UN Data Engineer Job Opportunities – United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Job Title:        Data Engineer
Organization: United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Duty Station: Kampala,
Uganda
Reports to: Senior
Data Engineer
About UNDP:
The United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) is the United Nation’s global development network.
UNDP advocates for change and connects countries to knowledge, experience and
resources to help people build a better life. The UNDP provides expert advice,
training, grant support to developing countries including Uganda with
increasing emphasis on assistance to the least developed countries. 
About Global Pulse:
Global Pulse is an
innovation initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Big Data. Its
vision is a future in which big data is harnessed safely and responsibly as a
public good. Its mission is to accelerate discovery, development and scaled
adoption of big data innovation for sustainable development and humanitarian
action. Global Pulse is building a catalytic network of in-country innovation
centers, which will test new tools, data and analysis, share what lessons with
the global community, mainstream successful approaches for real-time impact
monitoring into policymaking. The first Lab has been established in New York
(Pulse Lab New York) followed by Jakarta, Indonesia and Kampala, Uganda. Pulse
Lab Kampala is an inter-agency initiative of the United Nations under the
leadership of the UN Resident Coordinator in Uganda. The first of its kind in
Africa, it brings together researchers from Government, the UN,
non-governmental organizations and private sector to explore the utility of new
sources of digital “Big Data” (such as social media, mobile data, online
information) and real-time analysis techniques for sustainable development and
humanitarian assistance.
Job Summary:  The Data Engineer will work to access and
derive insights from large data sets to solve problems. He or she must be able
to work with a variety of data types, programming languages and platforms, must
be comfortable with both hands-on development and research support, and must be
adept at both understanding the information content of data and transforming
and preparing it for analytical and reporting purposes.
Key Duties and Responsibilities: 
·        
Use
appropriate hardware and software for processing data from open source and
commercial sector and a list of computing platforms that Pulse Lab Kampala
already has access to through global and local partnerships;
·        
Recommend
solutions for data engineering in line with the Pulse Lab Kampala research plan
and given the data types and characteristics of Pulse Lab Kampala’s research;
·        
Provide
technical input and support to the design and implementation of projects in the
portfolio through consultation with the Government, donors, UN agencies,
NGOs/CSOs and other partners; 
·        
Conduct
analyses of the current technical systems and provide recommendations to Pulse
Lab Kampala stakeholders;
·        
provide
quality technical support in data management, data streaming and systems
integration.
·        
Effectively
use and apply new technologies to enable more efficiency within Pulse Lab
Kampala research;
·        
Participate
in the production of Pulse Lab Toolkits across the Global Pulse Lab Network;
·        
Support
knowledge generation and knowledge sharing based on project experiences, and,
when appropriate, make contributions to knowledge networks and communities of
practice;
·        
Actively
participate in discussions related to technical aspects of data engineering and
analytics as well as the identification of common engineering and processing
functionalities with Global Pulse labs;
·        
Produce
open source standard documents for the toolkit developed;
·        
Extract
and prepare data for analysis from big and small datasets including from
official statistics;
·        
Work
with Pulse Lab Kampala Research Team to interpret analysis results
quantitatively.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
·        
The
ideal applicant for the United Nations UNDP Data Engineer job placement should
hold an advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Computer
Science, Machine Learning, Mathematics, Statistics, or related field. A
first-level university degree in combination with five years of qualifying
experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
·        
Three years
of experience in the following:
o   Experience working on machine learning
algorithms or other aspects of AI;
o   Experience with stream computing and data
warehousing;
o   Experience with rapid application development
(agile, extreme, scrum, lean);
o   Experience working with Amazon EC2 or Hadoop
or similar;
o   Experience working with open source data
processing frameworks is a plus;
Competencies
Core Competencies:
·        
Demonstrates
integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards
·        
Advocates
and promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of the UN
·        
Displays
cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and
adaptability
·        
Treats
all people fairly without favoritism
·        
Demonstrates
and promotes the values of the UN in actions and decisions and acts in
accordance with the standard of conduct for international civil servants.
·        
Shows
willingness to work without bias with all persons regardless of gender,
nationality, religion or culture
·        
Contributes
effectively to team-based activities, working collaboratively and sharing
information openly; works effectively with colleagues inside the UN as well as
its partners and other stakeholders to pursue common goals
·        
Facilitates
and encourages open communication in the team, communicating effectively
·        
Remains
calm, composed and patient when facing conflict, manages conflict productively,
focusing on mutually acceptable solutions
·        
Takes
initiative and seeks opportunities to initiate action
·        
Actively
produces and disseminates new knowledge; creates/contributes to mechanisms to
collect and share knowledge
·        
Actively
seeks learning opportunities; demonstrates commitment to ongoing professional
development
·        
Proposes
innovative ideas and new solutions to work
Functional Competencies:
·        
Excellent
programming skills using script languages such as Python and PHP;
·        
Good
understanding of data engineering and data processing solutions and platform;
·        
Fair
knowledge of big data, data analysis, and system performance;
·        
Comfortable
in a dynamic and flexible work environment, with an innovative mindset and in a
lab environment;
·        
Demonstrating/safeguarding
ethics and integrity;
·        
Demonstrate
corporate knowledge and sound judgment;
·        
Self-development,
initiative-taking, eager to learn new technologies;
·        
Acting
as a team player and facilitating teamwork;
·        
Facilitating
and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively;
·        
Creating
synergies through self-control;
·        
Managing
conflict;
·        
Learning
and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others. Promoting learning
and knowledge management/sharing is the responsibility of each staff member;
·        
Informed
and transparent decision making;
·        
Independent
and driven, and able to manage and lead without close supervision;
·        
Flexible,
adaptable, and comfortable working in a start-up environment;
·        
Excellent
communication skills;
·        
Flexible,
adaptable, and comfortable working in a start-up environment;
·        
Ability
to work directly with internal and external clients to define requirements for
analysis and reporting.
UNDP is committed to
achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture.
Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with
disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated
with the strictest confidence.
How to Apply:
All suitably
qualified and interested candidates who so desire to join the United Nations
Development Programme, UNDP, in the aforementioned capacity should endeavor to
Apply Online by Clicking on the link below. Please further review job
requirements and if competent Click Apply Now.
Deadline: 1st August 2018
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