The Hunger Monitoring Unit (RAMAH) in WFP’s Research Assessment and Monitoring (RAM) Division manages WFP’s global hunger monitoring systems, building upon the successes of the mobile Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping (mVAM) initiative. This entails the establishment and oversight of WFP’s near real-time food security and nutrition monitoring systems in close to 40 countries in partnership with other UN agencies and joint food security platforms, as well as developing advanced analytical approaches to ensure timely and holistic views of the food security and nutrition situation globally.

Data from these systems flows into the HungerMap LIVE (hungermap.wfp.org), WFP’s global hunger monitoring system. This information is also published through Global and Regional Insights and Key Trends reports and weekly global, country and sub-national Hunger and COVID-19 Snapshots, as well as country reports and bulletins, enabling decision makers to monitor the situation effectively, identify problems in near real-time and adopt early mitigation actions.

The consolidation of these analysis pipelines requires technical capacity within the Hunger Monitoring Unit to establish, manage and streamline the necessary data pipelines, infrastructure and other data management tools to ensure that data moves seamlessly and securely from collection to processing, display, visualisations and analytics. To support this effort, WFP is recruiting a data scientist with a proven track record of developing and maintaining data pipelines and databases.

ACCOUNTABIILITIES / RESPONSIBILITIES:

The consultant will join the Hunger Monitoring Unit’s team under the direct management of the team leader and the operations manager based in Rome, and will be responsible for the following activities:

• Support with the maintenance and automation of the Hunger Monitoring Unit’s activities,including near real-time data ingestion, management, processing/analysis, dashboards, and visualizations

• Manage, build and streamline data pipelines for the processing and analysis of near real-time monitoring systems, with a focus on consolidating current and new automation pipelines into resilient products to ensure sustainability and scalability in the long-run; advise on best practices related to data pipelines.

• Perform ad-hoc advanced statistical analysis.

• Build dashboards, and visualization products.

• Produce interactive dashboards and trend graphs to visualize the data for internal quality checks, as well as for external publication.

• Create customized dashboards for WFP country offices

• Build automated dashboards for monitoring data quality

• Liaise with the Hunger Monitoring Unit’s software development team on the harmonization of tools and development patterns, including code maintenance in version control, system management through automation, and deployment strategies.

• Contribute to developing guidance and training materials for tools in the humanitarian open-source community.

• Facilitate trainings on data analysis, data pipelines, and data visualization targeting WFP staff and partners.

• Ensure adherence to WFP policies regarding data, including privacy, security, data management, and documenting code.

• Perform any other task as required.

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

• Data pipelines across countries with near real-time food security monitoring systems are established, maintained and streamlined.

• Data quality dashboards built for all near-real time monitoring countries.

• Interactive and/or customized dashboards developed on request.

• Infrastructure built for secure data sharing with internal and external partners.

• Ad hoc analysis conducted for WFP country offices and partners.

• Trainings provided and guidance materials developed on data analysis, scripting and coding best practices.

• Trainings on data visualization provided to WFP staff and/or partners.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

Advanced university degree in data science, computer science, programming, social science, mathematics, economics, engineering or a similar field.

Experience:

At least 4 years of experience in data science related field.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Experience with Python and proficient with at least one other high-level programming language (Java preferred).

• Experience designing and maintaining databases (SQL required, noSQL a plus).

• Experience with managing survey data or large databases.

• Experience with developing and maintaining data pipelines.

• Experience making dashboards (e.g. Tableau) is desired.

• Experience in GIS (QGIS, GDAL, PostGIS) is an asset.

• Experience working with the humanitarian sector or in a social science field is an asset.

Languages: Excellent spoken and written English.

Terms and Conditions

WFP offers a competitive compensation package which will be determined by the contract type and selected candidate’s qualifications and experience.

Please visit the following websites for detailed information on working with WFP.

http://www.wfp.org Click on: “Our work” and “Countries” to learn more about WFP’s operations.

Deadline for applications: 12 September 2021

Ref.: VA No. 147163

Qualified female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply

WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil

Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations

system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.

Apply now

Added 2 years ago - Updated 2 years ago - Source: wfp.org