Background & Rationale
The UNICEF Innovation Unit functions like a collection of startups in early-stage. Promising new technologies (e.g. data science, SMS technologies, UAVs, blockchain) are identified that have potential to impact UNICEF core operations (e.g. education, health, disaster response). Through our network of technology companies, UNICEF country offices and academic institutions, we construct pilots to quickly determine if projects should be continued or discontinued. Innovation Unit New York provides support to UNICEF’s 190 country offices and consists of a flat team of technologists, designers, programmers, researchers and communication specialists. Requests for collaboration, advice and support are fielded from UNICEF programmes, other parts of the UN system and the humanitarian technology ecosystem.
We also have a small venture fund – the UNICEF Innovation Fund – which provides resources to quickly assess, fund and scale companies, teams, and ideas that have been developed in new and emerging markets. The Innovation Fund supports the generation of open source, public goods that address the most pressing challenges facing children.
UNICEF Innovation Unit seeks to hire a project manager with a focus on supporting the research, engineering and data science (REDS) team as one of the front-facing members of the data science team, and also help prioritize, budget, and manage resources so that data scientists, engineers, and hardware experts can do their work better, faster, and with fewer distractions and interruptions.
In many ways this is a support role for the data science, research, and engineering team, and is not a traditional “product manager” role (“week six you have this, week seven you have that, and if you don’t have that by week 10 you’re fired”) but is more agile and (wince) scrummy.
Help the data science team come up with the evaluation and judging criteria for projects – how do we know what works well, and what doesn’t. What provides the best return on time. Where can we leverage other open-source resources / teams to accelerate our work.
This role would involve talking to different UNICEF business units, managing discussions with major corporate partners (Google, Facebook, etc.) at the points where they intersect with the UNICEF Innovation Unit, and framing many different possibilities into a few specific pieces of work.
You have to have a deep knowledge of technology. This means a total understanding of how the internet works. How code works. How hardware works. You don’t need to be able to build any of these things, but you need to be able to describe, evaluate, and manage options within their spheres. Engage with the local tech community and stay current with evolving software technology.
You also need to eat and breathe open-source philosophy and approach. You git github. You can fight an engineer about their commit history. You wouldn’t need to check for unit tests in code, but you know that they should be there…and if stuff starts going wrong because they’re not you know what to do.
Purpose
To work with UNICEF Innovation’s Research, Data, and Engineering leads and support/guide on getting projects from very early concept to articulated prototype.
To help evaluate a myriad of different possible options for new projects, field new requests from other parts of the team, manage those, and making sure to carefully prioritize those requests to maximize impact and organizational relationships.
Manage human / computing resources for projects.
Assist research scientists in communicating to other business areas about projects in prototype phase and ensuring timely follow-up of these leads.
With technical team members, ensure a methodical approach to pipelines for piloting of projects, from scoping to completion.
Use of appropriate productivity tools; standing meetings, scrum, Git, Google Docs, Trello etc.
Expected results: (measurable results)
Weekly updates to Innovation Unit co-lead on status of project roster
Daily communications (written, remote and in person) with REDS team, UNICEF colleagues and external stakeholders to manage project pipeline as directed by lead research scientist and Innovation Unit co-lead
Monthly iteration of guidelines for selection and prioritisation of project suitability
Ongoing development of relationships with academic and industry partners
Ad-hoc response to requests for information and support from potential collaborators and communication of
Deliverables & TIMEFRAME
Deliverables
Deadline
Onboarding: initial assessment of projects and landscape, projects and team roles documented. (Google docs/spreadsheets)
Month 1
Evaluation of all current projects in pipeline. Specific guidance to project teams.
Month 2
Presentations of projects to management teams. Ordered integration plans for later stage projects.
Month 3
Summary report on high priority technology areas and commercial partners.
Month 4
Capture of what works and doesn’t. Display of failures and methodology for learning.
Month 5
Further development of project plan and lifecycle (i.e. “where are we now”)
Month 6
Analysis of future work with private sector technology partners
Month 7
Support to communications team on team update and report for General Assembly
Month 8
Presentation of UNICEF Innovation technology work at key conferences and side-events around UN General Assembly
Month 9
Develop criteria for determining termination or scale up of pilots and organisation and technological modalities for scaling up
Month 10
Profile of projects for innovation fund 2nd round based on year’s lessons learned
Month 11
Preparation for 2017, workplan support
Ongoing
Key competences, technical background, and experience required Deadline
· University degree (including components of e.g. business, management, technology, design etc. or equivalent experience in those component areas)
· Interest and aptitude for interdisciplinary and innovative technology
· Experience working in diverse teams. Startup or business development is desirable
· Ability to synthesize technical information and effectively communicate it to a wide range of audiences
· Written and verbal fluency in English is required
· Some high level knowledge of backend/frontend programming using modern technologies e.g. Python, R, Javascript.
· Experience with business negotiation and managing relationships over longer term partnerships.
How to apply:
Applicants are requested to send their submissions to pdconsultants@unicef.org with subject line:
“Technical Project Manager: Research, Engineering, and Data Science” by 19th February 2016, 5:00pm EST.
Applications must include:
· Cover letter,
· CV, and
· P-11 form[1] – http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/P11.doc
· Two writing samples presenting relevant desk- or delivery interview based research findings and recommendations (max 10 pages each)
· Indicate where you heard about this advertisement
Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered. Payment will be made as a lump sum at the end of the consultancy.
NOTE: Files should not exceed 5.0MB limit
UNICEF 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.
[1] P 11 form can be downloaded from our website at http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/P11.doc
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