Post: Data-Statistic,Officer
UNOPS North America Regional Office The Chrysler Building 405 Lexington Avenue,
5th Floor New York
Tel: +1 212 457-4000
UNOPS mission is to expand the capacity of the UN system and
its partners to implement peacebuilding, humanitarian and development
operations that matter for people in need. Working in some of the world’s most
challenging environments,
UNOPS vision is to always satisfy partners with
management services that meet world-class standards of quality, speed and cost
effectiveness. By assisting UN organizations, international financial
institutions, governments and other development partners, UNOPS makes
significant, tangible contributions to results on the ground. UNOPS employs
more than 6000 personnel and on behalf of its partners creates thousands more
work opportunities in local communities. With its headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark,
a network of five regional offices and a further 20 operations and project
centres, UNOPS oversees activities in more than 80 countries. UNOPS is
committed to achieving a truly diverse workforce.
Background Information - Development Group Cluster
Development Group Cluster
The UNOPS Development Group Cluster is based in the North
America Office and supports a diverse and complex portfolio including partners
such as the United Nations Development Programme (the Bureau for Development
Policy, the Human Development Report Office, and the Special Unit for
South-South Cooperation), the United Nations Population Fund, the United
Nations Capital Development Fund, the United Nations Secretariat and a
broadening community of primarily New York-based UN partners in the delivery of
project management, implementation and administration services.
Background Information - Job-specificGlobal Pulse is a
United Nations innovation initiative harnessing new digital data to help the
public sector understand sooner how communities are coping with the impacts of
global crises. To this end, Global Pulse is developing a twenty-first century
approach to impact monitoring, building social software for evidence-based
decision making, and establishing a network of “Pulse Labs” to mainstream the
use of real-time data analysis into development policy. Pulse Labs are national
facilities established to support the public sector by developing analytical
and technological capacity for harnessing real-time data to strengthen social
protection. The overarching objective of Global Pulse is to mainstream the use
of data mining and realtime data analytics into development organizations and
communities of practice. To achieve its goals, Global Pulse is looking for a
Data Scientist to work in the Global Pulse New York Lab to apply data mining
techniques (anomaly detection, association learning, cluster detection,
classification, and predictive modeling) to create actionable insights from a
broad range of structured and unstructured data that is growing rapidly in
scale. UNOPS has been requested to assist in the implementation of this
activity. Functional ResponsibilitiesThe Data Scientist will be responsible for
the acquisition, analysis and visualization of data from a variety of sources
in order to i) help understand emerging human vulnerabilities to socio-economic
shocks, ii) detect and highlight patterns that could indicate how people are
coping with emerging hardship, and iii) gather evidence of changes in behavior
and perception correlated with public sector policies and programmes:
Define, design and
implement research projects harnessing Big Data to improve both understanding
of population behavior, needs, and vulnerabilities as well as capacity to
monitor and evaluate the impacts of development polices and programmes;
Perform data
studies and data discovery around new data sources or new uses for existing
data sources;
Assist in
developing new approaches to detecting events and trends within real-time data
sources such as online media, social networks, imagery, geospatial data,
communications logs, transaction records, etc.;
Think
strategically about uses of data and how data use interacts with data design;
Design and
implement statistical data quality procedures around new data sources;
Implement any
software required for accessing and handling data appropriately;
Visualize and
report data findings creatively in a variety of formats;
Coordinate joint
data mining research projects with diverse partners;
Interact with the
global community through a variety of media.
CompetenciesProfessionalism: Excellent analytical and
organizational skills. Demonstrable ability to work independently with minimal
supervision, but also to function effectively as part of a team. Leadership and
Self-Management: Focuses on result for the client and responds positively to
feedback; Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive
attitude; remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure.
Knowledge Management and Learning: Shares knowledge and experience; actively works
towards continuing personal learning, acts on learning plan and applies newly
acquired skills. Communications: Speaks and writes clearly and effectively;
listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds
appropriately; asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having
two-way communication; tailors language, tone, style and format to match
audience; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people
informed. Planning & Organizing: Experience with project management.
Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; identifies
priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required; allocates
appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; foresees risks
and allows for contingencies when planning; monitors and adjusts plans and
actions as necessary; uses time efficiently. Demonstrable ability to meet
deadlines, work under pressure, manage workflows and operate as part of a
dispersed team with members across various time zones. Good organizational
skills, with timely and detail-oriented implementation of tasks. Teamwork:
Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits
input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise; is willing to learn
from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts in
accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely
reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint
responsibility for team shortcomings. Education/Experience/Language
requirements EDUCATION Masters degree in computer science, statistics, applied
mathematics, physics, computational finance, economics, engineering or other
related technical disciplines. A bachelor’s degree and additional years
relevant experience will be considered in lieu of higher degree. A PhD in a
relevant field will be considered a plus.
EXPERIENCE
- Five years of progressively responsible experience in data analysis or data visualization required;
- Experience working with quantitative and qualitative data required;
- Experience with scripting, coding, and web design for data access, analysis and presentation required;
- Experience working with Big Data, mobile phone call detail records, social network data, or geospatial data/satellite imagery required,
- Familiarity with analytical techniques such as text mining, sentiment analysis, machine learning, predictive analysis, event detection, or modeling of complex systems desirable;
- Experience in a branch of computational informatics (development, health, bio-, geo-, etc desirable;
- Experience working in the fields of global development or crisis management desirable;
- Experience analyzing data from social monitoring systems, monitoring and evaluation work, or other survey work in developing countries desirable.
- Experience writing scientific articles desirable.
- Demonstrated experience presenting work to both technical and non-technical audiences;
- Willingness to evaluate and adopt the latest advances in AI, machine learning, predictive analysis and visualization.
- Curiosity and ability to look at data problems in different creative ways.
LANGUAGE Fluency in the English language is required for
this position.
Contract type, level and duration
Contract type: IICA Contract level: IICA - 2 Contract
duration: 6 months (renewable) For more details about the ICA contractual modality, please follow this
link: http://www.unops.org/ENGLISH/WHOWENEED/CONTRACT-TYPES/Pages/Individual-Contractor-Agreements-ICAs.aspx
Additional Considerations
- Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time (CET)
- 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.
- For staff positions UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
- The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.
- Closing Date: Monday, 13 May 2013
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.