International Consultant Programme Policy Officer (Data Scientist, Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping)

The Data Scientist position will contribute to strengthening the evidence agenda of the Country Office through innovative analysis, including the development and training of artificial intelligence models tailored to food security and vulnerability, thereby enhancing the efficiency of VAM analysis and enabling more precise programme design and targeting. The consultant will support geospatial visualization platform maintenance, develop probability models for road disruption and malnutrition, and improve early warning systems.

Responsibilities

• Support the periodic updates, maintenance of the VAME geospatial visualization platform (AF Pulse), integrating data from programme, assessment, monitoring, security, operations and supply chain with data collection, standardization and upload.
• Design, calibrate, and operationalize a probability model that estimates the likelihood of road disruption in proximity to conflict events.
• Update, validate, calibrate and operationalize a probability model that estimates acute malnutrition levels using acute malnutrition admission data and other related variables.
• Integrate automated models into AF Pulse to strengthen the real-time disaster impacts and exposure analysis.
• Propose a replication and scale‑up roadmap, documenting migration pathways to alternative cloud environments, producing an open‑source replication toolkit, and identifying priority countries for adaptation of the model.
• Develop, test and refine geographical-level targeting criteria and models for emergency assistance, resilience, livelihoods and social protection interventions and geographical and beneficiary targeting to ensure maximum efficiency and equity in resource allocation, minimizing geographical bias.
• Coordinate and provide technical analysis, recommendations and learnings to continuously improve the early warning workstream.
• Other tasks as required by the VAME related to Early Warning Analysis and Systems.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in social science, economics, statistics, food security, GIS, data science, or other relevant subjects.
• Master’s degree would be an advantage.
• Minimum 3 years of experience in research, data analysis, modelling including AI model training, needs assessments, and/or data and geo-spatial visualization.
• Experience with the implementation and administration of SQL databases using tools such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, etc.
• Proven skills in advanced skills in managing geospatial information platforms as well as online publishing (e.g., Tableau, Power BI).
• Proven skills in authoring and developing analytical products, such as reports or infographics; Ability to tailor such products to a variety of stakeholders.
• Ability to engage audiences in data-driven discussions.
• Strong client orientation and ability to communicate and present abstract subject matter to wide audiences.
• Strong sense of purpose and eagerness to make one’s contribution count, while listening carefully to clients.
• Ability to coach staff and accompany their professional development.
• Proven skills and experience in planning and facilitating training.
• Fluency (level C) in English. Additional UN language proficiency is desirable.

Skills

• Data Analysis
• AI Model Development
• Needs Assessment
• Geospatial Data Visualization
• MS SQL Database Administration
• PostgreSQL
• MySQL
• Geospatial Information Management
• Online Data Publishing
• Tableau
• Power BI
• Analytical Report Production
• Infographic Design
• Data-driven Presentation
• Training Facilitation
• Team Coaching
• Probability Modeling
• Early Warning Systems

Languages

English