GIS Developer Lead P3 - Rome, Italy

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WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles.

Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance.

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide.  The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes.  Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

This position is created within the GIS Unit of the Emergency Division and reports to the Coordinator of the GIS unit.

The Emergency Division (EME) is responsible for enhancing the World Food Programme (WFP) preparedness and response capacity in emergencies, including early warning, preparedness planning, crisis support and information management. As per directive OM 2008/005, EME is also the corporate focal point for GIS related projects and it considered data owner and data steward for relevant geo-referenced data as pertaining to locations.

JOB PURPOSE

Under this framework, the Geographical Information System (GIS) Team within EME gathers data from different sources and updates geo-referenced information to ensure that WFP is able to create detailed cartography as well as spatial analyses for areas of WFP’s interest. Such information resides on a proper GIS infrastructure that the GIS team has implemented at the WFP headquarters and that it is rolling out in Regional and Country Offices together with GIS data preparedness activities to have ready-to-map information in case of emergencies. 

The GIS Developer Lead will support this effort by developing procedures to automatically gather, process and map such information. He/She will contribute to the maintenance and improvement of the infrastructure where this information is stored as well as provide support to country offices and regional bureaux to build their GIS infrastructure and carry out data preparedness initiatives.
 
The GIS Developer Lead will be also responsible for the implementation of GIS applications for various divisions in WFP and for capacity building activities related to various GIS software that will be delivered by the team to colleagues in WFP and cooperating partners. 

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

• Maintain and further improve ADAM (Automated Disaster Analysis and Mapping), WFP’s corporate alert system for earthquakes and tropical storms/cyclones 
• Work in close collaboration with partners involved in the ADAM platform, such as United States Geological Survey, European Commission JRC and ECMWF to ensure coherent approach
• Ensure the efficient use of ADAM in WFP and with cooperating partners (other UN agencies, NGOs, Governments);
• Develop and maintain the GIS Data Harvesting System, build workflows to automatically process geospatial data, run analyses, produce and disseminate maps;
• Contribute to the improvement of Spatial Data Infrastructure and support implementation of new nodes of the Spatial Data Infrastructure in field offices
• Provide technical advice for the integration and maintenance of the SDI food security related information;
• Maintain the system that automatically produce maps with satellite imagery (SatAtlas) and run the service when required;
• Ensure implementation, and use of the Humanitarian Topographic Atlas (HTA), platform for automatic production of highly detailed topographic maps;
• Liaise with other divisions in WFP for the integration of geospatial data into corporate systems and websites;
• Produce and deliver GIS and Python trainings for WFP personnel.
• Post content in the GIS page that will be created in the WFP Communities platform;
• When requested, represent WFP at GIS related events;
• When requested, provide mapping support and technical guidance in other GIS tasks and act as weekend duty officer.
• Act as deputy lead of the Geospatial Unit, in charge of innovation strategies and projects management, Support emergency field operations with GIS analysis and mapping, when needed.

Perform any other duties within his/her professional competence as required to support project objectives.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

Advanced Degree, preferably in Geographic Information Systems or other relevant fields

Experience:

• Minimum of 05 years of increasingly relevant professional experience in implementing GIS applications
• Proven Experience with most or all of the following: Arcpy Mapping Library, Geospatial Data Abstraction Library (GDAL) computer software library, Numpy and Pandas software library, Python development language
• Proven experience in map automation

Language:

Fluency (level C) in English language. Intermediate knowledge (level B) of a second official UN language: Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish, and/or Portuguese (A WFP’s working language)

KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS

• Advanced GIS development skills, both in ArcGIS and QGIS environment
• Familiarity with spatial databases
• Proficiency with Structured Query Language (SQL) for the management of data held in relational databases
• Knowledge of mapping, geospatial data management and analysis skills
• Knowledge of GIS software ARCGIS 10.X (QGIS or other open source software knowledge is a plus)
• General Data Science understanding, and basic comprehension of the new trends and techniques in data analysis (i.e. Machine Learning)
• Courtesy, tact and ability to work with people of different national and cultural backgrounds
• Ability to communicate clearly and concisely both orally and in writing

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The selected candidate will be employed on a fixed term as well as a non-rotational contract with a probationary period of one year.

WFP offers an attractive compensation and benefits package, including basic salary, post adjustment, relocation entitlement, travel and shipment allowances, 30 days’ annual leave, home leave, an education grant for dependent children, pension plan and medical insurance. For more details please visit icsc.un.org

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

23 May, 2021

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Female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply

WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.