date:    1 December 2023 
Contract duration:    1 December 2023 – 31 January 2024 (2 months)  

Terms of Reference 

Organization: 

The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) is an international non-governmental organization with a mission to accompany, serve, and advocate for the rights of refugees and forcibly displaced people. The organization was founded in November 1980 and has a presence in over 50 countries. JRS undertakes services at national and regional levels with the support and guidance of an international office in Rome. The style of JRS service is human and spiritual, working in situations of greatest need, seeking the long-term wellbeing of refugees and displaced persons, while not neglecting their immediate or urgent needs. 

Purpose: 

JRS Thailand is seeking an IT consultant to redesign our current mission critical databases and migrate them to Microsoft SQL Server Express edition. The consultant is expected to work with our Urban Refugee Program (URP) and Urban Education Program (UEP) teams, produce completely revised or new databases, and migrate all existing data within a two-month consultancy period. 

Scope of Work: 

JRS Thailand currently has two separate databases – one in MS Access and one in MS Excel (yes, we know it’s not a database) –  that we use for URP and UEP. The URP database is by far the bigger and most problematic one. In addition to redesigning or creating the databases, we also need to able to share and extract common data easily between the two. The consultant is expected to work in Bangkok and at JRS Thailand office locations in Bangkok as needed. 

Deliverables: 

The IT consultant is expected to deliver the following per the timetable: 

NB: The complete SQL Server Express databases are expected to be fully operational at the end of the consultancy.

Timeframe: 

For this two-month (9 weeks) consultancy, JRS Thailand anticipates to begin the consultancy by 1 December 2023 at the latest. Expected rollout of the databases is by 1 February 2024. 

Qualifications & Experience: 

• Very good English language (Thai language would be advantageous)    
• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Information Technology or related professional field 
• Minimum 2 years of experience with SQL Server or very similar relational databases  
• Strong analytical and data management skills 
• Good teaching, training, and communication skills 
• Able to work with individuals and groups in the Bangkok Metropolitan Area 

Selection Criteria: 

• JRS Thailand will consider both the qualifications and experience of the consultant(s), the technical details, and the proposed fee structure. Although we prefer to work with an individual consultant, we will consider a proposal by a team of consultants. 

Proposal Submission Guidelines: 

Interested candidates must submit the following information to JRS Thailand in order to be considered. All information should be in a single MS Word document not to exceed three pages. 

1. Letter of interest or motivation letter, stating briefly the relevant qualifications and experience of the consultant(s) related to the needs of JRS Thailand. 
2. Technical specifications addressing at minimum the expected outputs and deliverables. 
3. Fee structure with payment schedule. 

In addition, the submission must include as an attachment an updated CV of the consultant(s) and three references.  

Interested and qualified candidates should send their submission to jrsthailandco@gmail.com by latest 15 November 2023. Late or incomplete submission may not be accepted.  Please include your last name and “IT Consultant” in the subject line. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.