Intern - Sustainable Energy Hub

Job Posting Organization:
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a global organization that focuses on sustainable development and poverty reduction. Established in 1965, UNDP operates in approximately 170 countries and territories, working to eradicate poverty and reduce inequalities through sustainable development. The organization emphasizes diversity, equity, and inclusion, aiming to empower all personnel to contribute to its mission. UNDP is committed to ensuring that marginalized populations are represented and included in its initiatives, reflecting its core principle of 'leaving no one behind.'

Job Overview:
The intern will play a crucial role in supporting the UNDP's Sustainable Energy Hub (SEH) by contributing to various projects aimed at increasing energy access and accelerating the transition to renewable energy. The intern will engage in day-to-day research and analytical tasks focused on three main pillars: closing the energy access gap, facilitating a just energy transition, and enhancing energy resilience in crisis contexts. This position requires a blend of analytical skills, data science, and digital innovation to support strategic decision-making and knowledge management within the SEH. The intern will work on multiple projects, including the Energy AI and Energy Moonshot initiatives, leveraging advanced data analytics, natural language processing (NLP), and GIS analytics to develop digital solutions and create compelling visualizations and reports.

Duties and Responsibilities:
The intern's key functions will include:

• Data Management & Analytics: Organizing and preprocessing datasets on sustainable energy, performing quantitative and qualitative analytics on UNDP projects, cataloguing statistics, and supporting the development of a document database.
• Digital Innovation & Research: Proposing new digital tools, conducting literature reviews on current technologies in sustainable energy, and cataloguing case studies on digital technologies used in UNDP projects.
• Visualization & Data-Driven Storytelling: Developing interactive dashboards and visualizations, creating GIS-based story maps, and automating media content management systems.
• AI and Knowledge Graph Development: Utilizing NLP and machine learning techniques to extract information from key documents, developing predictive models for energy trends, and automating data processing pipelines.
• Ad-hoc support: Assisting the SEH team with research activities, data analysis, and visualization, and managing data cleaning and processing tasks.

Required Qualifications:
Applicants must meet one of the following requirements: be enrolled in a postgraduate degree program in Data Science, Computer Science, Economics, Energy, or related fields; be in the final year of a bachelor's degree in these disciplines; have recently graduated with a relevant degree; or be enrolled in a postgraduate professional traineeship program. Strong background in data management, processing, and analysis of structured and unstructured datasets relevant to sustainable energy is essential. Experience in data science, analytics, or research related to climate change and sustainable energy is also required, along with proficiency in Python and machine learning techniques.

Educational Background:
Candidates should have a strong educational background in fields such as Data Science, Computer Science, Economics, Energy, or related disciplines. This includes being enrolled in a postgraduate degree program or being in the final year of a bachelor's degree program. Recent graduates are also eligible if they can start the internship within one year of graduation.

Experience:
The position requires a strong background in data management and processing, including experience with cleaning, transformation, and analysis of datasets relevant to sustainable energy. Demonstrated experience in data science, analytics, or research related to climate change and sustainable energy is crucial, with a focus on applying data-driven approaches to inform policy and investment decisions. Hands-on experience in developing data-driven projects, including dashboards and analytics tools, is also necessary.

Languages:
Excellent oral and written communication skills in English are mandatory for this position. Proficiency in additional languages may be considered an asset but is not explicitly required.

Additional Notes:
The internship is designed to be flexible, allowing for remote work arrangements. Interns will be responsible for providing their own equipment and internet access. A stipend may be provided to cover basic daily expenses for in-person internships, while a remote stipend will be offered for remote internships. Interns will accrue sick and annual leave at a rate of 1.5 days per month, and any unused leave will be forfeited at the end of the internship. Interns are responsible for securing adequate medical insurance for the duration of their internship, and UNDP will not reimburse medical insurance costs. There is no expectation of employment with UNDP following the internship.