[Hiring] Data Science/Machine Learning Consultant @AGORA

Role Description

How can you make a difference? Sitting in Solution’s Emerging Innovation team, this consultant will have a belief that DS/ML can be a powerful tool to help UNICEF rapidly accelerate positive results for children. The successful consultant will have a strong desire to guide and inform early-stage DS/ML projects developed for, and implemented in, UNICEF program countries. Understanding the complexities between theory and practice and what it takes to make future ideas work in different contexts will be a characteristic of the consultant, as well as a conviction for pioneering and promoting responsible and ethical DS/ML practices.

The purpose of this assignment is to provide technical support and guidance to the DS/ML related work at OOI as well as across UNICEF through engagements at HQ, Regional and Country level.

• Providing DS/ML technical guidance, support and mentorship to:
  • Venture Fund supported team seed and growth cohort projects and companies.
  • UNICEF’s Office of Innovation and other UNICEF teams, divisions, and offices.
• Supporting the technical exploration, development and rollout of early-stage DS/ML initiatives, models and prototypes, within UNICEF with an aim to accelerate results for children.
• Working with internal and external stakeholders to support the understanding, adoption and scale of DS/ML initiatives across UNICEF.
• Facilitating project engagements between internal and external technical experts in support of strategic Office of Innovation-funded initiatives.

Qualifications

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in Computer Science, Data Science/Machine Learning, or another relevant field. A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.

Requirements

• A minimum of five years of relevant professional, practical experience.
• Experience and exposure to relevant software development technologies, including:
  • Strong coding capabilities in Python or R and with Data Science related libraries.
  • Experience with analytics & visualization tools (open viz libraries e.g. Shiny, flexdashboard or equivalent for R or Dash, Panel or equivalent for Python).
  • Git and other open source software development tools.
  • Experience with cloud computing platforms such as GCP, AWS, Azure or others.
  • Experience with frontier AI models and coding tools for data science development (i.e. Claude Code, Cursor).
  • Demonstrated experience working with non-technical teams in formulating their use cases, gathering business requirements, and involving non-technical stakeholders in the project delivery.
• Practical experience with rapid prototyping and evaluation of user feedback.
• Demonstrated experience in development and deployment of ethical and responsible DS/ML practices, with examples in UNICEF program countries considered an asset.
• Demonstrated understanding of open source and open data principles and practices.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

Benefits

• UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does.
• UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence.
• Reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities is offered throughout the recruitment process.