Apply for the Home-based GIS Fellowship at UNDP

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Closing Date : 18 September 2024

Apply for the Home-based GIS Fellowship at UNDP

Background

UNDP works in about 170 countries and territories, helping to eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities and exclusion, and build resilience so countries can sustain progress. As the UN’s development agency, UNDP plays a critical role in helping countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development (ICPSD) is the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) global organization mandated to leverage the role of the private sector in development. The ICPSD was established in Istanbul, Turkey based on 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. ICPSD leads UNDP’s global work on private sector and foundations and supports UNDP’s offices all around the world.

The objective of the Home-based GIS Fellowship is to provide the opportunity to work on how to deploy frontier technologies such as GIS, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning, on development issues. In particular, the Fellow will contribute to geographic data acquisition, data analysis, modelling, deployment, and visualizations efforts.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Fellow will assist in the following duties and responsibilities:

No	Duties and responsibilities	% of time
1	Research and knowledge products developmentConduct research on application of GIS, Remote Sensing and Machine Learning (ML) approaches to development issuesDraft analytical briefs summarizing the project findings and methodologies accessible to the general public audienceConduct the data maintenance and data acquisition activities of the SDG AI Lab	30 %
2	Development and implementation of digital solutions for SDGs utilizing GISUse geospatial data processing and analysis techniques to build, maintain, and improve on analytics, large datasets organization to get actionable insights from them.Assist the creation of maps, infographics, and other cartographic products using software such as QGIS or ArcGIS.Develop GIS and Machine Learning (ML) solutions to tackle issues in the field of economic and international developmentManage and document the complete GIS project implementation process from conception to implementation	60 %
3	OtherProvide as needed support to the Technical Specialist as required for, amongst others, participating in meetings, conferences, providing administrative support, drafting meeting minutes and performing other functions and duties Contribute to the SDG AI Lab’s Volunteer Data Scientists Initiative through advancing the volunteer engagement in SDGs related projects	10 %

Competencies

IT skills:

Strong programming skills, preferably Python
Practical experience in implementing automated workflows with geodata and scripting, particularly with Jupyter Notebook (or similar) for showcasing processes and results
Proven experience with GIS software and libraries such as QGIS or ArcGIS, GDAL, Rasterio, Geopandas, Fiona or similar required

Experience with Geoserver, PostGIS and other relational databases preferred
Proficiency in other programming languages (particularly R, SQL, JavaScript) are an asset.

Language skills:

Fluent in English with excellent reading and writing skills is required.
Proficiency in Turkish and/or UN Languages is an asset

Other competencies and attitudes:

Interest and motivation in working in an international organization
Good analytical skills in gathering and consolidating data and research for practical implementation
Outgoing and initiative-taking person with a goal-oriented mind-set

Communicates effectively when working in teams and independently
Good in organizing and structuring various tasks and responsibilities
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability

Responds positively to feedback and differing points of view
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Candidates must meet one of the following educational requirements:

currently enrolled in a postgraduate programme (such as a master’s programme or higher);
have graduated with a university degree or equivalent studies, shown below:

Field of study: Geographic Information Systems, Geography, Data Science, Geodesics, Cartography, Computer Science, Engineering, or similar.

Stipend

During the time of the GIS fellowship, UNDP will pay a stipend on a monthly basis. The stipend will be paid by UNDP in accordance with the rates effective as of 1 January of the year in which the fellowship is conducted.