About UNICEF
If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines fordeveloping countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.
Consultancy: Geo-Spatial Analyst (for Equity analysis automation) Consultancy
Duty Station: DAPM/Programme Effectiveness/Monitoring Unit
Duration: 30 November 2026 – 31 December 2026
Home/ Office Based: Remote
BACKGROUND
Purpose of Activity/ Assignment:
UNICEF is mandated to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, and the Strategic Plan recognizes the importance of advocacy to deliver against UNICEF’s mission and secure programmatic results for children.
UNICEF’s Division of Data, Analytics, Planning and Monitoring (DAPM) spearheads the organization’s efforts to strengthen management for results in all aspects of UNICEF’s work, particularly in programming in the field. DAPM regularly works with colleagues in Country Offices around the world, as well as Regional Offices to support programme planning, implementation, reporting and monitoring worldwide.
There is increasing evidence that countries can achieve national and international development goals in the midst of worsening inequities – evidenced by having people and communities who are not realizing their rights, while goals are being achieved at the national level.
In recognition of this challenge, UNICEF Offices have been conducting child rights- focused statistical analysis to identify the most vulnerable children, facing multiple deprivations, with greater risks of being exposed to hazardous conditions. This exercise is usually done at the planning phase of the country programme to prioritize the geographic locations with the most vulnerable children. Such areas require cross-sectoral/integrated programmatic support. However, with no standardized methodology, minimum framework or organization-wide guidance, the exercise is done on an ad hoc basis and rarely referenced or replicated over the course of the programme cycle. Offices are usually not able to use it for monitoring, tracking and measuring programme effectiveness in geographical locations with the highest investment rates for children.
Therefore, an analysis supported by an online mapping tool with integrated/overlayed data is key to the effective roll out and adoption of the new programme management procedures and guidance package. This effort supports the ‘outcome focus’ strategy of the Strategic Plan and Country Programmes.
A Geo-spatial Analyst would be required to support building an analytical tool that can ingest data, calculate the base layer indices, visualize the base layer in its various forms and push the data into data warehouse to overlay with the performance and contextual layers for further insight into the situation of vulnerable children. The consultant will also be expected to train offices on using the application.
Under the supervision of the Programme Manager, the consultant will also work very closely with the systems team in DAPM, the geo-spatial team in DAPM, Programme Group and ICTD.
Scope of Work:
The consultant will support the Division of Data, Analysis, Planning and Monitoring and ICTD in automating the calculation of the base layer index of the Equity Analysis. The automation process will be based on the Equity Analysis methodology that has been tested in 20 UNICEF offices. This will include upgrading ShinyApp for:
Data management and integration with internal tools and databases Enhanced visualization and analytical flexibility Capacity building, maintenance and integrationTerms of Reference / Key Deliverables:
Work Assignment Overview/Deliverables and Outputs/Delivery deadline
1. Data Management and Integration
- An upgraded ShinyApp that allows robust data upload capabilities for country offices, including support for code lists and automated coding of indicators.
- ShinyApp integrated with the Equity Analysis Lakehouse (managed by ICTD) for centralized storage, retrieval, updating, and management of Equity Analysis (EA) files
30 July 2026
2. Enhanced visualization and analytical flexibility
- ShinyApp upgraded to allow multiple classification methods for choropleth maps, standardized bar chart orientation and colour coding, customizable scatter plots with trend line options, and flexible standardization methods for indicators.
- ShinyApp has tools for visualizing deprivation and hazard indices independently or together
- ShinyApp upgraded to enable demographic disaggregation, and expand mapping capabilities to component and indicator levels, including support for overlaying absolute counts and Dynamic tooltips to support user guide for ShinyApp
30 Jul 2026
3. Capacity building, maintenance and integration
- A set of training materials on using ShinyApp
- Approximately 10-15 sessions for relevant CO, RO and HQ staff trained on ShinyApp.
- ShinyApp linked to global hazard layers and datasets
- Standardized code tables for consistent mapping across countries established
- ShinyApp is upgraded for sustained functionality
31 Dec 2026
Qualifications
Education:
Advanced University degree in Computer Science (programme with relevant geospatial component; other disciplines also potentially relevant), Data and Statistics and Geography
Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required *:
(1) Work experience
A minimum of 12 years of professional experience using geospatial technologies for analysis Experience with geospatial data science with focus on humanitarian data and risk analysis Experience with risk index creation; familiarity with the Equity Analysis methodology is an asset Experience developing and managing online geospatial dashboards Experience developing apps in the Shiny environment Coding skills including R, Python, ArcPy, Django Advanced proficiency with Esri products (e.g. ArcGIS, 123, and Enterprise) and QGIS Experience with developing methodology documents and reports to academic publishing standards(2) Competencies
Strong English writing and communication skills Abilities to work with multicultural teamsRequirements:
Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and
- Upload copy of academic credentials
- Financial proposal that will include/ reflect :
the costs per each deliverable and the total lump-sum for the whole assignment (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference. travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR. Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable. Indicate your availability- Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.
- At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.
- Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.
U.S. Visa information:
With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process
For every Child, you demonstrate…
UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. View our competency framework at: Here
UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.
UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.
Remarks:
Individuals engaged under a consultancy will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants. Consultants are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.
The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.