Org. Setting and Reporting

This position is located in the Geospatial Analysis and Programme Delivery Section (GPS), Research and Trend Analysis Branch (RAB), Division for Policy Analysis and Public Affairs (DPA), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in Vienna. The incumbent will work under the overall supervision of the Programme Officer (Environmental Crime) (GPS) and technical supervision of the Data Scientist, in the Data, Analytics, and Statistics Section (DASS), with an additional reporting line to the Chief of GPS or his/her designated mandated representative. For more information on UNODC, please visit www.unodc.org

Within assigned authority, the Associate Data Scientist will be responsible for the following duties: • Contribute to the development of custom data models and algorithms to apply to crimes that affect the environment data sets. • Provide support in mining and analyzing open data sources to enhance the collection of subject domain data. • Assist in the acquisition of data sources to determine their suitability and the improvement of data gathering techniques; explore sources to determine their effectiveness and accuracy for use and assess their suitability for actionable output; maintain a central repository of sources. • Maintain comprehensive and well-structured documentation of algorithms, models and code. • Contribute to the development of methodological guidelines for dissemination purposes including on reproducibility, deduplication, use of social media; maintenance and updating of data harvesting and ML model technical documentation. • Organize quantitative information extracted from the web into a structured and consolidated dataset(s) (compliant with the current data structure) by integrating text normalization for drug/crime lexicon and ensuring harmonization with UNODC definitions and classifications, address anomalies in the information. • Assist in ensuring consistency with the United Nations’ Office of Information and Communications Technology (UN OICT) policies, standards and security measures implemented in close coordination with UNOV/Division of Management/Information Technology Services. • Contribute to the collection and analysis of data as well as identification of trends or patterns and provide draft insights through graphs, charts, tables and reports using data visualization methods for data-driven planning, decision-making, presentation and reporting. • Perform other work-related duties, as assigned.

Competencies

Professionalism: Has knowledge of the data analysis life cycle from ingest and wrangling to analysis and visualization and presenting findings. Has excellent knowledge of statistical and computational methods, such as clustering, classification, correlation, dimension reduction, forecasting, machine learning, detecting outliers, and regression. Can provide effective advice on concepts and approaches relevant to data science. Has good research and problem-solving skills in analytical and statistical reasoning, planning and organization and communication. Has knowledge of statistical techniques to analyze data. Can produce methodological guidelines and international statistical standards. Can identify issues, formulate options and make conclusions and recommendations. Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work. Accountability: Takes ownership of all responsibilities and honours commitments; delivers outputs for which one has responsibility within prescribed time, cost and quality standards; operates in compliance with organizational regulations and rules; supports subordinates, provides oversight and takes responsibility for delegated assignments; takes personal responsibility for his/her own shortcomings and those of the work unit, where applicable. Technological Awareness: Keeps abreast of available technology; understands applicability and limitation of technology to the work of the office; actively seeks to apply technology to appropriate tasks; shows willingness to learn new technology.

Education

Advanced university degree in data science, computer science, information management, statistics, economics, or related field is required. A first-level university degree in similar fields in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. A first-level university degree and no experience will be accepted for candidates who have passed the United Nations Young Professionals Programme Examination (YPP), the United Nations National Competitive Recruitment Examination (NCRE) or the General Service to Professional Examination (G to P).

Job – Specific Qualification

Not available.

Work Experience

A minimum of two years of progressively responsible professional experience in data science, big data analytics, information management, machine learning, data mining, deep learning or related area OR the successful completion of the United Nations Young Professionals Programme Examination (YPP), the United Nations National Competitive Recruitment Examination (NCRE) or the General Service to Professional Examination (G to P) is required. Experience with data science tools, such as Jupyter, KNIME and data analysis through Statistical Programming Languages (Python or R) including libraries (e.g. NLTK and Spacy) is desirable. Experience in managing large datasets, particularly, unstructured data, software development, including iterative design and execution with focus on text classification and named entity recognition is desirable. Experience with using data science methods and tools for the production of statistical information and analyses is desirable. Experience with database management systems, including SQL, MongoDB and coding and with continuous development using Git, Jenkins is desirable.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this post, fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another United Nations official language is an advantage.

Assessment

Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise and a competency-based interview.

Special Notice

This position is temporarily available for an initial period of 6.5 months and is funded from extra-budgetary resources. Filling of this position is subject to funding availability and any extension of the appointment will be subject to the availability of funding. If the selected candidate is a staff member from the United Nations Secretariat, the selection will be administered as a temporary assignment. While this temporary assignment may provide the successful applicant with an opportunity to gain new work experience, the selection for this position is for a limited period and has no bearing on the future incumbency of the post. Staff members of the United Nations common system organizations who will reach the mandatory age of separation or retirement within the duration of the current temporary need period are not eligible to apply.Submitting an application or selection for the current temporary job opening does not delay or increase the mandatory age of separation. Retirees above the mandatory age of separation who wish to be considered for the current temporary job opening must indicate the reason for their last separation as “retirement.” Such retirees shall not be employed by the Organization, unless (a) the operational requirements of the Organization cannot be met by staff members who are qualified and available to perform the required functions; and (b) the proposed employment would not adversely affect the career development or redeployment opportunities of other staff members and represents both a cost-effective and operationally sound solution to meet the needs of the service. Staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General and to assignment by him or her. In this context, all staff are expected to move periodically to new functions in their careers in accordance with established rules and procedures. At the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the recruitment and employment of staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity, with due regard to geographic diversity. All employment decisions are made on the basis of qualifications and organizational needs. The United Nations is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The United Nations recruits and employs staff regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, race, religious, cultural and ethnic backgrounds or disabilities. Reasonable accommodation for applicants with disabilities may be provided to support participation in the recruitment process when requested and indicated in the application. The United Nations Secretariat is committed to achieving 50/50 gender balance and geographical diversity in its staff. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for this position. Vienna is classified in the H category (family duty station).

United Nations Considerations

According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Candidates will not be considered for employment with the United Nations if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts. The term “sexual exploitation” means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. The term “sexual abuse” means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions. The term “sexual harassment” means any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offence or humiliation, when such conduct interferes with work, is made a condition of employment or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, and when the gravity of the conduct warrants the termination of the perpetrator’s working relationship. Candidates who have committed crimes other than minor traffic offences may not be considered for employment. Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible. The United Nations places no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs. The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process. By accepting a letter of appointment, staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General, who may assign them to any of the activities or offices of the United Nations in accordance with staff regulation 1.2 (c). Further, staff members in the Professional and higher category up to and including the D-2 level and the Field Service category are normally required to move periodically to discharge functions in different duty stations under conditions established in ST/AI/2023/3 on Mobility, as may be amended or revised. This condition of service applies to all position specific job openings and does not apply to temporary positions. Applicants are urged to carefully follow all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira, and to refer to the Applicant Guide by clicking on “Manuals” in the “Help” tile of the inspira account-holder homepage. The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications according to the instructions provided in inspira to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application. Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on the deadline date.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.