IBAT is a web-based mapping and reporting tool used by companies, governments, researchers, and financial institutions to access global biodiversity datasets (The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, World Key Biodiversity Areas Database and the World Database of Protected Areas) with which to make better decisions around the environment. IBAT has hundreds of users including the World Bank Group, Shell, Mitsubishi, Cambridge University, WWF and the Department of Environment Australia. IBAT has been developed and is maintained by the IBAT Alliance, a partnership of four leading conservation organizations: BirdLife International (BirdLife), Conservation International (CI), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC). Through IBAT, the Alliance seeks to support both better decision making and the improved collection, update and management of biodiversity data to inform those decisions.

The platform underlying IBAT is was re-developed in 2018 and we are now looking for a talented all round web developer to be part of the team going forward. The web developer should be keen and passionate about contributing to state of the art web applications, and also making an impact on conservation of biodiversity. They will work closely with a network of conservation scientists, other web and geospatial experts, and will be responsible for maintaining, and building on, the new IBAT web platform.

A detailed description of this role and the main skills we are looking for is available further down, but essentially, we are looking for a developer who would be a keen self-motivated technology enthusiast, who is not daunted by trying out new technologies and is able to think ‘outside the box’, with an eye for optimisation, performance, security and understanding the complexities of data management. The developer would be expected to work and manage the full-stack of a critical web application - and should be confident working under the supervision of the IUCN Biodiversity Systems Manager (part of the IUCN Global Species Programme team) and the IBAT Manager.

Main responsibilities
Development and maintenance of IBAT web-based systems
Lead role in maintaining and improving current web systems and developing new web systems for a variety of projects. Common responsibilities include:

Undertake user needs assessments
Contribute to design of architecture of the web application
Implementation of a robust set of services and APIs to power the web application
Building reusable code and libraries
Implementation of secure systems and data protection
Translation of UI/UX wireframes to visual web elements.
Integration of front-end and back-end aspects of the web application.
Integrate testing as part of development process.
Learning new technologies and staying on top of trends in web development
Strong focus on quality of outputs.

Data management
The developer should be fluent in data management and manipulation, as there are three core biodiversity databases (driving IBAT) which are integrated and used as part of the main web application.

Collaboration
Develop and maintain good working relationships with web development and data teams across the IBAT Alliance
Advise on, and in some cases be able to manage hardware and software required for web application development
Able to successfully coordinate with external consultants on related work.
Contribute ideas and good approaches to development goals, as part of working groups.