Data Engineer

 ​​Requisition ID: 4106 
Grade: ISA Specialist 
Country: Austria 
Duty Station: Vienna 
Category: International Consultant 
Type of Job Posting: Internal/External
Employment Type: NonStaff-Regular
Application Deadline: 05-Jul-2024, 11:59 PM (CEST)  

Vacancy Announcement
TEMPORARY APPOINTMENT OF PROJECT PERSONNEL
Female candidates are encouraged to apply.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is the specialized agency of the United Nations that promotes industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability. The mission of UNIDO, as described in the Lima Declaration adopted at the fifteenth session of the UNIDO General Conference in 2013 as well as the Abu Dhabi Declaration adopted at the eighteenth session of UNIDO General Conference in 2019, is to promote and accelerate inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID) in Member States. The relevance of ISID as an integrated approach to all three pillars of sustainable development is recognized by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will frame United Nations and country efforts towards sustainable development. UNIDO’s mandate is fully recognized in SDG-9, which calls to “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation”. The relevance of ISID, however, applies in greater or lesser extent to all SDGs. Accordingly, the Organization’s programmatic focus is structured in four strategic priorities: Creating shared prosperity; Advancing economic competitiveness; Safeguarding the environment; and Strengthening knowledge and institutions.

Each of these programmatic fields of activity contains a number of individual programmes, which are implemented in a holistic manner to achieve effective outcomes and impacts through UNIDO’s four enabling functions: (i) technical cooperation; (ii) analytical and research functions and policy advisory services; (iii) normative functions and standards and quality-related activities; and (iv) convening and partnerships for knowledge transfer, networking and industrial cooperation. Such core functions are carried out in Divisions/Offices in its Headquarters, Regional Offices and Hubs and Country Offices.

Each of these programmatic fields of activity contains a number of individual programmes, which are implemented in a holistic manner to achieve effective outcomes and impacts through UNIDO’s four enabling functions: (i) technical cooperation; (ii) analytical and research functions and policy advisory services; (iii) normative functions and standards and quality-related activities; and (iv) convening and partnerships for knowledge transfer, networking and industrial cooperation. Such core functions are carried out in Departments/Offices in its Headquarters, Regional Offices and Hubs and Country Offices.

The Directorate of Corporate Services and Operations (COR)
The position is located under Information Technology and Digitalization Services

PROJECT CONTEXT

The Directorate of Corporate Services and Operations (COR) is responsible and accountable for the management of UNIDO’s human, financial and material resources, ensuring the capacity of the Organization to fulfil its mandate. The Directorate oversees a full range of financial, human resources, learning and staff development, procurement, information technology and general services to meet the service support needs of the Organization as a whole. Additionally, the Directorate houses the Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women Unit and the Ethics and Accountability Unit as well as oversees their operations. Furthermore, the Directorate provides guidance on personnel security and safety matters and ensures the overall coordination of UNIDO’s response in this regard.

The Information Technology and Digitalization Services (COR/DIG) focuses on enabling the Organization through new and innovative digital technologies, while ensuring secure, reliable, effective and efficient information technology (IT) services towards the achievement of strategic objectives and UNIDO’s ISID mandate. IT services includes the management and development of web, digital and business solutions; maintaining a robust data center and infrastructure; managing the cybersecurity programme, providing efficient end-user solutions and support; ensuring knowledge management; data-driven analytics and business intelligence; and platforms for enabling transparent external relations with Member States, partners and civil society. 

The Information Technology and Digitalization Services:

•    Manages and implements IT and digitization strategies and solutions, for setting and enforcing common IT standards and best practices throughout UNIDO;
•    Manages corporate IT services;
•    In close cooperation with the Coordination and Integration Support Division (IET/CIS) and the Quality, Impact and Accountability (IET/QUA) Division, ensures from an operational and technical perspective, that applications and systems are implemented in an integrated, sustainable and secure manner following best practices;
•    Provides value-added for the Organization based on cost-benefit considerations in pursuit of the principles of Result-Based Management and delivering overall continuous improvement of the Organization’s operations;
•    Coordinates a Service Desk which is the single point of contact for requests from the UNIDO workforce positioned both at Headquarters and the field. 

Functions of the Information Technology and Digitalization include: 

•    Develop strategies, plan, enable, and support major initiatives aimed at transforming UNIDO’s future IT infrastructure and business operations; 
•    Ensure full lifecycle management and continuous improvement to IT systems and services, including Enterprise and Resource Planning (ERP) solutions, web-platforms, knowledge management tools, service delivery, and its underlying infrastructure; 
•    In close cooperation with the Member State and Donor Relations Division (GLO/MSR), plan and support the mobilization of regular and extra-budgetary financial resources for the management of the IT budget and resources; 
•    Safeguard the integrity and security of IT systems, while monitoring the environment, perform risk assessments to derive and recommend mitigating actions including policies, standards, baselines, procedures, reporting and guidelines; 
•    Develop, manage and review the Organization’s information security management system through risk management, raising awareness, implementation of cybersecurity best-practices to safeguard and protect UNIDO’s data and information assets; 
•    Support the Organization in providing digitalization and innovative solutions to transform and improve operations especially back-office processes; 
•    Manage and support an extranet platform for Member States and funding partners ensuring that the relevant data and information is available to further increase transparency; 
•    Coordinate and manage the operations of the service desk; 
•    Provide support to end users, and in close cooperation with the Learning and Development Services (COR/LED), ensure that end-user and training related materials are developed, maintained, and available online to users; 
•    Provide online platforms for open data, key documents and publications following IATI standards; 
•    In cooperation with stakeholders throughout the Organization, primarily with the Coordination and Integration Support Division (IET/CIS) and the Quality, Impact and Accountability Division (IET/QUA) , implement dashboards and analytics, reflecting UNIDO’s contribution to the SDGs; the ISID mandate of economic growth, environmental sustainability and social inclusion; programme/project indicators necessary for monitoring and reporting; as well as other key indicators to measure Organizational impact, efficiency and effectiveness; 
•    Manage IT sourcing strategies, contracts and outsourced services; 
•    Develop state-of-the-art solutions for IT based internal communication and team working and ensure their use and full integration in existing systems; 
•    In cooperation with the Coordination and Integration Support Division (IET/CIS) plan, coordinate and implement ERP-related changes and improvements as well as ensure quality management and risk mitigation; 
•    In coordination with the Asset Management and Logistics Services (COR/AML), manage IT assets, including non-tangible assets; 
•    Represent UNIDO on communities of practice of Information Communication Technologies (ICT), including formal groups with United Nations system and other IGOs; 
•    Plan, manage and coordinate the regular and extra-budgetary financial resources and expenditures for the COR/DIG and plan, manage and coordinate the IT budget for UNIDO; 
•    Provide essential Library, Sales Publications and Industrial Development Abstracts (IDA) services; 
•    Provide management responses to audit observations and ensure the timely implementation of agreed-upon recommendations; 
•    Cooperate with other VBOs and relevant organizational entities as well as external stakeholders with a view to harmonizing and exchanging information to enhance service delivery. 

FUNCTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES 

Under the supervision and guidance of the Chief of COR/DIG, the senior data engineer will be responsible for implementing comprehensive digital transformation across our organization. This role involves leveraging innovative technologies and methodologies to enhance business processes, customer experiences, and organizational efficiency.

Key functions:

• Backend Development and Data Systems Integration: Design and implement scalable backend services and APIs for data ingestion, processing, and distribution, ensuring seamless integration with existing web systems and databases.
• Data Pipeline Architecture: Build and maintain robust data pipelines for real-time and batch data processing, supporting analytics, machine learning models, and business intelligence tools.
• DevOps/MLOps Practices: Implement DevOps practices for continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) of data-driven applications and MLOps frameworks to streamline the lifecycle of machine learning models, from development to production.
• Data Governance and Quality Control: Establish and enforce data governance frameworks to ensure data quality, consistency, and security across the organization, incorporating best practices in metadata management, data modeling, and lineage.
• Infrastructure and Cloud Management: Oversee the deployment and management of data infrastructure in cloud environments (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP), leveraging serverless architectures, containerization (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes), and managed services for scalability and efficiency.
• Collaboration and Strategic Advisory: Work closely with IT, data science, and business teams to align data engineering initiatives with organizational goals, providing strategic insights on leveraging data for decision-making and innovation.
• ontinuous Learning and Innovation: Stay informed of the latest trends in data engineering, backend development, and AI/ML technologies, advocating for the adoption of new tools and practices to enhance organizational capabilities

MNIMUM ORGANIZATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

 
Education
Advanced university degree (master’s or equivalent) in one or more of the following areas: information technology, business administration, digital technologies, or related fields is required.

PMP or similar project management certifications, reflecting a strong foundation in leading and managing complex projects with cross-functional teams is desirable.

Experience

• A minimum of three (3) years of practical experience in backend development and data engineering, is required.
• Proficiency in backend programming languages such as Java, Python, and experience with backend frameworks is required.
• Demonstrated experience in designing and developing robust data pipelines for real-time and batch data processing, with a strong emphasis on efficiency and scalability is required.
• Solid understanding of data governance principles, including metadata management, data quality, and data security practices, to ensure the integrity and privacy of data across the organization is required.
• Proven expertise in managing SQL and NoSQL databases, including performance optimization and schema design, to support complex data storage and retrieval needs is required.
• Experience with DevOps and MLOps methodologies, including continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) and the management of machine learning models in production environments, to enhance operational efficiency and model reliability is desirable.
• Familiarity with cloud services (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) and the deployment of data infrastructures in cloud environments, leveraging cloud-native services for scalability and resilience is desirable.
• Basic understanding of frontend development technologies (e.g., Angular, React) to facilitate effective collaboration with frontend developers and integration of backend services with user-facing applications is desirable.
• Experience with data visualization tools like PowerBI and Tableau, to develop actionable insights from data and support business intelligence efforts is desirable.
• Basic knowledge of AI and machine learning concepts, to support the development and deployment of data science projects and contribute to the organization’s AI initiatives is desirable.

Languages
Fluency in written and spoken English is required.  Fluency in or working knowledge of other United Nations language(s), is desirable. 

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

Core values
WE LIVE AND ACT WITH INTEGRITY: work honestly, openly and impartially.
WE SHOW PROFESSIONALISM: work hard and competently in a committed and responsible manner.
WE RESPECT DIVERSITY: work together effectively, respectfully and inclusively, regardless of our differences in culture and perspective.
Key competencies
WE FOCUS ON PEOPLE: cooperate to fully reach our potential –and this is true for our colleagues as well as our clients. Emotional intelligence and receptiveness are vital parts of our UNIDO identity.
WE FOCUS ON RESULTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES: focus on planning, organizing and managing our work effectively and efficiently. We are responsible and accountable for achieving our results and meeting our performance standards. This accountability does not end with our colleagues and supervisors, but we also owe it to those we serve and who have trusted us to contribute to a better, safer and healthier world.
WE COMMUNICATE AND EARN TRUST: communicate effectively with one another and build an environment of trust where we can all excel in our work.
WE THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX AND INNOVATE: To stay relevant, we continuously improve, support innovation, share our knowledge and skills, and learn from one another.

This appointment is limited to the specified project(s) only and does not carry any expectation of renewal.
Employees of UNIDO are expected at all times to uphold the highest standards of integrity, professionalism and respect for diversity, both at work and outside. Only persons who fully and unconditionally commit to these values should consider applying for jobs at UNIDO.

All applications must be submitted online through the Online Recruitment System. Correspondence will be undertaken only with candidates who are being considered at an advanced phase of the selection process. Selected candidate(s) may be required to disclose to the Director General the nature and scope of financial and other personal interests and assets in respect of themselves, their spouses and dependents, under the procedures established by the Director General.

Visit the UNIDO website for details on how to apply: www.unido.org

NOTE: The Director General retains the discretion to make an appointment to this post at a lower level. 

Notice to applicants:
UNIDO does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. If you have received a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Vacant positions within UNIDO are advertised on the official UNIDO website. Should you have any questions concerning persons or companies claiming to be recruiting on behalf of UNIDO and requesting payment of a fee, please contact: recruitment@unido.org