Forecasting and Foresight Specialist at UNOPS

FEMALE CANDIDATES ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY

* CANDIDATES WITH NO UNITED NATIONS OR UNOPS EXPERIENCE ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY *UNOPS offers flexible working arrangements including the opportunity of remote working. Formal long term remote work at another duty station can be authorized on a no-cost basis, depending on business needs and the role’s requirements. Extended remote working can affect how benefits and entitlements are calculated.
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Education:**

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) preferably in international development, computer science, computational social sciences, social sciences, statistics, engineering, economics, monitoring & evaluation or another relevant discipline is required.
• A first-level university degree (Bachelor’s degree) in combination with 2 additional years of relevant professional experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
  Experience:

Required

• A minimum of 5 years of professional experience working in data science or a similar field, preferably in an international organisation
• A minimum of 2 years of experience in business intelligence, modelling for foresight, predictive analytics or a similar field

Desirable

• Experience in qualitative and quantitative research and/or designing mixed-methods approaches
• Experience with analytical techniques from machine learning, artificial intelligence, and their application for different business or research needs
• Experience working in multidisciplinary projects between data/science/technology and foresight/development/humanitarian response
• Experience coding algorithms (Python, R or an equivalent programming environment), data access, analysis and data visualization (eg Tableau) methodologies for call detail records, social media data or any other big data source
• Advise the development of user-friendly tools for data interfaces, analysis, and processes optimizing foresight workstreams and supporting the broader team to scale foresight efforts.
• Experience in working with and managing cross-disciplinary teams and applying mixed-methods approaches
  Language Requirements:
• Fluency in English (write, read, speak) is required.
• Knowledge of another United Nations official language is an advantage.

To achieve its goals, UNGP is recruiting a Forecasting and Foresight Specialist.
The role contributes to strengthening anticipatory capabilities to support UN mandates and broader transformation.

The person will participate in all stages of foresight insights development, collaborating closely with the UNGP foresight and data teams in framing the business and data requirements and use-cases for foresight experiments. Ideally, the person will also support data-driven storytelling and visualization of the foresight insights to connect with the user’s needs and consumption patterns. The role seeks to ensure the integration of data insights into sensemaking and decision-making processes in a user-friendly and sustained manner – with an ambition to refine the experiments and prototypes into standing products and processes.

The ideal candidate is comfortable and curious about working with a variety of data science, machine learning, statistical and data visualization methodologies to support strategic foresight and the systematic exploration of plausible futures, including threats and opportunities.

The person is impact-driven and keen to elaborate experiments harnessing data science to strengthen anticipatory decision-making and planning processes at various levels within the UN. This may include: building horizon scanning capacity to monitor emerging issues to guide agenda formulation at the UN executives level; analysing signals to identify risk tipping points against probable threat scenarios connected to climate change or general elections. The analytics and data would need to include i) baseline forecasts and trends for foresight workshops and scenario building exercises; ii) building long-term standing capacity to analyse and make sense of emerging trends and weak signals, in order to support anticipatory planning and strategy; and iii) stress-test existing strategic plans and programmes against changing operational environments.

The role is based in New York, and occasional travel and field missions may be required, as prevailing conditions allow.
The incumbent will work under the supervision of the UNGP Deputy Director, at the New York Lab, and will be responsible for the following duties:

1. Planning and Technical Support
2. Strategic Development, Research, and Analysis
3. Knowledge Creation, Capacity Building and Reporting
4. Communication and Partnerships

1. Planning and Technical Support

• Provide technical advice in the planning and coordination of foresight experiments with data and analytics components. This will include defining research experiments, elaborating business needs, data feasibility requirements, and development of concepts and proposals, while working in collaboration with the foresight and data team and other stakeholders;
• Identify and collect relevant primary and secondary data sources for analysis
• Using a variety of tools to access, clean and analyze structured and unstructured data

2. Strategic Development, Research and Analysis

• Lead experimentation on analyzing a diversity of qualitative and quantitative data inputs, including field reports and information from participatory foresight exercises, and their integration in foresight insights development processes
• Identify complementary uses of quantitative forecasting and qualitative foresight data and linking them with different consumptions patterns and strategic objectives
• Lead the design and execution of analytics processes, including analyzing big data sources and using data science techniques in order to detect signals and trends within covering also non-conventional and real-time data sources such as online media, social networks, imagery, geospatial data, etc.;
• Elaborate requirements and test analytical tools and platforms in a needs driven manner, contribute to the development of analytical and back end environment to serve the foresight needs
• Explore opportunities to carry out applied statistical and operations research and analysis to assess the validity and impact of results in close consultation with the foresight and M&E experts;

3. Knowledge Creation, Capacity Building and Reporting

• Liaise with colleagues to ensure safe, ethical and inclusive practices across the foresight insights value chain addressing gaps and providing inputs to guideline development where appropriate;
• Provide support and guidance in developing adequate skills and technological capacities, and services to use data analytics and strategic foresight in standard planning and strategy processes;
• Advise on the development of accessible data interfaces and processes catering a variety of insights consumptions patterns collaborating with the UI and UX designers and front-end developers and the broader foresight team;

4. Communication & Partnerships

• Carry out or guide other team members on data visualization, communication design, and data use by developing charts and graphs, infographics, data dashboards, and other information design and visual content needed to translate various project data sources to cater to different consumption patterns and needs;
• Write and revise technical documentation and proactively record, and share the lessons learned in a variety of fora.
• Coordinate and guide the work with thematic specialists, consultants, secondees from other UN and non-UN partners from the private sector and academia as required, also building connections with the broader innovation ecosystem to support the development of interdisciplinary partnerships;

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Performs other duties as may be reasonably required and in line with the incumbent’s scope of services above.**

Impact of Results

Support UN leadership, including country operations, in accessing futures and foresight capacity to identify emerging risks and opportunities, develop mitigation strategies, and inform strategic planning contributing to the overall vision and mission of UNGP.