Data Scientist

Job Description

Background

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are core principles at UNDP: we value diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate, we foster inclusion as a way of ensuring all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, and we ensure equity and fairness in all our actions. Taking a 'leave no one behind' approach to our diversity efforts means increasing representation of underserved populations. People who identify as belonging to marginalized or excluded populations are strongly encouraged to apply. Learn more about working at UNDP including our values and inspiring stories.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Office/Unit/Project Description

The UNDP serves as the knowledge frontier for sustainable development within the UN Development System, acting as the integrator for collective action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through its policy work at Headquarters, Regional, and Country Office (CO) levels, UNDP bridges local knowledge with cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy. In this context, UNDP invests in the Global Policy Network (GPN), which consists of field-based and global technical expertise across diverse knowledge areas, supporting the signature solutions and organizational capabilities outlined in its Strategic Plan.

Within the GPN, the Crisis Bureau (CB) leads UNDP's corporate strategies for crisis prevention, response, and recovery. It oversees corporate support for crisis-related situations and ensures the rapid deployment of reliable capacities to COs. The CB's mandate is to provide strategic direction and operational support to UNDP country offices before, during, and after crises.

The Crisis Readiness, Response, and Recovery Team (C3RT), operating within the CB, coordinates support for country operations in collaboration with other GPN teams. C3RT's mission is to deliver strong, coherent, and coordinated support to COs facing crises and fragility, ensuring integrated UNDP assistance across the full spectrum of the GPN's services. The team steers collaboration between GPN teams, regional bureaus, and CO counterparts, ensuring that UNDP's corporate crisis response capacity is both efficient and effective.

Key Responsibilities of C3RT:

• Evaluation and Coordination: Assess the needs of COs, evaluate tools, and provide overall coordination for assessments.
• Assessment and Digital Solutions: Provide technical support for rolling out UNDP-specific assessments, such as RAPIDA, HBDA, and SEIA. The C3RT acts as the custodian for all UNDP-managed assessment methodologies, facilitating data-driven decision-making to select the most suitable methodologies for COs.
• Innovation in Assessments: Continuously develop and improve assessment tools, including digital innovations. C3RT also identifies and nurtures internal capabilities for crisis assessments.
• Crisis Assessment Tools:
• UNDP's RAPIDA tool combines GIS, remote sensing, and Key Informant Interviews (KII) to deliver rapid, accurate crisis assessments. It integrates geospatial data, statistics, and field insights through the Geo-HUB portal, offering a seamless platform for real-time analysis and decision-making during crises. This approach ensures a comprehensive understanding of the situation on the ground.
• Household and Building Damage Assessment (HBDA): Supported by IMPACT Initiatives, HBDA is a tool designed to assess the damage to households, buildings, and infrastructure during crises. It allows for prompt georeferenced data collection, enabling governments to prioritize recovery efforts. The toolkit has been enhanced to function in diverse crisis settings following pilot tests in the Caribbean and Europe.
• Digital Socio-Economic Impact Assessment (SEIA): SEIA, adapted from the HBDA toolkit in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, assesses the pandemic's socioeconomic impact on households and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs). This tool has been deployed in several UNDP country offices in collaboration with national and international partners.

These assessments, coordinated with national and international stakeholders, help governments identify urgent and medium-to-long-term recovery measures, supporting both immediate response and deeper, long-term analysis.

C3RT has established an Assessments and Digital Solutions Team, composed of multidisciplinary experts organized regionally to provide remote technical support to UNDP country offices. This team includes professionals specializing in rapid crisis assessments, methodology and survey design, economics, statistics, information management, digital data collection (e.g., Kobo Toolbox), data analysis and visualization, and GIS. The team is coordinated by C3RT, with members working remotely.

Scope of Work

The Data Scientist plays a crucial role within Assessment and Digital Solutions of CB, which is dedicated to leveraging geospatial information and data science techniques to enhance both crisis response and research innovation. This position focuses on two critical areas: Crisis Response, where the Data Scientist provides immediate, time-sensitive support to Country Offices with remote sensing, GIS, and statistical assessments, particularly in the critical aftermath of crises when rapid, accurate data is essential for effective response; and Research & Methodology Development, contributing to statistical functions by leading research initiatives focused on methodology design, data collection, analysis, and the development of training programs for digital assessments.

Key responsibilities include delivering geospatial analysis, remote sensing support, and data science expertise to Country Offices, with a strong emphasis on the immediate post-crisis phase, ensuring fast and efficient data-driven responses during critical moments. The Data Scientist will also collaborate on developing innovative methodologies for assessments and statistical analysis, and create and enhance training materials for digital assessments and capacity-building programs. Working closely with a multidisciplinary team of researchers, analysts, Information Management Officers (IMOs), and other stakeholders, the Data Scientist will design and implement spatial solutions that deliver impactful, data-driven insights. Additionally, the role involves continuously exploring and integrating cutting-edge geospatial technologies and data science techniques to improve both the organization's rapid crisis response capabilities and its overall research outcomes.

Expected Outputs and deliverables

Ensure Research & Development for Digital Assessments.

• Methodology Innovation: Research and develop new methodologies for assessing impact after major disasters and conflicts, utilizing satellite imagery and other relevant data sources.
• Data-Driven Insights: Identify trends, generate regular data-driven reports, and perform data mining and analysis through system queries to gather relevant information. Develop forecasts based on the collected data as required.
• Efficient Data Pipelines: Design and implement efficient data pipelines by leveraging machine learning/AI frameworks, deploying code on distributed networks, and using cloud-based platforms.
• Novel Data Collection Approaches: Identify emerging technologies and design innovative data collection strategies tailored to specific research questions or problem areas, including the use of alternative or non-traditional data sources for UNDP.
• Support to Economist Team: Assist the Economist team with secondary data research, including exploring innovative data sources such as big data and satellite imagery to enrich assessments.
• Partner Data Integration: Review data from project partners and analyze its compatibility with current methodologies and project questionnaires, ensuring it complements existing research efforts.
• External Data Compilation: Compile and process external databases to accelerate rapid response and early recovery assessments.
• Training Development: Facilitate in preparing and delivering training modules, including reviewing training materials, aligning them with program goals, organizing workshops, and coordinating meetings.

Provision of Programme Support for Crisis Rapid Response.

• Programme Coordination: Support the coordination of various initiatives under the Rapid Response programme, ensuring alignment with overall strategies and work plans.
• Progress Monitoring: Contribute to gathering information and producing regular reports on project progress to inform stakeholders and enhance programme management.
• Concept Notes and Reports: Guide in the development of concept notes, programme reports, project briefs, and partnership/resource mobilization proposals, ensuring alignment with programme plans.
• Data Quality Monitoring: Monitor the quality of data collected, perform data cleaning activities, and log changes in the dataset. Collaborate with the Assessment Officer to ensure regular updates on data quality.
• Data Visualization: Produce data visualization products, such as dashboards, infographics, and maps, using tools like Power BI and ArcGIS to provide clear insights for stakeholders.
• GIS and Satellite Analysis: Perform GIS and satellite imagery analysis, identify mapping needs, ensure accurate linkages between spatial databases and assessment data, and produce GIS-based information products.
• Survey and Feedback Coordination: Coordinate surveys, assessments, and feedback analysis to monitor learning impacts and evaluate the effectiveness of the overall programme.

Establish partnerships and open channels of communication.

• Develop and maintain strong relationships and strategic linkages with implementing and development partners, government officials, businesses, NGOs, other national stakeholders, and beneficiaries to support key objectives and ensure inclusive implementation and participation of key stakeholders in assigned portfolio.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Institutional Arrangement

• The Data Scientist will report to the Team Lead Assessmentin the Digital Assessment and Digital Solutions: Crisis Readiness, Response and Recovery Team (C3RT), Crisis Bureau, UNDP HQ.

Competencies

Complete the Competencies section for each set of competencies as follows:

Core
Achieve Results: LEVEL 1: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline Think Innovatively: LEVEL 1: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements Learn Continuously: LEVEL 1: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 1: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible Act with Determination: LEVEL 1: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident Engage and Partner: LEVEL 1: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 1: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies
Thematic Area Name Definition Business Direction and Stratgy Systems Thinking
Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system.

Business Managemen Project Management: Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals. Digital Data Collection: Being skilled in Data Sorting, Data Cleaning, Survey Administration, Presentation and Reporting including collection of Real-Time Data (e.g. mobile data, satellite data, sensor data). Digital Data Storytelling and Communications:
Skilled in building a narrative around a set of data and its accompanying visualizations to help convey the meaning of that data in a powerful and compelling fashion.

2030 Agenda: Engagement and Effectiveness

Innovation Visualization & Mapping Digital Co-Creation:
Ability to design and facilitate a process that enables a diverse group of stakeholders to solve a common problem, develop a practice, or create knowledge together. Ability to embrace diversity, work with a diverse group of stakeholders understand their interests, perspectives and views and tap into to them as a source for creativity. Ability to facilitate processes and create conditions that are open for diverse inputs, stimulate collaboration and sharing

Digital Creative Facilitation:
Ability to design workshops that considers and addresses multiple interests, agendas, worldviews; set out clear objectives and engaging activities; select appropriate tools, materials, resources that are needed to enable or support the activities. Ability to swiftly build rapport with participants and create a safe space (on-and offline) where they feel comfortable to share their views, concerns, experiences and reflections; supporting this with a range of tools to stimulate active participation. Ability to facilitate inclusive conversations,

Ability to work with a diverse set of people with different backgrounds, seniority and expert levels, using different approaches tailored to fit the people in the room, drawing out the perspectives and ideas of each individual and making decisions through deliberation and discussion across a group.

Ability to pace a session, adjust to the abilities and energy levels of attendees and the nature or purpose of an exercise. Being flexible and able to improvise; adapting and changing approaches in response to the needs, while staying true to the intent and objectives of the session.

Experience and Qualifications

Min. Education requirements

• Advanced university degree (master's degree or equivalent) in Economics, Econometrics, Statistics, Development, Information Management or similar field is required. Or
• A first-level university degree (bachelor's degree) in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Min. years of relevant work experience

A minimum of 2 years (with master's degree) or 4 years (with bachelor's degree) of experience on data analysis for assessment design, implementation, data analysis and visualization is required.

Required skills

• Experience in the use of KoBo Toolbox or similar digital data collection/assessment tools like Survey123, ODK;
• Advanced GIS mapping, data visualization and spatial analysis skills, in producing both static and dynamic/interactive maps for disaster response;
• Experience in using and producing data visualization with PowerBI/Tableau/Flourish/Google Data Studio;
• Solid understanding of spatial analysis techniques, including geoprocessing, network analysis, and spatial statistics;
• Experience using ArcGIS or/and QGIS;
• Proven knowledge of one of the programming language Python (preferred) or/and R to conduct data science analysis and training;

Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section

• At least three (3) years of experience working with data science and econometrics;
• At least three (3) years of experience working with GIS especially focusing on satellite images processing;
• Experience in post-disaster/conflict contexts;
• Experience working with remote sensing products (e.g., damaged buildings, flood areas, nighttime lights, debris estimation, damaged infrastructures and road networks, population estimates);
• Knowledge of python GIS libraries;
• Experience in using the Microsoft Azure data factory/data lakes, mining is an asset.
• Experience on training preparation and knowledge share

Required Language(s)

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required.
• Knowledge of Spanish is desirable.
• Knowledge of another UN official language is an asset.

Disclaimer

Important information for US Permanent Residents ('Green Card' holders)

Under US immigration law, acceptance of a staff position with UNDP, an international organization, may have significant implications for US Permanent Residents. UNDP advises applicants for all professional level posts that they must relinquish their US Permanent Resident status and accept a G-4 visa, or have submitted a valid application for US citizenship prior to commencement of employment.

UNDP is not in a position to provide advice or assistance on applying for US citizenship and therefore applicants are advised to seek the advice of competent immigration lawyers regarding any applications.

Applicant information about UNDP rosters

Note: UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Non-discrimination

UNDP has a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation and misconduct, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

UNDP is an equal opportunity and inclusive employer that does not discriminate based on race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.

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