Data & AI Project Analyst (Home-Based) - [Open to all applicants]

Please note the appropriate Tier indicated in the vacancy title and ensure that you are holding the applicable contract as defined below:

• Tier 1: UNDP/ UNCDF/ UNV staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed term (FTA) appointments (defined as “internal” candidates)  
• Tier 2: UNDP/ UNCDF/ UNV staff holding temporary appointments (TA) and personnel on regular PSA contracts 
• Tier 3: All other contract types from UNDP/UNCDF/UNV and other agencies, and other external candidates

Background

At UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), we are on a mission to end poverty, build democratic governance, rule of law, and inclusive institutions around the world. UNDP is the United Nations' global sustainable development organization working across 170 countries with 17,000 staff.

Digital technology is one of the most fundamental drivers of change this century. Digital not only provides new opportunities and challenges for development, but it is also fundamentally changing the context in which development is taking place. Since the launch of its first Digital Strategy in 2019, UNDP has been on an ambitious transformation journey to harness the potential of digital technology for development. We are now in the next phase of our digital transformation, implementing the Digital Strategy 2022-2025, which puts forth a vision to create a world in which digital is an empowering force for people and planet. 

The Digital, AI & Innovation Hub at UNDP is leading this effort with the goal of embedding digital technology in the development projects that we implement, supporting government partners to build inclusive digital eco-systems, and transforming the organization internally to enable these changes.

Our Team

The Digital, AI & Innovation Hub (DAI) is a global team of innovators, digital strategists, and changemakers who are passionate about making digital a positive force for people and planet. The DAI Hub is a transformation team within UNDP tasked with the responsibility to implement the Digital Strategy by building the required programmatic (planning and implementation of development projects to support government partners) and internal capacities at the country, regional and global level. Within the DAI Hub, the Digital Programme Enablement Team develops and scales UNDP’s digital programmes, building global and local digital ecosystems that reaches and works for everyone, including in areas such as discovery and implementation of scalable digital solutions, digital skills-building, and inclusive connectivity. 

Project Description

The AI Hub for Sustainable Development and UNDP’s Local Language Accelerator Programme are designed to strengthen AI ecosystems in Africa and beyond. 

The AI Hub for Sustainable Development is a collaborative initiative accelerating sustainable AI-driven industrial growth in Africa. The Hub’s mission is to nurture a space where novel ideas emerge and thrive, with transformative solutions by Africa’s innovators and start-ups to build AI foundations—in areas of green compute, data and talent. Connecting everyone into an ecosystem where they can grow together and advance prosperity for all is at the AI Hub's core. The AI Hub is aligned with the African Union’s AI Strategy and is anchored by 14 partner countries in Africa (Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Tanzania and Tunisia), catalyzing transformation across six key sectors–energy, agriculture, health, water, education & training, and infrastructure.

The Local Language Accelerator Programme focuses on accelerating inclusive access to and local use of data in low-resourced languages to ensure digital products are available in local languages, natively spoken by more than 3 billion people. The main areas of action of the accelerator are global, regional and local advocacy, facilitation of responsible partnerships and strategic investments into UNDP’s Country Offices and their local partners. 

Scope of Work 

Reporting into the Data Lead, Digital & AI Programmes at the Digital, AI & Innovation Hub, the incumbent will be responsible for below;

Result 1: Support implementation of the Local Language Accelerator Programme

Key results include a deep understanding of challenges and solutions in the Language AI space and UNDP’s role in that field, a strong implementation outcome from the country engagements and trusted, engaged relationships with key partners of the programme.

Result 2: Support implementation of the Language AI workstream under the AI Sprint

Key results include successful relationship building with UNDP’s regional bureaux, strong implementation outcomes from the country engagements, and effe