Junior Data Scientist Officer

Contract

This is a UNV National Youth contract. This kind of contract is known as National UN Volunteer. It is normally only for nationals. More about UNV National Youth contracts.

The Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development (IICPSD) is the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) global organization mandated to leverage the role of the private sector in development. The IICPSD was established in Istanbul, Turkey on the basis of the Partnership Framework Agreement signed between the Government of the Republic of Turkey and the United Nations Development Program in March 2011. The center is one of the six global thematic policy centers of UNDP, supports the private sector and foundations to become transformative partners in development through research, advocacy, facilitation of public-private dialogue and brokering partnerships. IICPSD leads UNDP’s global work on private sector and foundations and supports UNDP’s offices all around the world.
This UNV assignment is part of UNDP IICPSD’s recent initiative SDG AI Lab, which is volunteer-driven initiative, harnessing the potential of frontier digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and GIS for sustainable development. The lab combines UN values and commitment to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals with the best industry practices of the leading technological companies. Currently, the lab through its partnerships, is exploring and developing digital solutions for sustainable development in 17 countries around the world. Moreover, SDG AI Lab is actively establishing partnerships with the global tech leaders such as Google, Esri and others.
The Junior Data Science Officer will join the team of onsite volunteer data scientists and support the work on developing and implementing digital solutions for sustainable development The UN Volunteer will also contribute to data acquisition, preparation, analysis, and visualizations efforts.
Due to COVID-19 pandemic, relocation to Istanbul and office presence are not required for this assignment.

UNDP IICPSD’s initiative SDG AI Lab aims to harness the potential of frontier digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and GIS for sustainable development. The Junior Data Science Officer will support SDG AI Lab’s work in development and implementation of digital solutions using Data Science, Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing.
Under the direct supervision of UNDP IICPSD Technical Specialist, the UN Youth Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

• Assist the ongoing research efforts on application of big data and machine learning approaches to development issues.
• Support the team in developing and implementing digital solutions to tackle issues in the field of economic and international development.
• Contribute to data acquisition, preparation, analysis, and visualizations efforts. • Assist the organization of large datasets to get actionable insights from them.
• Continuously support the data maintenance and data acquisition activities of the SDG AI Lab.
• Support research work to unravel promising fields in development for the application of AI.
• Provide as needed support to the Technical Specialist as required for, amongst others, participating in meetings, conferences, providing administrative and communications support, drafting meeting minutes and perform other functions and duties.

• Professionalism • Integrity • Teamwork and respect for diversity • Commitment to continuous learning • Planning and organizing • Communication • Flexibility • Genuine commitment towards the principles of voluntary engagement, which includes solidarity, compassion, reciprocity and self-reliance; and commitment towards UNDP’s mission and vision, as well as to the UN Core Values.

statistics, data science, data visualization, machine learning, natural language processing (Demonstrated interest and/or experience up to 2 years is an asset) • Proficiency in programming languages, preferably Python, or R, SQL, Java
• Hands-on experience on developing dashboard using Power BI, Tableau and D3.js would be an asset • Experience with common data science toolkits would be an asset. • Previous experience as a volunteer and/or experience of another culture, (i.e. studies, volunteer work, internship) would be highly regarded; • Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. Experience with common data science toolkits would be an asset.

With a population of 15 million, Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey and the 15th largest city in the world. The official language of the country is Turkish while English is the working language of UNDP. Istanbul is a transcontinental city, its commercial and historical center lies on the European side, while a third of its population lives on the Asian side. This city has a strategic transition position connecting Europe and the Middle East, and the only sea route between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. There are no mandatory immunization or vaccination requirements for Turkey. English speaking medical and dental services for international personnel are available.