Consultancy - Mapping/Data Product Lead, Office of Innovation, 24 months, Barcelona or remote, REQ

Contract

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UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, innovate...

About Giga

Launched in 2019 as a joint initiative between UNICEF and ITU, Giga has set the ambitious goal to connect every school in the world to the internet.

Half of the world’s population has no regular access to the Internet. Millions of children leave school without any digital skills, making it much more difficult for them to thrive and contribute to local and global economies. This has created a digital divide between those who are connected and those who are not, a divide that has become even wider during the Covid-19 pandemic. UNICEF and ITU have therefore joined forces to create Giga, an initiative to connect every school in the world to the Internet and address this new form of inequality.

Giga focuses on connecting schools so that children and young people have access to information, opportunity, and choice. It also uses schools as anchor points for their surrounding communities: if you connect the school, you can also connect local businesses and services. This creates opportunities for service providers to generate revenue from paying users, making connectivity more sustainable. A recent report by the Economist Intelligence Unit found that a 10% increase in school connectivity can increase effective years of schooling by 0.6% and increase GDP per capita by 1.1%.

You cannot fix a problem unless you can see it, so the first step is to map schools and their connectivity levels. Giga uses machine learning to scan satellite images and identify schools. These are then marked by coloured dots on an open-source map: green where there is good connectivity (over 5mb/s); amber where it is limited; and red where there is no connectivity at all.

Just as building railroads allowed previously isolated towns to flourish, providing good quality Internet access will allow communities to participate in the digital economy for the first time. But Giga’s work in laying the tracks for connectivity is only one part of a wider effort to bridge the digital divide. UNICEF’s Reimagine Education initiative brings all of this work together and has set the goal of connecting every child and young person – some 3.5 billion - to world-class digital learning solutions by 2030. In addition to Giga, it includes components focusing on the affordability of data and content, access to devices, teacher certification and the engagement of young people. Along with ITU’s digital skills programme and other initiatives, Reimagine Education aims to ensure that, once connected, young people are empowered with the tools they need to shape their own futures.

Our partners are a huge part of our work, supporting us with both financial resources and in-kind support. We currently have a portfolio of a small group of major financial partners, and a larger group of others who provide technical assistance on important projects, including data sharing, cost model development, and more.

You can read more about Giga’s work at https://giga.global and by following us on twitter @Gigaglobal

How can you make a difference?

We seek a strong self-motivated Product Lead who can maintain the quality of their work even under tight time constraints and who can work with a diverse interdisciplinary team of engineers, designers, data scientists and researchers to lead the development of quality data products & tools for Giga. You will:

1. Work closely with the cross-functional Giga team and the Mapping and Tech Lead, drive product development and lead the prioritization and implementation of new features to existing products such as the Project Connect platform
2. Coordinate the work of vendors and other tech partners that are supporting us build different products
3. Work with a team of engineers, designers, data scientists and researchers to define, design and build features
4. Be responsible for the products’ planning, process, policies, initiatives and execution through the lifecycle of the product. Manage Agile processes and sprint planning
5. Conduct user/market research, obtain requirements from different stakeholders and users working with UX/ UI designers to identify potential areas for growth for the product within its market.
6. Build prototypes to explore and secure a proof of concept for new technologies including automated service-level API or distributed cloud-based systems
7. Analyze the impact of these products and user adoption & satisfaction by defining and tracking key metrics
8. Create relevant documents and communication materials and communicate quantifiable impact of the work to internal and external audiences

Description of assignment

Tasks****End Product/Deliverables****Time Frame****Payment1Drive product development and prioritization & implementation of features- Assessment of existing product & toolsMonth 15%- Key objectives and roadmap for different products and toolsMonth 24%2Coordinate the work with internal teams, vendors and tech partners- Product requirement documents and user stories with technical and non-technical stakeholders

- Kickoff materials and meetings with vendors and tech companies

Month 34%- Recommendations on onboarding and offboarding materials for vendors and partners

Month 44% Work with a team of engineers, designers and researchers to build features- User stories, wireframes and final user-facing design mockups

Month 55%- Processes and communication channels established

Month 64%- New features launched and testedMonth 75% Build prototypes to explore and secure a proof of concept for new technologies- Requirements for new prototypesMonth 84%- Proof of concepts built Month 94%- Strategy for the built up of prototypes and for scaling themMonth 104% Conduct user/market research and gather user requirements from different stakeholders and users- User/market research in collaboration with UX designer and meet with different stakeholders and users to gather feedback and requirementsMonth 114%- Update product roadmaps based on gathered research, feedback and requirementsMonth 124% Analyze the impact of products and user adoption & satisfaction- Key metrics to measure impact and user adoption & satisfaction - Processes to track key metricsMonth 134%- Analysis of key metrics and adapted product roadmap based on resultsMonth 144% Document and communicate- Product progress documents and other documentation - Blogposts and other communication materialsMonth 154% Work with a team of engineers, designers and researchers to build features- User stories, wireframes and final user-facing design mockups from updated roadmapsMonth 164%- New features launched and documentedMonth 174%- Improved product development processes establishedMonth 184% Coordinate the work with internal teams, vendors and tech partners- Product requirement documents and user stories with technical and non-technical stakeholders - Kickoff materials and meetings with vendors and tech companiesMonth 194%- Regular meetings, backlog management conducted and notes compiledMonth 204%- Assessment of final products built by vendors and tech partnersMonth 214% Analyze the impact of products and user adoption & satisfaction- Analysis of key metrics and adapted product roadmap based on resultsMonth 224% Document and communicate- Product progress documents and other documentation

- Blogposts, pitch decks and other communication materials

Month 234% Completion of contract- Final handover reportMonth 245%To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• An Advanced University degree (master's or higher) in Computer Science, Engineering or similar, or equivalent work experience
• A minimum of eight years of relevant professional experience in building and shipping technical products
• Experience in creating product roadmaps and defining go-to-market strategies
• Experience working with a multidisciplinary team of designers, engineers, researchers
• Experience working in an agile software development environment
• Knowledge of project management tools like Jira, Asana, Trello
• Good verbal and communication skills
• Knowledge and experience with blockchain technology is a plus
• Work experience in developing countries and/or familiarity with emergencies is considered an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

Payment details and further considerations

• Payment of professional fees will be based on the submission of agreed deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant. • Consultant is responsible for his/her own health and travel insurance • Consultant is responsible to arrange his/her own travel, including visa

Duty Station : Barcelona or remote

Duration: 24 months

Insurance:

UNICEF will not be responsible for costs arising from accidents and/or illness incurred during the consultant’s service. Therefore, the selected candidate must provide proof of enrollment in a health/accident plan prior to starting his/her work.

How to apply:

• Interested applicant is required to submit a financial proposal with all-inclusive fee. Please complete your profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system. • Financial proposal must include travel costs (economy class), daily subsistence allowance (limited to UN official rates), and other estimated costs such as visa and travel/health insurance. Please indicate your ability, availability and financial proposal (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above. • Applications submitted without a financial proposal will not be considered.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.