To achieve its goals, UN Global Pulse (UNGP) is seeking a Technical Program Officer.
Using diverse data sources—including open, private-sector, and UN datasets—the incumbent will plan and implement data collection, integration, and analysis activities in support of Accelerator projects and broader portfolio initiatives. The role will identify trends and patterns, generate insights, and develop analytical models and prototypes that inform policy and operational decision-making across UN entities and partners.
In doing so, the incumbent will help transform early-stage ideas and already piloted solutions into scalable, evidence-based innovations—supporting the organisation’s mission to accelerate the responsible use of data and AI for people and planet.
The Technical Program Officer delivers high-quality data and AI solutions, strong coordination with partners, and actionable analytical insights, while strengthening responsible AI practices, system learning, and capacity across UNGP teams. It also enhances collaboration within UN innovation ecosystems and supports the scaling of impactful prototypes and knowledge products across the portfolio.
Key results may include:
High-quality data pipelines, engineering workflows, and machine learning prototypes designed, tested, and documented to ensure reliable datasets and scalable AI innovation across UNGP projects.
Effective coordination with external surge-capacity partners (private sector, academia, consultancies) enabled, ensuring timely, high-quality technical inputs aligned with project needs and UNGP standards.
UNGP and partner teams equipped with improved data and AI capabilities through structured knowledge transfer, guidance notes, and system learning activities
Data and AI solutions tested, improved, and scaled in collaboration with internal and external partners ensuring relevance, feasibility, and responsible application in real-world UN contexts.
Technically robust analytical outputs and research insights produced, informing strategic planning, innovation design, and responsible AI decision-making.
Analytical insights and research outputs produced and translated into technical briefs, visualizations, and dashboards developed and shared, supporting insight generation, system learning, and evidence-based portfolio development.
Responsible AI principles and UNGP quality standards applied throughout project lifecycles, ensuring transparency, risk mitigation, and alignment with UNGP’s mission and strategic direction.
UNGP’s visibility and collaboration strengthened across Finland’s and the wider UN innovation ecosystem, contributing to a more connected data-for-good community
Effective supervision and task coordination of junior personnel, consultants and surge capacity support teams, supporting data and AI activities.”
The technical Program Officer will oversee technically complex, cross-functional projects from scoping to launch, bridging business goals and engineering execution by defining product requirements by interviewing and shadowing stakeholders, translating requirements into technical specifications, building prototype solutions, identifying and managing risks, and working with the engineering and data science team to ensure timely delivery of high-quality products, acting as the key liaison between technical teams, UN system users, internal and external stakeholders, partners and collaborators.
Under the direct supervision of the Portfolio Manager of UN Global Pulse, the incumbent will execute the following duties.
1. AI product development coordination
Define project scope, develop roadmaps, set milestones, and translate business requirements into actionable technical tasks.
Drive AI project development lifecycle, manage dependencies, track progress, ensure quality, and oversee deployment.
Proactively identify, analyze, and mitigate technical and operational risks; resolve roadblocks and technical issues.
Provide regular status updates, report progress to senior management, internal and external stakeholders.
Play a key role in identifying, onboarding, and coordinating external surge-capacity partners (private sector, academia, consultancies), ensuring that technical inputs are aligned with project needs and UNGP quality standards.
Support the design and implement data pipelines and systems, including data ingestion, cleaning, integration, and transformation, identifying opportunities for automation and scalable engineering solutions. Coordinating with internal and external partners to ensure alignment with UNGP standards.
Train ML models; identify and test relevant open source and partner-provided models. Implement mechanisms for model performance experiments tracking
Deploy ML models and implement model monitoring systems to detect drift and performance degradation.
Ensure appropriate, reproducible and aligned MLOps practices within UNFP.
2. Strategic Analysis, Concept Development & Partnership Support
Support the UN Global Pulse Accelerator Programme by helping teams strengthen their piloted innovations using feasible data/digital concepts, identifying appropriate methodologies, and coordinating with technical partners and mentors.
Conduct research and analysis on emerging data science and AI trends to inform strategic planning, portfolio development, and the design of technically robust innovations.
Contribute analytical input to Accelerator’s portfolio selection, helping assess project feasibility, technical risk, and potential for scale within the UN system.
Support strategic partnerships by advising on the technical feasibility of partner proposals and identifying where external expertise can complement UNGP’s capabilities.
Help translate emerging AI/data trends into practical implications for UNGP’s portfolio, the Accelerator, and UN-wide capacity development.
Provide input into concept notes, proposals, and partnership conversations, articulating how data/AI can be responsibly and realistically integrated into UN solutions.
3. Knowledge Integration & System Learning
Bridge between technical partners and non-technical UN stakeholders, ensuring clarity in expectations, deliverables, and responsible AI requirements.
Develop knowledge products, technical briefs, dashboards, and visualisations that communicate insights, prototype performance and model results to technical and non-technical audiences, including partners and donors, and support the integration of these learnings into ongoing and future UNGP initiatives.
Advance knowledge integration and capacity building by developing guidance, documenting best practices and lessons learned, and tracking progress on data- and AI-driven initiatives across the UN Global Pulse network.
Support the monitoring of partner contributions (including surge teams), ensuring learning loops and knowledge transfer back into UNGP systems.
Contribute to community-building efforts by engaging with Finland’s and the wider UN’s innovation ecosystems (academia, startups, data-for-good actors).
