Data Specialist – Analytics & AI for African Data Integration

About the role

The Economic Commission for Africa is seeking a Data Specialist to lead the technical implementation of its ‘Advancing Data Integration, Innovation and Capacity in Africa’ project. The consultant will design, build and operationalise a data repository and interactive analytic hubs that support AI‑driven policy insights for African decision‑makers.

Key responsibilities

• Design and implement data engineering workflows to integrate 7–12 high‑impact regional and national datasets into the UN Data Commons schema.
• Collect, clean, structure and preprocess datasets from multiple sources, ensuring data quality and governance compliance.
• Translate technical specifications into robust data models and optimise database performance through query tuning.
• Develop and maintain database objects such as stored procedures, indexes and logging mechanisms.
• Deliver functional databases, automated ETL/ELT scripts, and two interactive Thematic Analytic Hubs with advanced visualisations.
• Produce an AI‑driven prototype capable of generating data‑driven policy briefs.

Required profile

• Proven experience in data engineering, analytics and AI‑enabled applications.
• Ability to work independently under the supervision of the Project Manager and the Director of the African Centre for Statistics.
• Strong attention to data quality, completeness and consistency.

Required skills

• ETL/ELT processes
• Data modeling
• Database performance tuning
• SQL query optimization
• Stored procedures
• Indexes
• Logging mechanisms
• Artificial Intelligence