The United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the world's environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the environment.
This role of Data Scientist (P4) involves studying, exploring, and evaluating data sources to drive evidence-based decision-making within UNEP, particularly in the environmental context. The incumbent will be responsible for developing and deploying advanced predictive data science products and managing their lifecycle, ensuring accuracy and business impact.
Responsibilities
- Studies, explores, and evaluates new and existing data sources to determine their effectiveness and accuracy for use in decision making, and assess their suitability for actionable output. Provide data-driven recommendations to stakeholders.
- Develops, implements and evaluates assigned programmes, monitors and analyzes their development and implementation, and drafts and reviews relevant documents and reports.
- Designs and builds predictive data science products, such as visualizations, models or AI/ML algorithms for initial simulations or prototypes and subsequent ingestion into mainstream software applications.
- Liaises with technology stakeholders to access infrastructure, software and services needed to develop and deploy data science products.
- Promotes use of data science solutions by showcasing the products to stakeholders; disseminating of data products, and raising awareness of available data products.
- Develops products, tools and processes to periodically validate the effectiveness of data science products and their expected and observed benefits. Assesses impact on business defined key performance indicators; Iteratively improves products based on findings.
- Engages in complex research and analyses to develop data products; uses internal and publicly available data and information.
- Oversees and allocates resources to the building of analysis, reporting and quality control capabilities, contributes to short- and long-term planning of UNEP and assists in identifying threats and opportunities to the successful implementation of its mandate.
- Coordinates with different functional teams to implement models and monitor outcomes and translate organizational needs into analytics and reporting requirements to support decisions, strategies and workflows with data and information.
- Develops processes and tools to monitor and analyze model performance and data accuracy and conduct full data analytics lifecycle analysis, including data requirements, activities and design.
Qualifications and Experience
Education
- Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in data science, computer science, artificial intelligence, or a closely related field, is required.
- A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
Work Experience
- A minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience in data science is required.
- Experience in using data to advance decisions, strategies and execution is required.
- Experience managing small teams is required.
- Desirable experience includes:
- Working with international multi-agency projects, ideally in an environmental context.
- Data science tools such as Jupyter, Matlab, Knime, SPSS, SAS, or similar Statistical Programming Languages such as R, Python, Javascript or related.
- Contributing to technical publications (peer-reviewed or on established technical fora) in AI or data science.
- Building AI/data models for the environment.
