Contract Duration:
Initial term of 12 months, with the possibility of successive 12-month extensions, allowing for a total duration of up to 5 years.
Hybrid Model:
Weekly 3 days Onsite + 2 days Remote (Hybrid)
Client Overview
The Client is an independent statutory body established to improve the delivery of education services to persons with special educational needs, with a particular emphasis on children.
The Client delivers services through its national network of Special Educational Needs Organisers, who interact with parents, schools, and the HSE to coordinate resources and support.
Providing advice and information on special education to parents and schools
Allocating supports and coordinating local service delivery
Conducting research into special education
Advising the Minister for Education on special education policy
Role Overview
CLIENT requires the development, enhancement, and ongoing support of digital systems that facilitate:
Communication between parents, schools, and CLIENT staff
Application processing and case-management activities
Planning and coordination of special classes and special school placements
Delivery of information services to the public
Support for research and policy advisory functions
The objective is to procure a Developer capable of delivering secure, accessible, scalable, and user-centred digital solutions tailored to CLIENT's statutory functions.
Mandatory Requirements (Pass / Fail):
Candidates MUST meet ALL of the following:
Experience
· It is a mandatory requirement, that the Resource proposed has the equivalent of 7+ years of relevant experience (Senior Resource)
Availability
· Must be available to start
01/06/2026
English Language Proficiency (MANDATORY):
· CEFR C2 Proficiency/Mastery (or equivalent)
· If there is no certificate, fluency will be assessed at presentation stage
The following non-exhaustive list of Key Deliverables are applicable to this role.
CLIENT requires the development, enhancement, and ongoing support of digital systems that facilitate:
Communication between parents, schools, and CLIENT staff
Application processing and case-management activities
Planning and coordination of special classes and special school placements
Delivery of information services to the public
Support for research and policy advisory functions
The objective is to procure a Developer capable of delivering secure, accessible, scalable, and user-centred digital solutions tailored to CLIENT's statutory functions.
System Design and Development
The Developer must deliver end-to-end design and development of web applications including:
Responsive and accessible (WCAG-compliant) front-end interfaces supporting parents, schools, and CLIENT staff.
Secure back-end systems that incorporate CLIENT workflows such as resource allocation, school placement planning, and case management.
Integration with systems operated by the Department of Education and the HSE as required to support cross-sector coordination.
Development of digital tools for the dissemination of research and policy information.
Accessibility and Inclusion
The Developer must:
Serve diverse user groups including parents of children with complex needs
Support ease of use for CLIENT staff coordinating services at local level
Data Management and Security
The Developer must:
Implement GDPR-compliant data handling, noting the sensitive nature of CLIENT case data
Provide secure authentication and user access control
Ensure encrypted data transmission, secure storage, and audit capabilities
Support continuity of service for high-volume application periods
Technical Documentation
The Developer must produce and maintain documentation including:
System architecture and data flow diagrams
Configuration and deployment documentation
End-user and administrator guides
Testing and Quality Assurance
The Developer must carry out
Unit, integration, and end-to-end testing
Accessibility testing
Performance and load testing appropriate for national-scale usage
Deployment and Hosting
The solution must be compatible with cloud hosting within an approved public-sector environment (e.g., Microsoft Azure).
A CI/CD pipeline must be provided to ensure controlled, auditable deployments
Support and Maintenance
The Developer must provide:
Ongoing technical support and issue resolution
Security patching and performance optimisation
Agreed SLAs for incident response
Optional development capacity for future enhancements.
The Developer will be required to deliver:
Fully functioning, accessible web applications meeting all CLIENT requirements.
Integrated tools
A secure and scalable back-end platform with appropriate API integrations.
All documentation required for maintenance, onboarding, and governance.
A full testing suite and test documentation.
Training sessions for CLIENT staff to enable knowledge transfer.
A maintenance and support plan for each application including SLAs and update cycles.
Technical documentation and knowledge transfer sessions
Compliance Requirements
The solution and Developer must comply with:
EPSEN Act ****
governance principles applicable to CLIENT roles and functions
Public Sector ICT and cybersecurity standards
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1 AA)
Performance Metrics
During the contract, Developer performance will be evaluated based on:
Accessibility compliance
System reliability and uptime
Ability to reduce manual processing for operational staff
User satisfaction (parents, schools, CLIENT internal users)
Responsiveness to issues within agreed SLAs
Delivery timelines vs. milestones
Requirements
The following Experience/Competencies/Skillsets are applicable to this Role.
Modern front-end frameworks (React, Angular, Vue)
Server-side development (Node.js, .NET, or equivalent)
SQL and/or NoSQL data stores
CI/CD, containerisation, and cloud deployment pipelines
Government grade security and logging standards
Expertise in designing systems that support data collection and reporting
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