The UNOPS Global Portfolios Office (GPO) brings together diverse expertise to help partners deliver impact worldwide. With hubs in New York, Geneva, and Vienna, and expert teams operating globally, GPO leads multi-regional initiatives that advance sustainable development, climate action, and peacebuilding - including in some of the world’s most challenging environments.

By leveraging our collective expertise and global networks, GPO supports UNOPS’ strategic priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals across more than 130 countries. We work closely with major global partners - including governments, international financial institutions, and UN agencies - to deliver a wide range of services, such as project management, fund management, hosting services, and HR support.

Our thematic focus spans climate action and energy, health, peace and security, sustainable development, and humanitarian action, supporting high-impact initiatives across critical global priorities.

Not Required - part of GPO/NYPO

To achieve its goals, UN Global Pulse is seeking a Fullstack AI Engineer. 

The incumbent works under the direct supervision of the Portfolio Manager of UN Global Pulse and supports hands-on work across design, prototyping, integration, and operational deployment.

1. AI Solutions Prototyping and Development

• Support the co-design, preparation, and implementation of data and AI innovation activities across the UN Global Pulse portfolio, working closely with internal and external partners.

• Assist in developing data pipelines and systems, including data ingestion, cleaning, integration, transformation, and the preparation of datasets for modelling and analysis.

• Assist in the development and maintenance of analytical and machine learning pipelines by performing data ingestion, assessing and improving data quality.

• Support training ML models; identify and test relevant open source and partner-provided models. Implement mechanisms for model performance experiments tracking

• Support deploying ML models and implement model monitoring systems to detect drift and performance degradation.

• Assist with identifying and co-building solutions with external surge-capacity partners (academia, private sector, technical experts), ensuring rapid prototyping, field testing, and integration of specialised models and tools.

• Apply basic MLOps and open-source tools as directed, supporting reproducibility, version control, and the structured development of models and analytical components.

2. Applied Analysis & Innovation Support

• Support research and analysis on emerging data science and AI trends (including NLP, computer vision, geospatial methods, and generative AI) to inform strategic planning, innovation design, and portfolio development.

• Assist with integrating analytical outputs and prototype results into UNGP initiatives, helping strengthen responsible AI methods, evaluation approaches, and technical guidelines.

• Assist in the design, testing, iteration, and refinement of responsible and high-impact data and AI solutions, working closely with policy, innovation, and technology experts to ensure technical alignment with UN and partner priorities.

• Help ensure that data and AI solutions are developed with a focus on rapid prototyping, iterative improvement, and readiness for practical deployment in real-world UN operational contexts.

3. Knowledge Integration & System Learning

• Assist in preparing knowledge products, brief analytical summaries, simple dashboards and visualisations, helping communicate insights, prototype behaviour, and analytical results to technical and non-technical audiences.

• Contribute to knowledge integration and capacity-building efforts by supporting the documentation of methods, lessons learned, and good practices, and assisting in tracking progress across data- and AI-driven initiatives within the UN Global Pulse network.

Using diverse data sources, including open, private-sector, and UN datasets, the incumbent of the position will support data collection, cleaning, integration, exploratory analysis, and model preparation activities across the UN Global Pulse portfolio. The Fullstack AI Engineer will help the Data Science team identify trends and patterns, generate initial analytical outputs, contribute to prototype development, and support analytical work that informs policy and operational decision-making across UN entities and partners.

In doing so, the Fullstack AI Engineer will contribute to transforming early-stage concepts into evidence-based innovations, strengthening the organisation’s mission to accelerate the responsible use of data and AI for people and planet.

The Fullstack AI Engineer supports the execution of data analysis, machine learning, and prototyping activities that contribute to insights for UN Global Pulse initiatives.

Key results may include:

• Data systems, workflows, or pipelines supported and maintained, ensuring reliable preparation, cleaning, and organisation of datasets for downstream analytical and ML tasks.

• Analytical summaries and exploratory data analysis supported to inform modelling decisions and support project teams with interpretable, actionable information.

• Contributions to the development and iteration of machine learning prototypes and MVPs for example by assisting with preparing datasets, running experiments, and maintaining clear notebooks or documentation for reuse and further development.

• Basic dashboards, visualisations, or monitoring materials developed, supporting continuous learning, performance tracking, and communication of key insights across projects.

• Contributions made to knowledge products, case studies, and documentation that support system learning and can be incorporated into reusable guidance or toolkits.

• Support provided in applying responsible AI principles, including assisting with transparency checks, data/ethical reviews, and documentation that supports risk-aware development.

Required

• An advanced university degree (Master's or equivalent) preferably in computer science, data science, mathematics, statistics, or other related field OR

• A first-level university degree (Bachelor's or equivalent) preferably in computer science, data science, mathematics, statistics, or other related field with 2 years of relevant experience 

Required:

• Relevant experience is defined as experience in one or more of the following areas: data science, machine learning, data analytics, AI engineering or a related technical field. 

• Experience in data preparation, exploratory analysis, feature engineering, or basic model development is required.

• Hands-on experience developing data-driven prototypes or analytical solutions, contributing to testing, documentation, and feature iteration is required.

Desirable:

• Experience using Python and SQL for data manipulation, analysis, or modelling.

• Experience working with version control tools such as Git and GitHub in collaborative workflows.

• Experience with DevOps workflows (e.g., CI/CD, GitHub Actions, etc.)

• Experience with LLMs (OpenAI API, LangChain, structured outputs, tool calling, evaluation)

• Experience with AI coding agents (Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, Github Copilot, Replit)

• Experience preparing data visualizations or analytical outputs using open-source or code-based tools (e.g., Plotly, seaborn, matplotlib, ggplot2, Quarto, Observable, or similar).

• Experience working with modern ML/AI tools or environments (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, HuggingFace) is an asset.

• Familiarity with text analytics/NLP, geospatial data, or basic model evaluation techniques is desirable.

• Experience with UX development, user interviews, user testing, design thinking

• Experience with web development frameworks (React, Next.js, shad.cn)

• Experience with Jupyter or similar data science development tools is an asset.

• Familiarity with cloud platforms or data engineering environments (e.g., GCP, AWS, Azure) is desirable.

• Experience working with humanitarian, development, or public-sector datasets is an asset.

• Please note that UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes. 
• Please note that UNOPS will at no stage of the recruitment process request candidates to make payments of any kind.
• Applications to vacancies must be received before midnight Copenhagen time (CET) on the closing date of the announcement. Applications received after the closing date will not be considered. 
• Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments. 
• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. UNOPS seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. 
• UNOPS evaluates all applications based on the skills, qualifications and experience requirements outlined in the vacancy announcement. We are committed to considering all candidates in a fair and transparent manner, and we value diverse perspectives and experiences, including those of women, indigenous and racialized communities, individuals with diverse gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities.
• We would like to ensure all candidates perform at their best during the assessment process. If you are shortlisted and require additional assistance to complete any assessment, including reasonable accommodation, please inform our human resources team when you receive an invitation.

• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post. 
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few mandatory courses (they take around 4 hours to complete) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. For more information on a retainer contract here. 
• For more details about the contract types, please click here.
• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda. 
• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.