UNDP Jobs - 84087- Data Visualization Scientist Internship, Human Dev

Data Visualization Scientist Internship, Human Development Report Office

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

Internship

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

31-Mar-19 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

Intern

Duration of Initial Contract :

3 Months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

3 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

The mission of the Human Development Report Office (HDRO) is to advance human development. The goal is to contribute towards the expansion of opportunities, choice and freedom. HDRO works towards this goal by promoting innovative new ideas, advocating practical policy changes, and constructively challenging policies and approaches that constrain human development. HDRO works with others to achieve change through writing and research, data analysis and presentation, and outreach and advocacy work.

The objective of this internship is to provide the intern with the opportunity to learn about the Human Development approach and current international development issues; and analyze and learn about different sources of data that are useful for the work of the office.

In particular, the intern will be able to contribute data analysis, development of data visualizations and data storytelling to the HDRO’s online and digital efforts in 2019.

Too often data storytelling is interpreted as just visualizing data effectively, however, it is much more than just creating visually-appealing data graphs. Data storytelling is a structured approach for communicating data insights, and it involves a combination of three key elements: data, visuals, and narrative.

When narrative is coupled with data, it helps to explain to your audience what’s happening in the data and why a particular insight is important. Ample context and commentary is often needed to fully appreciate an insight. When visuals are applied to data, they can enlighten the audience to insights that they wouldn’t see without charts or graphs. Many interesting patterns and outliers in the data would remain hidden in the rows and columns of data tables without the help of data visualizations.

Duties and Responsibilities

The intern will be supervised by the Online and Digital Manager or a senior member of the Statistics team (depending on main area of work) and will work closely with the team on the preparation of data content, visualizations and data stories for HDRO’s online and digital platforms. In particular, they are expected to deliver the following tasks:

Provide assistance for quantitative and qualitative analysis of data, drafting insights and drafting short data stories and insights.
Provide assistance for developing interactive data visualizations and dashboards using HDRO’s database of over 190 global indicators and other relevant data sources, derive.
Support the team in organization and presentation of the online databank for the launch of the 2019 Human Development Report.
Assist in proof reading and quality assurance.
Support other activities as requested.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Currently enrolled in a Master’s or Ph.D. Program in Data Science, Data Visualizations, Data Journalism, Statistics, or related field.

Experience

Experience in JavaScript, D3, R (or similar) and SQL and a good understanding of visual design principles including intuitive and interactive visualizations, are required.
An interest in translating complex data into compelling visual products and stories.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to collaborate with statistics and online/digital specialists, data scientists and analysts as well as non-technical teams.
Experience analyzing data using Excel, Python or Stata desired with Google Data Studio, HTML/5/CSS, animations, and Adobe Creative Suite is a plus
Familiarity with the Human Development concept and indicators.

Language:

Fluent in English

NOTE:

Interns are not financially remunerated by UNDP.
The costs associated must be borne by the nominating institution, related institution or government, which may provide the required financial assistance to its students; or by the student, who will have to obtain financing for subsistence and make his or her own arrangements for travel, accommodation, visa, etc.
UNDP accepts no responsibility for the medical and life insurance of the intern or costs arising from accidents and illness incurred during an internship.
The purpose of the Internship Programme is not to lead to further employment with UNDP but to complement an intern’s studies. Therefore, there should be no expectation of employment at the end of an internship.