Dec 11, UN-HABITAT Urban Data/GIS Expert Jobs in Kenya

About UN-Habitat

UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable and resilient towns and cities. It is the focal point agency for all urbanization and human settlement matters within the UN system.

UN-Habitat envisions well-planned, well-governed and efficient cities and towns, with adequate housing, infrastructure and universal access to employment and basic services such as water, energy, and sanitation. Responding to crisis and post-crisis context is part of UN-Habitat’s mandate and strategic plan.

UN-Habitat Urban Planning Lab

The Urban Planning Lab (Urban Lab) is an entity for UN-Habitat to promptly respond to and support national and local governments in achieving sustainable urban development. The Urban Lab is the integrative facility of the Agency where innovative processes and partnerships are translated into tangible and transformative solutions to complex urban challenges, including urban recovery processes.

The Urban Lab brings together multidisciplinary teams of local and international urban planners, environmental, data-science, mobility, legal and financial experts, providing holistic and proactive approaches to sustainable urbanization in cities and towns globally.

Hence, the Urban Lab embeds the necessary thematic disciplines, experts, actors and stakeholders to respond to requests, also in crisis and post-crisis contexts. The Urban Lab acts as a neutral broker, managing knowledge in complex stakeholder settings to resolve multi-sectoral, multi-scalar and multi-stakeholder challenges.

The Urban Lab applies an integrated approach to systemic and strategic urban planning to deliver transformative change for sustainable urbanization and to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the New Urban Agenda.

The Urban Lab addresses the complexity and challenges of cities and regions by translating these global and other development frameworks into concrete actionable solutions into the built environment through development of local strategies and plans for urban transformation, and by bridging the gap between policy and physical implementation (capital investment planning).

Informed by evidence-based data analysis, spatial and non-spatial strategic responses and solutions are developed in partnership with stakeholders to ensure sustainable urban development outcomes. Hereby, the Urban Lab supports the positioning of the Agency as a Centre of Excellence for urban planning and design. The Urban Lab falls under the Planning, Finance and Economy Section, which is part of the Urban Practices Branch and the Global Solutions Division.

Reporting and Communication

The consultant will work under the overall supervision of the Head of the Urban Lab and the direct supervision of the Programme Manager of the projects, based at UN-Habitat’s Headquarters in Nairobi. Would the consultant not be able to relocate to Nairobi, any remote working will be explored and require specific arrangements for reporting and communication.

The urban data/GIS expert will work collaboratively with the UN-Habitat’s Urban Lab core team at UN-Habitat’s Headquarters in Nairobi, as well as with Habitat’s regional and country offices where relevant.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will report directly to the Head of the Urban Lab in Nairobi and to the designated programme managers of the projects. The consultant is expected to support the implementation of several urban planning projects for example in Mozambique, Somalia, Kenya

and Kyrgyzstan.

Under the overall supervision of the Chief of the Planning, Finance and Economy Section, the Urban Lab managers, in coordination with the UN-Habitat Regional and Country Offices and in close collaboration with UN-Habitat thematic Sections, the consultant is expected to fulfil the following duties and responsibilities:

Advise and work with the Urban Lab team to analyze, collect, compile and interpret data to guide and inform the territorial and urban projects, specifically on urban profiling;

Contribute to the development and application of methodologies and guidelines on evidence-based spatial analysis to be implemented in the Urban Lab projects;

Develop analytical and diagnostic maps, drawings/graphics and related reports to inform urban profiling and planning;

Contribute to the development of planning proposals, including drawings/graphics;

Develop critical analysis of existing planning documents and instruments with GIS support;

Undertake reviews and assessments of relevant policies and strategies related to urban data and document findings in short briefing notes;

Develop training materials for GIS, remote sensing, data analysis, and visualization and deliver workshops/training events;

Develop and organize participatory, multi-stakeholder processes tailor-made for the stakeholders within the projects;

Provide technical recommendations to Urban Lab documents and publications, and

Contribute to the development of papers and methodologies for open-source data platforms for UN-Habitat and Partners

Qualifications/special skills

Education:

Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Urban Development, geography, GIS, Urban Planning and Design, or a related field is required.

Work Experience:

At least 2 years of relevant work experience in the field of sustainable development and GIS/spatial analysis (and/or related fields) with direct proven experience in drawing and preparing plan graphical material using computer-assisted design tools, with special attention to data management and processing with GIS software is required;

Direct proven experience of urban planning projects/processes, in combination with e.g. urban resilience, mobility, project finance, and/or data systems is required;

Proven experience in GIS software use, data analysis and maps production is required;

Understanding of and experience from managing urban data is an asset;

Experience working in the public sector, e.g. local governments is considered an asset;

Experience in crisis/post-conflict contexts is an asset;

Experience working on social change projects is an asset;

Leading, designing and managing capacity building processes is an asset;

Working knowledge and understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (and their monitoring/evaluation) and of the New Urban Agenda is an asset;

Working experience with international development agencies and in particular the United Nations is an asset.

Languages

Fluency in English, written and verbal, is required. Proficiency in French, Arabic, Russian, Portuguese, or other languages is an advantage.

How to Apply

For more information and job application details, see; UN-HABITAT Urban Data/GIS Expert Jobs in Kenya

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