UNDP Jobs - 58109- Analytics Specialist to Conduct Innovation Project

Analytics Specialist to Conduct Innovation Projects-Pulse Lab Kampala (LTA)

Location :

Kampala, UGANDA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

16-Sep-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

12 months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

36 months

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Candidates who previously applied need not re-apply.

Global Pulse (http://www.unglobalpulse.org/about-new) is an innovation initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Big Data. Its vision is a future in which big data is harnessed safely and responsibly as a public good. Its mission is to accelerate discovery, development and scaled adoption of big data innovation for sustainable development and humanitarian action. Global Pulse is building a catalytic network of in-country innovation centers, which will test new tools, data and analysis, share what lessons with the global community, mainstream successful approaches for real-time impact monitoring into policymaking. The first Lab has been established in New York (Pulse Lab New York) followed by Jakarta, Indonesia and Kampala, Uganda

Pulse Lab Kampala (http://www.unglobalpulse.org/kampala) is an inter-agency initiative of the United Nations under the Office of the Resident Coordinator in Uganda. The first of its kind in Africa, it brings together researchers from Government, the UN, non-governmental organizations and private sector to explore the utility of new sources of digital “Big Data” (such as social media, mobile data, online information) and real-time analysis techniques for social development monitoring and program planning.

A data revolution is underway in Uganda and in Africa. There is more data now than ever. New technologies are leading to an exponential increase in the volume and types of data available, creating unprecedented possibilities for informing and transforming society and protecting the environment. There is more data produced in the last 2 years than in all of human history. There is a tremendous potential in new technology; indeed, this is the forefront of the data revolution already well underway in in the private sector. The new SDGs agenda will have increased demands – and opportunities- for the use of data. Pulse Lab Kampala supports the UN Country team to tap into the revolution obtaining more and better data to support development work and humanitarian action supporting:

Enhance Early Warning: Detection of anomalous trends and patterns of events enables early warning of emerging crises and earlier responses to prevent long-term harm;
Real-Time Awareness: An up-to-date picture of trends, hotspots and dynamic changes in population behaviour enhances programme planning and monitoring of implementation and;
Rapid Impact Monitoring and Evaluation: Timely feedback on the impact of programmes and policies allows for adaptive course correction and accelerated achievement of results.

Under the guidance of the Pulse Lab Kampala Data Scientist, the consultant will support Pulse Lab Kampala to implement data innovation projects. The consultant will assist with the technical development of projects harnessing Big Data sources (such us online media, social networks, imagery, geospatial data, population mobility, transaction records, etc.) and statistical datasets to improve both understanding of population behaviour, needs, and vulnerabilities as well as capacity to monitor and evaluate the impacts of development polices and programmes.

Duties and Responsibilities

Data processing:

Converting unstructured data (such as public social media discussion, news articles) into structured records, using classification or clustering methods;
Extracting information from large datasets (such as satellite imagery, telecoms usage records, crowd sourced sensor measurements) in order to calculate statistics of interest;
Use anomaly detection methods to identify unusual patterns in structured data (such as population mobility or remote sensing measurements);
Develop proxy indicators for development metrics, using regression and feature extraction methods applied to datasets such as those mentioned above.

Analytics reporting:

Writing software to generate maps, charts and other types of output;
Producing written statistical reports.
Systems implementation
- Setting up database feeds for real-time data sources such as news articles or satellite imagery;
- Deploying analytics processing software to enable real-time web dashboards.

Methodology:

The expert is expected to work in close consultation with the Data Scientist at Pulse Lab Kampala;
The preferred development platform is Python, however depending on the task other platforms such as Matlab or R may be used;
Skype meetings with Pulse Lab Kampala will be necessary, actual materials to be delivered may be worked on at the location of the expert’s choosing and delivered via email;
Copyright and ownership - all materials produced and other intellectual property will be solely owned by Pulse Lab Kampala. Any material provided to the expert will remain the property of Pulse Lab Kampala.

Expected deliverables (that have been identified presently, these may be increased):

Data processing;
Analytics reporting;
Systems implementation.

Duration:

The contract will be effective from date of signing for 1 year and in case of successful performance may be extended up to 3 years.

Working arrangements:

Institutional Arrangement

The consultant will report to Pulse Lab Kampala Data Scientist on a regular basis on the progress in line with the set deliverables of the assignment;
The consultant will liaise, interact, collaborate/meet staff at Pulse Lab Kampala and partners;
UNDP (Pulse Lab Kampala) will support the consultant in the following:
- Access to all reports and data relevant to the assignment. These will include donor reports, project documents and donor reports;
- Support and assistance to gain access to relevant stakeholders for consultations to the extent possible.

Duty station:

Home-based and Kampala..

Competencies

Plans and produces quality results to meet established goals;
Generates innovative, practical solutions to challenging situations;
Demonstrates substantive and technical knowledge to meet responsibilities and post requirements with excellence;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
Responds positively to critical feedback and differing points of view;
xcellent communication skills;
Produces timely, quality outputs.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Msc in Computer Science, Electrical engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, Computational Finance, Economics or related field.

Experience:

At least three years of paid working experience in analytics and data visualization, preferably in a developing country;
Familiarity with analytical techniques such as text mining, sentiment analysis, image processing, predictive analysis, event detection, and modeling of complex systems;
Experience in a branch of computational informatics (development, health, bio-, geo-, etc), using machine learning;
Working knowledge of various programming languages for analytics, such as Python, Matlab and R;
Familiarity with statistical programming and discrete mathematics;
Experience with scripting, coding, and web design required for data access, analysis, and presentation;
Familiarity working with quantitative and qualitative data.

Language Requirements:

Excellent command of English.

Evaluation method and criteria:

Individual Consultants will be evaluated based on the Cumulative Analysis methodology. The ranking of the Analytics Specialist/s shall be made based on proposals that are;

Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
Having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria and financial criteria as per below weightages (technical-financial): 70%-30% .

Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.

It is anticipated that UNDP may only sign LTA agreements with the top ranked 05 Analytics Specialist/s or less according to the cumulative analysis methodology.

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 70 points)

Applications will be evaluated on the following criteria:

Education: Msc in Computer Science, Electrical engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, Computational Finance, Economics or related field – Maximum 20 points;
Relevant experience in analytical techniques such as text mining, sentiment analysis, image processing, predictive analysis, event detection, modeling of complex systems, and branch computational informatics (development, health, bio-, geo-, etc), using machine learning - Maximum 20 points;
Methodology and understanding of assignment – Maximum 30 points

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation (30%).

Payment:

Services will be delivered on an on-call basis and paid in United States Dollars or Uganda Shillings upon successful completion of the assignment;
The consultancy fee will be paid per working day;
Payment will be made upon submission of monthly invoices, specifying the number of working days spent on each approved case, and providing documentation to support pre-approved expenses;
This LTA shall not warrant that any quantity of services will be purchased during the term of the LTA as this will depend on forthcoming needs.

Notes:

UNDP would conduct bi-annual performance reviews of these LTAs, which might include meeting with the LTA holders and feedback from other stakeholders.

If the Consultant fails to meet UNDP’s performance requirements detailed above, s/he will receive in the first instance a warning to improve their performance. Continued failure to meet performance requirements may result on termination of the LTA.

Application procedure:

The consultant is required to upload an electronic application in one single PDF on the jobs website not later than July 22, 2015. The application should include the following documents/information:

Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided in Annex II.;
Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three professional references;
Non Ugandan passport holders are required to provide proof of a valid work permit at the time of submitting the application. Please note, applicants holding business visas will not be considered;
Technical proposal, including

a brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment;
Clear statement of where the Consultant is based;

Financial proposal, as stating Daily Fee in Ugandan Shillings. No other costs travels (e.g. for travel) should be included in the financial proposal at this stage.

Annexes:

Financial proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided (Annex II);
Annexes 1 and II - may be downloaded from the UNDP Procurement Notices Website - http://procurement-notices.undp.org/ - under reference # 23652. For further clarifications, please contact; fredah.zawedde@undp.org; justine.naiga-bagonza@undp.org and diana.nabbanja@undp.org;
Interested applicants should submit applications through uploading of all their required documentation in one single pdf document on this website only.