PAHO Consultant - Senior Drupal Developer

About This Role

OBJECTIVE OF THE OFFICE/DEPARTMENT This is a requisition for employment at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO) Contractual Agreement: Non-Staff - International PAHO Consultant Job Posting: March 30, 2026 Closing Date: April 8, 2026, 11:59 PM Eastern Time Primary Location: Off Site Organization: ITS Information Technology Services Schedule: Full time PURPOSE OF CONSULTANCY This requisition is for a consultancy at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO). • Provide a short description of the objective of the office/department here. • Provide a description of the purpose of the consultancy here. DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES: 1. Objective of the Department The Information Technology Services Department (ITS) provides leadership and direction in the deployment of information and communication technologies and systems to support the Pan American Health Organization/Regional Office of the Americas of the World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) in carrying out its mandate. ITS establishes and maintains strategies, policies, standards, and procedures to ensure the effective and efficient provision of information and communication services in a geographically dispersed environment. 2. Purpose of the Consultancy The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is seeking an experienced Senior Drupal Developer consultant to support the ITS Web Services team in leading the architecture, development, maintenance, and strategic enhancement of PAHO's digital web presence. The Senior Drupal Developer will serve as the technical lead on a broad portfolio of web properties including seven (7) Drupal-based websites and approximately forty (40) additional sites, including static sites and applications built with Angular.js and React.js. PAHO's combined web portfolio receives approximately 4 to 5 million visits per month, serving health professionals, researchers, government bodies, and the general public across the Americas and beyond. This level of traffic underscores the critical importance of site reliability, performance, security, and availability. The Senior Drupal Developer must bring the seniority, technical depth, and leadership maturity required to maintain and evolve high-traffic, mission-critical public health web infrastructure. In addition to hands-on development, this consultant will provide technical guidance to junior developers, lead architectural decision-making, enforce code quality standards, and serve as the primary technical point of contact for the ITS web development team. They will work within an agile, Kanban-driven environment and play a key role in managing the full deployment pipeline. 3. Statement of Work The Senior Drupal Developer consultant will be responsible for the following areas: 3.1 Technical Leadership & Architecture Serve as the technical lead for all Drupal development activities across the ITS web portfolio, providing architectural direction and decision-making. Define and enforce coding standards, development best practices, and technical guidelines for the web development team. Lead architectural planning for new features, site builds, and platform upgrades — including evaluating module selections, data modeling, and integration strategies. Conduct thorough code reviews for all team members, providing constructive feedback to ensure quality, security, and maintainability. Mentor and support junior Drupal developers, facilitating knowledge transfer and professional growth. Collaborate with the ITS team lead and stakeholders to translate business requirements into scalable technical solutions. Proactively identify technical debt, propose remediation plans, and lead refactoring initiatives. Act as deployment coordinator for production releases — managing multi-project release sequencing through the CI/CD pipeline. 3.2 Advanced Drupal Development & Site Management Design, develop, and maintain custom Drupal modules, themes, and content architectures for seven (7) Drupal 9/10/11 websites. Write and maintain advanced PHP code for custom Drupal modules, hooks, APIs, and integrations, following Drupal and Symfony coding standards. Develop and maintain Twig templates for Drupal theming, including complex template overrides, preprocess functions, and theme hooks. Leverage Symfony components (HttpFoundation, EventDispatcher, DependencyInjection, Routing) for advanced back-end development within Drupal's architecture. Build and maintain custom Drupal plugins, services, and event subscribers using Drupal's object-oriented architecture and dependency injection container. Develop and manage complex content architectures using Entity API, Field API, and custom entity types. Design and lead custom migration pipelines using Drupal Migrate API to import and transform content from legacy systems or external data sources. Build and maintain RESTful and JSON:API endpoints within Drupal for headless or decoupled front-end consumption. Lead Drupal major version migration projects (Drupal 9 to 10, Drupal 10 to 11) including module compatibility assessments, deprecation resolution, and performance validation. Configure and administer Drupal's configuration management system (CMI) across all environments. Architect and optimize Drupal's caching layers including Internal Page Cache, Dynamic Page Cache, Varnish, and Redis integration. Administer and optimize Drupal's cron jobs, Queue API workers, and background processing tasks. Use Drush and Drupal Console for command-line administration, code generation, and deployment automation. Manage PHP dependencies and Drupal module installation using Composer, including version constraints, patch management, and lock file governance. Lead multilingual site configuration using Drupal's Language, Content Translation, Configuration Translation, and Interface Translation modules across PAHO's official languages. 3.3 Front-End Development Develop and oversee static websites, Angular.js applications, and React.js applications across the ~40-site portfolio. Build and review reusable UI components using React.js and Angular.js best practices. Ensure all web properties are responsive, accessible (WCAG 2.1 AA), and cross-browser compatible. Write clean, semantic HTML5, CSS3/SCSS, and JavaScript (ES6+). Oversee and configure front-end build pipelines using npm/yarn, Webpack, Vite, or Gulp. Lead performance optimization efforts including Core Web Vitals, image optimization, lazy loading, and bundle size reduction. Oversee implementation of web analytics integrations (Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager) across PAHO web properties. 3.4 Agile Development & Pipeline Leadership Lead and actively participate in PAHO's Agile/Scrum framework using a Kanban board with stages: In Queue, In Progress, Testing, Ready for Production, and Live. Facilitate or co-facilitate daily Scrum check-ins, helping the team surface and resolve blockers efficiently. Oversee multi-branch feature development, ensuring gated stakeholder testing links are provided and feedback is incorporated before integration. Govern the merge process into the Dev branch — ensuring Semgrep security scan clearance and stakeholder sign-off are completed before promotion. Act as the primary deployment coordinator for Thursday production releases — managing sequencing, rollback readiness, and post-deployment validation. Collaborate closely with the ITS security team throughout the security scanning and integration phases. 3.5 Pantheon Platform & CI/CD Pipeline Lead the management of site code, databases, and files across all Pantheon environments: Multi-Branch (Multidev), Dev, Test (Stage), and Live. Configure and maintain Pantheon's Git-based CI pipeline for automated builds, deployments, and environment promotion. Set up and manage CI/CD autopilot workflows to improve deployment efficiency and reduce manual intervention. Oversee SFTP and Git-based workflows across the development team within the Pantheon environment. Ensure Stage environment is exclusively used for final pre-production validation — no active development. Leverage Pantheon WebOps best practices (as a certified WebOps Developer) to optimize platform usage across all sites. 3.6 Security Compliance & Code Quality Lead security compliance efforts — integrating Semgrep automated SAST/SCA scanning into the development lifecycle and enforcing remediation of all flagged vulnerabilities. Act as the primary liaison with the ITS Security team during security scan reviews and integration assessments. Apply and enforce OWASP Top 10 best practices across all development work, including XSS, CSRF, SQL injection, and insecure direct object reference protections. Implement and govern SSL/TLS configuration, HTTPS enforcement, and HTTP security headers (CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options). Lead dependency governance — conducting and reviewing Composer audit and npm audit results across all projects. Establish and enforce code review checkpoints to ensure zero high-severity vulnerabilities enter shared branches. 3.7 API Development & Third-Party Integrations Lead the design, development, and maintenance of RESTful APIs and integrations with third-party services within Drupal and front-end applications. Architect and implement Drupal JSON:API and REST module configurations for headless and decoupled use cases. Lead integrations with external services including PAHO health data systems, authentication providers (SAML, OAuth 2.0 / SSO), iPaaS platforms, and communication tools. Design secure API authentication strategies, rate limiting, error handling, and response caching patterns. Ensure all API endpoints, schemas, and integration workflows are fully documented for team and stakeholder reference. 3.8 Testing & Quality Assurance Lead the establishment and maintenance of automated testing practices using PHPUnit, Nightwatch.js, Jest, and Cypress across the portfolio. Conduct and oversee cross-browser, cross-device, and regression testing before environment promotions. Lead WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility audits using Axe, WAVE, and Lighthouse, and drive remediation across all web properties. Enforce code validation standards through ESLint, Stylelint, and PHPCS across all team work. Oversee stakeholder acceptance testing during the gated multi-branch phase. 3.9 Web Server, Hosting & Environment Configuration Lead configuration and troubleshooting of Apache and/or Nginx web server settings, virtual hosts, .htaccess rules, redirects, and rewrite rules. Govern environment-specific configuration files (settings.php, .env) across all Pantheon environments. Oversee DNS records, domain routing, and SSL certificate provisioning across the portfolio. Lead Composer-based dependency management — setting standards for package governance, version constraints, and lock file management across all projects. Monitor server logs (PHP error logs, Apache/Nginx access logs) and lead root cause analysis for performance or error issues. 3.10 Database & Back-End Write, review, and optimize MySQL queries for Drupal and other web applications. Oversee phpMyAdmin usage for database administration, inspection, and troubleshooting across environments. Lead database schema design, migration planning, and data integrity validation during deployments. Own database performance tuning, slow query analysis, and backup verification processes. 3.11 CDN, Caching & Performance Management Architect and oversee CDN configuration — managing asset delivery, caching headers, and geographic distribution for PAHO web properties. Lead Redis caching configuration and optimization across Drupal sites to reduce database load and improve response times. Troubleshoot CDN-related issues including cache purging, origin pull configurations, and SSL/TLS certificate management. Own web performance strategy — setting Core Web Vitals targets and leading optimization initiatives across the portfolio. 3.12 Search Integration Lead configuration and maintenance of site search using Apache Solr or Elasticsearch integrated with Drupal Search API. Architect search indexes, faceted search interfaces, and relevance tuning for PAHO content. Troubleshoot search indexing issues and govern re-indexing procedures across environments. 3.13 Monitoring, Logging & Incident Response Own web application monitoring strategy using platform tools (Pantheon dashboards, New Relic, or equivalent). Lead incident response for site outages, performance regressions, and broken deployments — triaging root cause and coordinating rollback when necessary. Set up and maintain alerting for critical error thresholds, uptime failures, and security events. Produce post-incident reports with root cause analysis and remediation recommendations. 3.14 Email & Notification Systems Oversee transactional email delivery configuration for Drupal sites using SMTP modules and providers (SendGrid, Mailchimp, or equivalent). Govern email deliverability — ensuring proper SPF, DKIM, and DMARC record alignment. Develop and maintain HTML email templates for system notifications, newsletters, and automated workflows. 3.15 AI Tools & Productivity Champion the use of AI-assisted development tools (Microsoft Copilot, GitHub Copilot, AI Vibe Coding methodologies) to accelerate development, code review, and documentation across the team. Apply AI tools responsibly, validating generated code for security, accuracy, and compliance with PAHO standards. Evaluate and recommend new AI capabilities relevant to the web development workflow and propose practical adoption strategies. 3.16 Ticket & Request Management Review, prioritize, and oversee web requests submitted through the Salesforce-integrated ticketing system. Ensure all tickets are properly classified (QUICK TASK or PROJECT), contain complete information, and are assigned appropriately. Maintain up-to-date ticket status, progress notes, decisions, and testing documentation throughout the lifecycle. Communicate ticket status, blockers, and escalations proactively to stakeholders and the ITS team lead. 3.17 Documentation & Knowledge Transfer Lead the creation and maintenance of technical documentation for all features, architectures, configurations, and processes. Document deployment procedures, rollback steps, and environment-specific configuration notes. Own the team's internal knowledge base — ensuring SOPs, onboarding materials, and runbooks are current and comprehensive. Ensure all tickets are documented with decisions, change rationale, and testing outcomes. 4. Qualifications 4.1 Education & Experience An advance university degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Web Development, or a related field. 13-15 years of professional Drupal development experience, with a strong track record of delivering complex, high-traffic Drupal projects in production environments. Proven track record of leading Drupal 9/10/11 projects in production, including custom module development, theming, Entity API, Migrate API, configuration management, and major version migrations. Demonstrated experience leading Drupal version upgrade projects (e.g., Drupal 7 to 8/9, Drupal 9 to 10, Drupal 10 to 11). Demonstrated experience as a deployment coordinator managing multiple projects through CI/CD pipelines. Experience with decoupled or headless Drupal architectures using React.js, Angular.js, or similar front-end frameworks. Demonstrated experience integrating Semgrep or equivalent SAST tools into a CI/CD pipeline for automated security compliance. Solid experience with PHP 8+ and Symfony-based development patterns within Drupal. Experience with REST API and JSON:API development, including third-party iPaaS integrations. Experience leading or conducting WCAG accessibility audits and implementing remediation. Experience with a managed cloud hosting platform — Pantheon experience strongly preferred. Prior work in an Agile/Scrum or Kanban environment in a lead or senior role. Experience with international or multilateral organizations is an asset. 4.2 Required Certifications The following certifications are required or strongly preferred for the Senior Drupal Developer position, reflecting the technical depth and platform expertise expected at this level: Required: Certification/Issuing Body Acquia Certified Developer – Drupal 10 (or 11)/ Acquia WebOps Certified Developer/ Pantheon Desireable: Acquia Certified Developer – Drupal 8 or earlier/ Acquia Acquia Certified Site Builder/ Acquia Acquia Certified Front End Specialist/ Acquia 4.3 Required Technical Skills Domain/Skills & Technologies CMS / Drupal/ Drupal 9/10/11, custom module & theme development, Entity API, Field API, Migrate API, Configuration Management (CMI), Layout Builder, Paragraphs, Views, Webforms, Drush, Drupal Console, Composer, multisite, multilingual (Content/Config/Interface Translation) PHP & Frameworks/ PHP 8+, Symfony components (HttpFoundation, EventDispatcher, DependencyInjection, Routing), Twig templating, Drupal hooks, services, plugins, event subscribers, Queue API, dependency injection container Front-End/ HTML5, CSS3/SCSS, JavaScript (ES6+), React.js, Angular.js, jQuery, responsive design, WCAG 2.1 AA, npm/yarn, Webpack/Vite, LAMP Stack APIs & Integration/ RESTful API design, Drupal JSON:API, OAuth 2.0 / SAML / SSO, iPaaS platforms (e.g., Workato), Mautic, payment gateways, third-party data integrations Testing & QA/ PHPUnit, Drupal Test Traits, Nightwatch.js, Jest, Cypress, regression testing, WCAG auditing (Axe, WAVE, Lighthouse), ESLint, PHPCS, Stylelint Platform & Pipeline/ Pantheon (Multidev, Dev, Test, Live), CI/CD pipeline setup & management, autopilot configuration, Git, Apache/Nginx, .htaccess, DNS, SSL/TLS, DDEV Security/ Semgrep SAST/SCA integration, OWASP Top 10, XSS/CSRF/SQLi prevention, HTTP security headers, Composer audit, npm audit, security patch governance Database & Admin/ MySQL — advanced queries, optimization, schema design, migrations; phpMyAdmin; slow query analysis; backup management Caching & CDN/ Redis architecture, Varnish, Internal/Dynamic Page Cache, CDN setup, cache purging, asset delivery optimization Search/ Apache Solr, Elasticsearch, Drupal Search API, faceted search, index architecture Monitoring & Logging/ New Relic (or equivalent), PHP/Nginx error logs, slow query logs, uptime monitoring, alerting, post-incident reporting Email & Notifications/ SMTP, SendGrid / Mailchimp, SPF/DKIM/DMARC, HTML email templates, Drupal mail modules Analytics/ Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager, Highcharts or equivalent data visualization AI & Developer Tools/ Microsoft Copilot, GitHub Copilot, AI Vibe Coding, Kint, Devel, Drush, DDEV Agile / Leadership/ Scrum facilitation, Kanban, sprint planning, deployment coordination, code review leadership, mentoring Documentation/ Technical architecture docs, SOPs, runbooks, knowledge base management, onboarding materials Version Control/ Git (advanced branching strategy, merge/rebase, conflict resolution, multi-branch governance) 4.4 Desirable Skills Experience contributing patches, modules, or documentation to the Drupal.org community. Experience with headless or fully decoupled Drupal (Next.js, Gatsby consuming Drupal JSON:API or GraphQL). Familiarity with DKAN open data distribution or other Drupal distributions. Experience with Acquia Cloud, Platform.sh, or Amazee hosting environments. Working knowledge of Linux command line (bash scripting, file permissions, process management). Experience designing data visualization integrations (e.g., Highcharts, D3.js, Chart.js). Familiarity with Salesforce Service Cloud or similar ticketing/CRM platforms. Experience working in international or multilateral organizations (UN system experience is an asset). 5. Language Skills Fluency in English (written and spoken) — required. Working knowledge of Spanish — desirable given PAHO's regional mandate. Knowledge of French or Portuguese — an asset. 6. Work Schedule & Conditions Position: PAHO International Consultant - Senior Drupal Developer Duty Station: Remote (Off-site) Salary: Band C of International PAHO Consultant (IPC-Band C)(Range $7,380 - $8,980) Reporting to ITS Web Services Team Lead ADDITIONAL INFORMATION This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level. Successful candidates will be placed on the roster and subsequently may be selected for consultancy assignments falling in this area of work or for similar requirements/tasks/deliverables. Inclusion in the Roster does not guarantee selection for a consultant contract. There is no commitment on either side. Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted. All applicants are required to complete an on-line profile to be considered for this consultancy. For assessment of your application, please ensure that your profile in the PAHO Career page is updated; all experience records are entered with elaboration on tasks performed at the time. Kindly note that CV/PHFs inserted via LinkedIn are no accessible. A written test may be used as a form of screening. If your candidature is retained for interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. PAHO/WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. PAHO will also use the databases of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation http://www.chea.org/search/default.asp and College Navigator, found on the website of the National Centre for Educational Statistics, https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator to support the validation process. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review. Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to PAHO/WHO Regulations, and e-Manual. For information on PAHO please visit: http://www.paho.org PAHO/WHO is committed to providing a respectful and supportive workplace for all personnel . PAHO is an ethical organization that maintains high standards of integrity and accountability. People joining PAHO are required to maintain these standards both in their professional work and personal activities. PAHO also promotes a work environment that is free from harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and other types of abusive behavior. PAHO conducts background checks and will not hire anyone who has a substantiated history of abusive conduct. PAHO personnel interact frequently with people in the communities we serve. To protect these people, PAHO has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse. People who commit serious wrongdoings will be terminated and may also face criminal prosecution. PAHO/WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco. Applications from women and from nationals of non and underrepresented Member States are particularly encouraged. Consultants shall perform the work as independent contractors in a personal capacity, and not as a representative of any entity or authority. The execution of the work under a consultant contract does not create an employer/employee relationship between PAHO and the Consultant. PAHO/WHO shall have no responsibility whatsoever for any taxes, duties, social security contributions or other contributions payable by the Consultant. The Consultant shall be solely responsible for withholding and paying any taxes, duties, social security contributions and any other contributions which are applicable to the Consultant in each location/jurisdiction in which the work hereunder is performed, and the Consultant shall not be entitled to any reimbursement thereof by PAHO/WHO. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is the specialized international health agency for the Americas. It works with countries throughout the region to improve and protect people's health. PAHO wears two institutional hats: it is the specialized health agency of the Inter-American System and also serves as Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO), the specialized health agency of the United Nations. PAHO engages in technical cooperation with its member countries to fight communicable and noncommunicable diseases and their causes, to strengthen health systems, and to respond to emergencies and disasters. PAHO is committed to ensuring that all people have access to the health care they need, when they need it, with quality and without fear of falling into poverty. Through its work, PAHO promotes and supports the right of everyone to good health. To advance these goals, PAHO promotes technical cooperation between countries and works in partnership with ministries of health and other government agencies, civil society organizations, other international agencies, universities, social security agencies, community groups, and other partners. PAHO promotes the inclusion of health in all public policies and the engagement of all sectors in efforts to ensure that people live longer, healthier lives, with good health as their most valuable resource. Under the leadership of its 51 member countries and territories, PAHO sets regional health priorities and mobilizes action to address health problems that respect no borders and that, in many cases, jeopardize the sustainability of health systems. From its Washington, D.C., headquarters, 27 country offices and three specialized centers in the region, PAHO promotes evidence-based decision-making to improve and promote health as a driver of sustainable development.

Responsibilities

The Senior Drupal Developer will lead the architecture, development, maintenance, and strategic enhancement of PAHO's digital web presence. They will provide technical guidance to junior developers and manage the full deployment pipeline.

Requirements

Candidates must have an advanced university degree in a related field and 13-15 years of professional Drupal development experience. Proven experience in leading complex, high-traffic Drupal projects and familiarity with Agile methodologies is essential.

Education

• postgraduate degree

Skills & Tags

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