Data Engineer (Temporary Job Opening) At United Nations

Org. Setting and Reporting

The United Nations Global Service Centre (UNGSC) provides critical Supply Chain, Geospatial, Information and Telecommunications Technologies services and Training to all Secretariat Entities, Peacekeeping and Special Political Missions, Agencies, Funds and Programmes of the UN system worldwide. The position is located in the Network Support Unit (NSU) of the Infrastructure Operations Section (IOS) within the Service for Geospatial, Information and Telecommunication Technology (SGITT) at the UNGSC/UNICTF, Valencia, Spain. The incumbent will work under the supervision of the Chief NSU or other delegated officer. The position shall support effective data management. This includes building, managing and optimizing data pipelines and architectures to support the production of analytics, in compliance with data governance, protection, privacy and security requirements.

Responsibilities

Within delegated authority, the Data Engineer will be responsible for the following duties: • Manage individual projects regarding the optimal extraction, transformation, and loading of data from a wide variety of sources into data pipelines, as well as the creation and maintenance of data catalogues. • Design and develop solutions for data-related technical problems and data infrastructure needs surfaced by Executive, Analytics and Design teams, create data models that can be used by different stakeholders at different levels. • Manage the identification, design, and implementation of internal process improvements: automating manual processes, optimizing data delivery, re-designing architecture for greater scalability. • Deploy resources to extract data features from complex datasets for data scientists and data analysts. • Manage the implementation of changes to data systems to ensure compliance with data governance, protection, privacy, and security requirements.

Competencies

PROFESSIONALISM: Knowledge of data analysis life cycle from ingest and wrangling to analysis and visualization to present findings. Knowledge of best practices and IT operations in an always-up, always-available service. Knowledge of Agile Software Development methodologies. Strong analytic skills related to working with unstructured datasets. Ability in managing and communicating data warehouse plans to internal clients. Excellent problem solving and troubleshooting skills. Working knowledge of message queuing, stream processing, and highly scalable ‘big data’ data stores. Process oriented with great documentation skills. Ability to convey complex / difficult data science topics to clients in a relatable manner. Takes pride in the work for the organization and understands the impact that can be brought into the organization by allowing data-driven and evidence-based decisions. Ability to apply judgment in the context of assignments given, plan own work and manage conflicting priorities. 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. CLIENT ORIENTATION: Considers all those to whom services are provided to be “clients” and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view; establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; identifies clients’ needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients’ environment to keep informed and anticipate problems; keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects; meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client. 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

High school diploma or equivalent is required.

Job – Specific Qualification

Technical or vocational certificate in Data Engineering, Data Science or related learning credential is required. Certification in Project/Programme Management methodology by an accredited body (e.g. PMP, PGMP, PRINCE 2 Practitioner Project Management) or equivalent is desirable.

Work Experience

At least ten (10) years of progressively responsible experience in data management, integration, modeling, optimization and other relevant areas is required. The minimum years of relevant experience is reduced to five (5) years for candidates who possess a first-level university degree. Experience supporting cross-functional teams and collaborating with stakeholders in support of analytics initiatives is required. Experience with database programming languages (SQL, etc.) is required. Experience in designing data integration and pipeline architectures which must include ingesting data through different methods such as message queues, database connections, flat files, REST, or specific API’s, is required. Experience in programming languages such as Python or R is desirable. Experience in DevOps tool chains consisting of tools like Git, Jenkins or Bamboo – or equivalent tools – and experience with the deployment of data pipelines is desirable. Experience in delivering big data use cases is desirable, including projects using technology such as Apache Spark, Hadoop or others. Experience in Artificial Intelligence, particularly Machine Learning techniques for data mining and extraction of large amounts of data and concepts of bias and fairness (i.e., how to identify, assess, and minimize harmful biases, discrimination, and unfair outcomes in algorithmic systems and data) is desirable. Experience working with self-service analytics applications like Microsoft PowerBI, Tableau, Qlik and others for data discovery is desirable. Experience in dealing with time series databases is desirable.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the UN Secretariat. For the post advertised, fluency in English (both oral and written) is required.

Assessment

Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by competency-based interview.

Special Notice

This position is temporarily available until 30 June 2024. 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. Subject to the funding source of the position, the eligibility for this temporary job opening may be limited to candidates based at the duty station. This temporary job opening may be limited to “internal candidates,” who have been recruited through a competitive examination administered according to staff rule 4.16 or staff selection process including the review of a central review body established according to staff rule 4.15. 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. 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.

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.