INTERN - INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

Contract

This is a I-1 contract. It usually requires 0 years of experience, depending on education. More about I-1 contracts.

Org. Setting and Reporting This position is located in the Policy and Best Practices Service (PBPS), Division of Policy, Evaluation and Training (DPET), Department of Peace Operation (DPO). The Intern will report to the Data Scientist and the Senior Programme Management Officer of the Addressing Misinformation/Disinformation Team.

The Department of Peace Operation (DPO) provides political and executive direction to UN Peacekeeping operations and maintains contact with the Security Council, troop and financial contributors, and parties to the conflict in the implementation of Security Council mandates. The Department works to integrate the efforts of UN, governmental and non-governmental entities in the context of peacekeeping operations.

The Policy, Evaluation and Training Division (DPET) is mandated to develop and disseminate the policy and doctrine guiding the work of Peacekeeping Operations. In addition, the division has the responsibility to evaluate, at the request of the heads of the departments, how those policies are being applied, gather lessons learned and best practices, and use that information to guide the development, coordination and delivery of standardized training, so as to complete the learning cycle. DPET is also responsible for developing and maintaining strategic cooperation with various UN and external partners. It provides support to both Department of Peace Operations (DPO) and Department of Operational Support (DOS).

Mis and disinformation have been identified as key threats to the safety and security of peacekeepers as well as the ability of peacekeeping missions to implement their mandate. The Addressing Mis and disinformation Team in DPO is working to strengthen the monitoring, analysis and responses to mis/disinformation and hate speech, in order to strengthen information integrity in mission settings. Part of the approach is to develop data science methods and tools to anticipate, monitor and analyse mis and disinformation, drawing from both online and offline media sources.

This internship is UNPAID and is designed to be for a period of three months with the opportunity of extension depending on the needs of the Division. Interns may work part-time (2-3 days per week, at least 20 hours) or full-time (five days per week, 35 hours) under the supervision of a staff member in the team. This internship may be carried out remotely, in-person, or hybrid.

Responsibilities Within delegated authority, the intern will be responsible for the following duties:

• Supporting monitoring and analysis and a rapid turnaround thereof, including of country-specific and regional trends and patterns;
• Supporting subject experts to visualize and report data findings creatively in a variety of formats, including the design and development of interactive visualizations and dashboards;
• Contributing to the design, implementation and evaluation of AI, data science and visual analytics architectures and pipelines to analyze data for supporting decision making;
• Contributing to the development and application of analysis methods to support peacekeeping missions for misinformation and disinformation analysis;
• Supporting the team to create efficient data processing pipelines;
• Reviewing and documenting scientific background research on relevant topics;
• Assisting in drafting training materials, other policies, guidelines and doctrine, and analysis report;

• Perform other duties as appropriate.

  Competencies Professionalism: Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations.

Planning and organizing: 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.

Technological awareness: Keeps abreast of available technology. Understands applicability and limitations of technology to the work of the office. Actively seeks to apply technology to appropriate tasks. Shows willingness to learn new technology.

Education To qualify for an internship with the United Nations Internship Programme, the following conditions must be met:

1. Applicants at the time of application must meet one of the following requirements: (a) Be enrolled in, or have completed, a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher); or, (b) Be enrolled in, or have completed, the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum bachelor's level or equivalent)

2. The field of study should be computer science, physics, mathematics, statistics, computation social science, or related field. Graduates of social sciences, including international relations, politics, law, anthropology, who have computational science skills will also be considered.

Knowledge or experience of any of the following is desirable: - Python, R or an equivalent programming environment - AI frameworks and machine learning software packages (e.g. TensorFlow, or PyTorch) - Open-source intelligence information gathering and analysis - Natural Language Processing (NLP) methodologies for analysing social media data (including entity extraction, topic modelling and text classification) - Social sciences techniques around information sharing - Speech-to-text AI technologies - Webscraping - Interactive data visualization development and information design such of D3.js, Crossfilter/dc.js, Leaflet.js, Processing.js, or a similar package - Big Data and real-time analytics technologies, Azure, AWS, Spark and parallel programming paradigms - Full-stack development, API management, and building end-to-end data science prototyping pipelines - Projects that integrate ICTs and social sciences - Innovation techniques for eliciting challenges and needs - Writing technical reports and papers for a diverse audience of readers - Communicating technical concepts to individuals with a broad range of technical backgrounds

Work Experience No working experience is required to apply for the United Nations Internship Programme. Your training, education, advance course work or skills should benefit the United Nations during your internship.

Languages English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. Fluency in spoken and written English is required for the internship. Knowledge of an additional UN language is an asset. Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish are the official languages of the United Nations Secretariat.

Assessment Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by competency-based interview.

Special Notice The United Nations Secretariat is committed to achieving 50/50 gender balance and geographical diversity in its staff. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for this position.

The United Nations does not financially remunerate interns. Costs and arrangements for travel, visas, accommodation, and living expenses are the responsibility of interns or their sponsoring institutions. For internships in the United States of America, interns who are not United States citizens, permanent residents, or not currently in the United States on a non-immigrant visa status will be required to obtain a G-4 visa. If already in the United States of America on another non-immigrant visa status other than G-4, interns will be responsible for ensuring that they have a valid visa and, if required, employment authorization, allowing them to undertake the internship. For internships outside the United States, interns who are not citizens of the country, permanent residents, or not currently in the country's non-immigrant visa status will be required to obtain a valid visa and work permit, allowing them to undertake the internship.

Applicants who are children or siblings (including stepchildren, half-siblings, or stepsiblings) of a staff member and sons or daughters-in-law may not be engaged as an intern.

In your Motivational Statement, please indicate when you would like to start your internship. Please note that start and end dates are flexible. A completed online application is required. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

The Motivational Statement must also include: •Title of degree you are currently pursuing. •Graduation Date (When will you be graduating/have graduated from the programme?) •Explain why you are the best candidate for this specific internship - Explain your interest in the United Nations Internship Programme

In your online Personal History Profile, be sure to include all past work experiences, IT skills, and three references.

Due to the high volume of applications received, we can ONLY contact successful candidates.

United Nations Considerations According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Candidates will not be considered for employment with the United Nations if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts. The term “sexual exploitation” means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. The term “sexual abuse” means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions. The term “sexual harassment” means any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offence or humiliation, when such conduct interferes with work, is made a condition of employment or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, and when the gravity of the conduct warrants the termination of the perpetrator’s working relationship. Candidates who have committed crimes other than minor traffic offences may not be considered for employment.

Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible. The United Nations places no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs. The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment.

Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process.

The paramount consideration in the appointment, transfer, or promotion of staff shall be the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. By accepting an offer of appointment, United Nations staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General and assignment by him or her to any activities or offices of the United Nations in accordance with staff regulation 1.2 (c). In this context, all internationally recruited staff members shall be required to move periodically to discharge new functions within or across duty stations under conditions established by the Secretary-General.

Applicants are urged to follow carefully all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira. For more detailed guidance, applicants may refer to the Manual for the Applicant, which can be accessed by clicking on “Manuals” hyper-link on the upper right side of the inspira account-holder homepage.

The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications according to the instructions provided in inspira to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application.

Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on the deadline date.

No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.