Senior Software Architect / Full-Stack Lead to Build a Secure Digital Platform

Job Description We are seeking an expert-level Software Architect and Full-Stack Developer, or a small, clearly identified development team, to design and build a secure, scalable digital platform for a newly forming national political organization in Zambia. This is not a basic website or ordinary membership portal. The system will serve as the organization’s digital operating environment for membership registration, leadership administration, organizational development, task management, meetings, reporting, training, internal elections, member engagement, data analysis and institutional accountability. The platform must be capable of starting with a small founding membership and expanding over time to support a large nationwide membership base, multiple organizational levels and potentially millions of user records. The project will be delivered in phases, beginning with requirements validation, system architecture, user experience design and a secure minimum viable product. The successful developer may be retained for subsequent phases, deployment, maintenance and long-term platform development. Because the project contains sensitive institutional information, shortlisted applicants will be required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement before receiving the complete functional specification and internal governance documents. Project Objective The objective is to create a mobile-first, low-bandwidth-friendly and security-focused platform that can: Register, verify and manage members; Assign members automatically to geographic and organizational structures; Give officers role-based administrative accounts; Generate, assign, monitor and escalate institutional tasks; Register meetings, decisions, resolutions and action points; Manage reporting from grassroots structures to national leadership; Support organizational growth and structural upgrades; Administer secure internal Party elections; Deliver member education and training; Operate member contests, quizzes and recognition programmes; Provide leadership with real-time dashboards and decision intelligence; Preserve institutional records, accountability and continuity. The platform is intended for internal organizational elections and governance only. It is not intended to conduct public elections or replace any official electoral authority. Core Functional Modules 1. Digital Membership and Identity Management The membership module should support: Online and assisted/offline registration; Identity and address verification; Duplicate detection using approved identifiers; Membership approval and rejection workflows; Digital membership cards and QR identification; Member status and account management; Consent and privacy records; Member search and controlled data access; Automatic assignment by geographic address; Member onboarding and introductory training; Low-bandwidth and smartphone-friendly access. Members may be assigned to the following hierarchy: National → Province → District → Constituency → Ward → Community → Unit → Household Ambassador The structure may initially combine certain offices and later separate them when membership, resources and performance justify expansion. 2. Role-Based Administration The platform must provide secure administrative accounts for national, provincial, district, ward, unit and professional delivery officers. The system must support: Role-based access control; Jurisdiction-based access; Limited visibility based on responsibility; Multifactor authentication; Approval hierarchies; Dual authorization for sensitive functions; User suspension and immediate access revocation; Detailed activity and audit logs; Automatic transfer of institutional tasks when an officer changes. No administrator should have unrestricted access merely because the administrator occupies a senior role. 3. Task and Workflow Management The platform will contain two main types of tasks: Routine Tasks Automatically generated daily, weekly or monthly tasks based on an officer’s position, such as: Weekly reports; Membership follow-up; Meeting preparation; Review of subordinate structures; Programme monitoring; Financial reporting; Member verification; Training and mobilization activities. Requested or Generated Tasks Tasks created through requests, decisions or applications, such as: Structural upgrade applications; Complaints; Authorization requests; Internal-election requests; Review requests; Resource requests; Meeting approvals; Governance or compliance reviews. Each task should contain: Originating office; Responsible officer; Supervisor; Deadline; Priority; Required output; Supporting documents; Status; Comments; Evidence of completion; Escalation history; Verification and closure record. Recommended status indicators include: On Track; Due Soon; Overdue; Escalated; Blocked; Awaiting Input; Completed; Formally Cancelled. No institutional task should be silently deleted or abandoned. 4. Meeting and Resolution Management All formal meetings must be registered in the platform. The module should manage: Meeting type and purpose; Agenda; Convener and chairperson; Secretary or minute taker; Proposed date and time; Notice period; Participant list; Quorum; Required approval; Meeting link or physical venue; Attendance and apologies; Minutes; Resolutions; Action points; Responsible officers; Deadlines; Supporting documents; Approval and publication status. Certain meetings, including internal elections, structural changes and sensitive disciplinary matters, must require approval before they can proceed. 5. Organizational Evolution and Structural Maturity The system must support the organization’s growth from combined offices into more independent structures. Examples include: District and Constituency functions operating from one office initially; Ward and Community functions operating from one office initially; Satellite structures applying for higher operational status; Digital maturity assessments; Workflow-based review and approval; Automatic restructuring of reporting lines and member assignments after approval. The system should support maturity stages such as: Satellite Structure; Semi-Autonomous Structure; Full Operational Status. It should also support a structured performance score covering membership growth, reporting, training, leadership attendance, financial compliance, digital engagement, mobilization and organizational readiness. 6. Internal Elections and Appointments The platform should administer secure internal organizational elections. Required functions include: Election request and approval; Vacancy registration; Nomination periods; Candidate eligibility review; Voter-register freeze; Candidate profiles; Election notifications; Secure digital voting; Secret ballot; One verified member, one vote; Jurisdiction-based voting; Assisted voting for members without smartphones; Result sealing until polls close; Audit logs; Certification; Dispute and appeal period; Automatic update of roles after certification. Provincial professional officers may be appointed through a separate merit-based appointment workflow. The system must prevent any administrator from seeing how an individual member voted. 7. Complaints, Performance and Disciplinary Workflows The system should distinguish between: Natural vacancy; Non-performance; Misconduct; Recall or vote of no confidence. The complaints module must support: Confidential submissions; Evidence upload; Conflict-of-interest routing; Case assignment; Notice and response; Hearing records; Decisions; Sanctions; Appeals; Protection against retaliation; Restricted access and audit history. 8. Zambian Visionary Contest Members will submit solutions to community, district, provincial and national problems through a structured contest module. The module should support: Structured concept forms; Word and PDF proposal uploads; Images, testimonies and supporting evidence; Unit, Ward, District, Provincial and National rounds; AI-assisted assessment; Human-review panels; Published scoring rubrics; Feedback to participants; Progression between rounds; Prize and recognition management; Appeals; Proposal status tracking; Geographic and thematic classification; A national needs-and-solutions dashboard. AI may assist with categorization, summaries, translation, duplicate detection and preliminary scoring, but final results must be subject to human review. 9. E-Classroom and Member Development Academy The learning module should support: Live-streamed training; Recorded videos; Low-data audio versions; PDFs and presentation materials; Subtitles and transcripts; Quizzes and assessments; Certificates; Monthly masterclasses; Weekly microlearning; Role-based training; Training-completion tracking; Course recommendations; Contest-linked learning pathways. 10. Member Engagement Additional engagement functions may include: Weekly quizzes; Rewards and recognition; Event invitations; Volunteer opportunities; Surveys; Member feedback; Promotional-item eligibility; AI productivity tools; Business and personal-development resources; Announcements and notifications. 11. Dashboards and Reporting National and authorized subnational officers should be able to view appropriate dashboards for: Total registered members; Verified and pending memberships; Geographic distribution; Active Units, Wards and Districts; Membership growth; Task completion; Reporting compliance; Training participation; Meeting activity; Contest submissions; Structural maturity; Election readiness; Complaints and unresolved risks; Programme performance. Sensitive data must be displayed according to access permissions. Technical and Security Expectations The successful applicant must propose a modern, scalable and maintainable architecture. The platform should include: Responsive web application or progressive web application; Mobile-first user experience; Secure API architecture; Scalable relational database, preferably PostgreSQL or a justified alternative; Role-based access control; Multifactor authentication; Encryption in transit and at rest; Tamper-evident audit logs; Automated backups; Disaster-recovery procedures; Secure file storage; Rate limiting and abuse protection; Privacy and consent management; CI/CD pipeline; Development, staging and production environments; Automated and manual testing; Security testing and vulnerability review; Detailed technical documentation. The developer must consider applicable Zambian data-protection and electronic-transactions requirements. The final hosting and production environment will be owned and controlled by the client. Sensitive membership data must not be used to train public AI models or transferred to unauthorized third-party systems. Ownership and Handover Requirements The client must retain full institutional control of the platform. The engagement must provide for: Source code stored in a client-controlled repository from the beginning; Ownership of all custom code, designs, documentation, database structures and configuration created for the project, subject to the agreed contract; Full administrator access; Complete database and backup access; No undisclosed proprietary lock-in; Disclosure of all third-party libraries and recurring costs; Secure handover of credentials; Deployment documentation; API documentation; User and administrator manuals; Training for approved administrators; Maintenance and support plan. No subcontracting or assignment of work will be permitted without prior written approval. Initial Project Phases Phase 1: Paid Discovery and Architecture Expected outputs: Requirements-validation sessions; Functional specification; User-role and permission matrix; System architecture; Database design; Security and threat model; User journeys; Wireframes; Development roadmap; Milestone plan; Final cost and timeline. Phase 2: Core MVP Development Priority functions may include: Membership registration and approval; Digital member account; Geographic zoning; Role-based administration; Task management; Meeting registration; Reporting; Initial dashboards; Notifications; Audit and security controls. Phase 3: Expanded Governance and Engagement May include: Organizational maturity workflows; Internal elections; Complaints and disciplinary cases; E-Classroom; Visionary Contest; Rewards and quizzes; Advanced analytics; AI-assisted functions. Phase 4: Pilot, Deployment and Support Controlled pilot; Security testing; User acceptance testing; Staff training; Production deployment; Documentation; Post-launch support; Maintenance agreement. Required Qualifications Applicants should demonstrate: At least 7 years of relevant software-development experience, or equivalent evidence of senior capability; Strong software-architecture and full-stack development experience; Experience building role-based, workflow-heavy or membership-management platforms; Experience with secure authentication, permissions, audit logs and sensitive data; Strong database and API design skills; Experience with cloud deployment, DevOps and production support; Ability to produce clear technical and user documentation; Strong project-management and communication skills; Ability to work with non-technical stakeholders; Capacity to begin promptly and work consistently. Experience in any of the following will be an advantage: Civic technology; Large membership systems; Government or public-sector systems; Education platforms; Fintech; Health systems; Internal voting systems; AI-assisted document assessment; Low-bandwidth African digital environments; Data-protection and cybersecurity projects. Individual Developers and Teams Senior individual developers may apply. Small teams or agencies may also apply, but they must clearly identify the actual people who will perform the work. A proposed team should ideally cover: Software architecture; Backend development; Frontend or mobile development; UI/UX design; Quality assurance; DevOps and cybersecurity; Product or business analysis. Undisclosed subcontractors will not be accepted. Mandatory Application Requirements Your proposal must include all of the following: A current CV or résumé in PDF format. This is mandatory. For a team or agency, submit one PDF containing the CVs of the proposed technical lead and all key team members. A short introduction explaining why you are suitable for this project. Two or three relevant case studies. Links to relevant live systems, portfolio work or code repositories where available. Your exact role in each referenced project. Your proposed technology stack and the reason for your recommendation. Your preliminary architecture approach. Your proposed development phases. Estimated timeline for discovery and MVP delivery. Your availability and proposed weekly commitment. Your preferred commercial structure. Details of your post-launch maintenance and support. Confirmation that you are willing to sign an NDA. Confirmation that source code and project assets will be maintained in client-controlled systems. Applications submitted without the required PDF CV will not be reviewed. For quality control, begin your proposal with the words: DIGITAL INSTITUTION Screening Questions Please answer the following in your proposal: What is the most complex role-based or workflow-driven platform you have built? What specific responsibilities did you personally perform on that project? How would you design the platform to grow from a small founding membership to millions of records? How would you protect sensitive membership and political-affiliation data? How would you implement role-based access across National, Provincial, District, Ward and Unit levels? How would you design a secret and auditable internal-election system? How would you support members with weak internet access or no smartphone? How would you ensure that the client can replace the developer in the future without losing control of the system? What information would you require before giving a reliable cost and timeline? Are you applying as an individual or as a team? If a team, identify each person’s role and availability. Have you attached the required CV or team CVs in PDF format? When can you begin? Selection Process The anticipated process is: Review of proposals and mandatory PDF CVs; Portfolio and reference assessment; Technical interview; Architecture discussion; NDA execution; Paid discovery engagement; Final milestone agreement; Development commencement. We intend to begin shortlisting and interviewing qualified applicants promptly. Engagement Details Experience level: Expert Initial engagement: Paid discovery followed by phased development Project duration: Approximately 1–3 months for the initial phases, subject to discovery Possibility of long-term work: Yes Location: Remote, with coordination with Zambia-based stakeholders Budget: Open to technically justified proposals Selection basis: Architecture, security, relevant experience, delivery capacity, communication, ownership safeguards and value—not merely the lowest price This project requires a developer who can think beyond individual features and help build a secure, sustainable and expandable digital institution.