Energy Data Analyst

Location : Home-based

Application Deadline : 19-Dec-21 (Midnight New York, USA)

Time left : 11d 20h 52m

Type of Contract : IPSA (Regular)

Post Level : IPSA-9

Languages Required :
English

Expected Duration of Assignment : 12 months (until 31 December 2022)

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

Instructions to Applicants: Click on the “Apply now” button. Input your information in the appropriate Sections: personal information, language proficiency, education, resume and motivation. Upon completion of the first page, please hit “submit application” tab at the end of the page. Please ensure that CV or P11 and the Cover letter are combined in one file.

The following documents shall be required from the applicants:

Personal CV or P11, indicating all past positions held and their main underlying functions, their durations (month/year), the qualifications, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate, and at least three (3) the most recent professional references of previous supervisors. References may also include peers.

A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page) indicating why the candidate considers him-/herself to be suitable for the position.

Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns or other materials.

Office/Unit/Project Description

UNDP is the knowledge frontier organization for sustainable development in the UN Development System and serves as the integrator for collective action to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP’s policy work carried out at HQ, Regional and Country Office levels, forms a contiguous spectrum of deep local knowledge to cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy. In this context, UNDP invests in the Global Policy Network (GPN), a network of field-based and global technical expertise across a wide range of knowledge domains and in support of the signature solutions and organizational capabilities envisioned in the Strategic Plan.

Within the GPN, the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP’s Strategic Plan. BPPS’s staff provides technical advice to Country Offices; advocates for UNDP corporate messages, represents UNDP at multi-stakeholder fora including public-private dialogues, government and civil society dialogues, and engages in UN inter-agency coordination in specific thematic areas. BPPS works closely with UNDP’s Crisis Bureau (CB) to support emergency and crisis response. BPPS ensures that issues of risk are fully integrated into UNDP’s development programmes. BPPS assists UNDP and partners to achieve higher quality development results through an integrated approach that links results-based management and performance monitoring with more effective and new ways of working. BPPS supports UNDP and partners to be more innovative, knowledge and data driven including in its programme support efforts.

UNDP’s 2018-2021 Strategic Plan emphasizes the critical links between environmental sustainability, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and broader efforts to achieve the goals of the 2030 Agenda and Paris Agreement. As part of the Global Policy Network in the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP’s Nature, Climate Change, and Energy (NCE) Team promotes and scales up integrated whole-of-governance approaches and nature-based solutions that reduce poverty and inequalities, strengthen livelihoods and inclusive growth, mitigate conflict, forced migration and displacement, and promote more resilient governance systems that advance linked peace and security agendas.

The NCE Team works with governments, civil society, and private sector partners to integrate natural capital, environment and climate concerns into national and sector planning and inclusive growth policies, support country obligations under Multilateral Environmental Agreements, and implement the UN’s largest portfolio of in-country programming on environment, climate change, and energy. This multi-billion dollar portfolio encompasses: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services including forests; Sustainable Land Management and Desertification including food and commodity systems; Water and Ocean Governance including SIDS; Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation; Renewable and Modern Energy; Extractive Industries; Chemicals and Waste Management; Environmental Governance and Green/Circular Economy and SCP approaches. This work advances crosscutting themes on innovative finance, digital transformation, capacity development, human rights, gender equality, health, technology, and South-South learning.

In addition to UNDP’s bilateral partnerships on natural capital, environment and climate, UNDP is an accredited multilateral implementing agency of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Multilateral Fund (MLF), the Adaptation Fund (AF) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) which includes the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund (GEF Trust Fund), the Nagoya Protocol Implementation Fund (NPIF), the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), and the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF). As part of UNDP’s partnership with these vertical funds, UNDP provides countries specialized integrated technical services for eligibility assessment, programme formulation, capacity development, policy advice, technical assistance, training and technology transfer, mobilization of co-financing, implementation oversight, results management and evaluation, performance-based payments and knowledge management services.

One of six signature solutions under UNDP’s current Strategic Plan is to “Close the energy gap”. Access to clean and affordable energy is an essential enabler for the achievement of all Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement.

In the Decade for Action UNDP seeks to scale-up its current energy offer to work with partners on three areas:

Close the gap on energy access so that marginalized people and communities gain access to sustainable, clean, energy and the dignity and opportunities it brings;

Drive innovation in energy value chains to speed up investments in energy access in off-grid and crisis-affected contexts;

Accelerate the energy transition through system-changes that support a green recovery and bring together the best ideas from the worlds of government, business, and finance.

A crutial driver of the scale up involves the application of cutting edge digital technologies and advanced data analytics. In line with the Digital Strategy 2019-2021, the NCE Team embarked on a road to accelerate digital transformation in collaboration with the Chief Digital Officer in the Executive Office, bringing digital technologies and data in to different levels of decision making processes and programming within the portfolio.

In this context, the NCE team is seeking the services of an Energy Data Analyst to strategize and put in place a data management process and data governance, manage and analyze portfolio data and support data driven digital initiatives for the energy portfolio.

Institutional Arrangement

The Energy Data Analyst will work from home;

The Energy Data Analyst will report to, and be directly supervised by the Energy Economist.

The Energy Data Analyst will be given access to relevant information necessary for the execution of the tasks under this assignment;

The Energy Data Analyst will be responsible for providing her/his own work station (i.e. laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, etc.) and must have access to reliable internet connection;

Given the global consultations to be undertaken during this assignment, the Energy Data Analyst is expected to be reasonably flexible with his/her availability for such consultations taking into consideration different time zones.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

The objective of the assignment is to support the work of the NCE energy portfolio on below areas of work:

Map and complete the classification of all energy projects within UNDP using the predefined taxonomy;

Work with other UNDP data management experts to set up procedures for NCE projects data classifications;

Recommend key performance indicators to aggregate data of the energy project portfolio;

Complete the transfer and cleaning of UNDP Energy project log frames, core indicators and results to facilitate data extraction and classification;

Develop a comprehensive energy portfolio dashboard, include all taxonomy data, results data and project level survey data, for data collection, management, analytics and reporting;

Provide technical support for the development of digital platform by designing prototype of project level data monitoring page using actual data collected by projects

Coordinate with internal and external stakeholders to understand their data needs, draft concept notes, system specifications and strategies to reach agreed goals;

Conceptualize, design, and develop interactive data visualizations (e.g., portfolio dashboard, geospatial analysis) that make complex data more accessible, understandable, and actionable using software such as Power BI, ArcGIS and Tableau or with javascript;

Perform data exploration and analysis of various data sets including portfolio data and programmatic;

Set up data collection processes and data governance, liaise with data providers to ensure input, act as custodian to manage data pipeline, provide data cleansing and processing for consumption;

Provide hands-on support to project level data strategies, governance and technology selections;

Apply design thinking to daily work, support on producing quick mock ups, prototyping and building MVPs for new ideas;

Work with other data analysts and engineers in the team to find optimal technological and business solutions;

Proactively gather information on cutting edge digital technologies and potential technology partners, manage information;

Contribute to shaping and managing innovation projects and data-driven knowledge products.

Competencies

Professionalism: Shows pride in work and 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.

Communication: Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; Listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; Asks questions to clarify and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; Tailors language, tone, style and format to match the audience; Demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.

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.

Required Skills and Experience

Minimum Academic Education:
Master’s degree in a related field such as data science, economics, business administration, environmental management, energy, statistics or other relevant field is required.

Minimum years of relevant Work experience:
At least 2 years of relevant work experience in data management and data analytics or visualization is required.

Required skills and competencies:
Proficiency in managing and analyzing big data including survey data and/or real time data;

Knowledge of at least one of Tableau, Power BI or GIS software (e.g. ArcGIS).

Desired additional skills and competencies:
Experience leading innovation processes such as design thinking, agile development or user centered design is desirable;

Knowledge of sustainable energy is highly desirable;

Experience with GIS data analysis and map development;

Knowledge of cloud server environment (e.g. Microsoft Azure) and data processing languages (SQL, ArcGis, Python, R etc.) are desirable;

Experience working with one or more technologies, such as IoT, Big Data / ML, remote sensing, blockchain, mobile payments is an asset.

Required Language(s) (at working level):
Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.