ICT Senior Assistant (Data Science Assistant)

UNOPS supports partners to build a better future by providing services that increase the efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability of peacebuilding, humanitarian, and development projects.  Mandated as a central resource of the United Nations, UNOPS provides sustainable project management, procurement, and infrastructure services to a wide range of governments, donors, and United Nations organizations.

New York Service Cluster (NYSC) supports the United Nations Secretariat, as well as other New York-based United Nations organizations, bilateral and multilateral partners in the delivery of UNOPS mandate in project management, infrastructure management, and procurement management.

Sustainable Development Cluster (SDC) supports diverse partners with peacebuilding, humanitarian, and development operations. It was formed by combining the following portfolios: Grants Management Services (GMS), UN Technology Support Services (UNTSS), Development and Special Initiatives Portfolio (DSIP). It provides Services to partners' programmes that are designed, structured, and managed with a global perspective and primarily serving partners headquartered in New York.  The SDC has a footprint of approximately 125 countries.

This is a position in UNOPS for supporting projects carried out for or in the United Nations Secretariat. The incumbent of this position will be a personnel of UNOPS under its full responsibility.

Purpose and Scope of Assignment 

Under the overall supervision of UNOPS Senior Programme Manager, the incumbent will directly work under designated officer and will be responsible for:

• Assist the data manager and analysts in developing and improving standard templates and workflows related to cross-pillar and integrated data analytics;

• Assist in survey data management by pre-processing, aggregating, transforming data to ensure quality, fitness and integration;

• Assist in research, design and implementation of statistical methods for survey data analytics such as bias, hypothesis, correlation, and trend testing;

• Assist in building BI models and dashboards to summarize cross-sectional and longitudinal survey analytics;

• Assist in testing and implementation of Azure AI and Machine Learning tools for advanced data preparation, experimentation, and feature extraction;

• Assist in developing documentation and training materials;

• Perform other duties as may be reasonably required and in line with the incumbent’s scope of  services above. 

 Education 

• High school diploma or equivalent. 

• First-level university degree (Bachelor’s degree) or technical/professional diploma preferably in Applied Mathematics, Physics, Statistics, Computer Science, Information Systems / Technology, Engineering or related field is an asset or advantage.

b. Work Experience 

Required

• A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible professional experience in the field of Information and Communications Technologies, Engineering or other related fields is required. A candidate with a Bachelor’s degree must have at least one (1) year of experience in the relevant area. A candidate who has a technical /professional diploma must have at least three (3) years of experience in the relevant area;

• A minimum of one (1) year of experience in quantitative research, applied statistics or numerical modeling;

• A minimum of one (1) year of experience assisting with the implementation and maintenance of analytical solutions using cloud-based tools or cloud-deployable languages such as Python or Scala or Spark

Desirable

• Experience with Machine Learning Python client libraries and statistical packages;

• Experience in performing machine learning tasks with the Spark scalable MLlib and Spark ML packages on an Azure HDInsight Spark cluster.

• Experience with Power BI, DAX, advanced Excel Formulas and Power Query;

• Experience with the following Office365 tools: Flow, Forms, PowerApps and SharePoint;

• Should have a good data intuition – be good at identifying data logistics, characteristics, quality and patterns;

• Ability to build BI workflows and dashboards to visualize key metrics and data summaries;

• Ability to synthesize and present complex data in a simple, compelling, meaningful way;

• Ability to take initiative, assess priorities, handle multiple assignments, and meet deadlines;

Language:

• English and French are the working languages of the UN. 

• For this job opening, fluency in English (both oral and written) is required; 

• Knowledge of another UN official language is desirable.

Contract type: Local Individual Contractor Agreement (LICA) 

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types
• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few Mandatory Courses (around 4 hours) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS.
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns.
Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development.

UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources.

Working with us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.

Background Information - Sustainable Development Cluster 

Based in New York, the Sustainable Development Cluster (SDC) supports diverse partners with their peacebuilding, humanitarian and development operations.

The SDC’s services include grants management, development and special initiatives support, and technology support to the UN and UN agencies.

The SDC is part of the New York Service Cluster that supports the United Nations Secretariat, as well as a broadening community of other New York-based United Nations organizations, bilateral and multilateral partners in the delivery of UNOPS mandate in project management, infrastructure management, and procurement management.