Data Scientist

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

23 August 2026-23:59-GMT+01:00 Central European Time (Rome)

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.

ABOUT WFP

The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP's values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves.

To learn more about WFP, visit our website: https://www.wfp.org and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok.

WHY JOIN WFP? 

• WFP is a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

• WFP offers a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment.

• WFP invests in the personal & professional development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, coaching, mentorship, and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities.

• A career path in WFP provides an exciting opportunity to work across the various country, regional and global offices around the world, and with passionate colleagues who work tirelessly to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe.

• We offer an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this vacancy announcement).

JOB TITLE:

Data Scientist

TYPE OF CONTRACT:

Consultant

UNIT/DIVISION:

Forecasting & Early Warning Unit - Analysis, Performance and Planning Division

DUTY STATION (City, Country):

Rome, Italy

31/12/26 (extendable)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

The Data Science team within the Early Warning and Forecasting Unit, in the Analysis Planning and Performance (APP) division, is a specialised team dedicated to addressing the challenge of modelling and forecasting food insecurity and its drivers through the innovative application of machine learning and data science techniques. By leveraging large heterogenous datasets and advanced algorithms, the team can identify patterns and trends that are not immediately apparent and predict the impact of impending natural and human generated hazards, enabling timely interventions and anticipatory actions in vulnerable areas. The work is crucial in facilitating data-driven decision-making for governments and humanitarian organizations, allowing proactive strategies in combating food crises and their underlying causes. This proactive approach helps to mitigate the impact of potential crises on affected populations, improving resilience and ensuring food security.

The Early Warning and Forecasting Unit is collaborating with WFP’ Nutrition and Food Quality Service on a project to generate and increase access to modelled data on risk of dietary Vitamin and Mineral inadequacy at national and sub-national levels, which will be critical to inform the design and roll-out of large-scale food fortification as well as complementary programs. This project will contribute towards the improvement of core Large-Scale Food Fortification (LSFF) program performance metrics, and in conjunction with data partners, will achieve consensus on approach, including the proxy indicator(s) for risk of dietary micronutrient risk, the design of and data underlying subnational maps, and use of modelling, that will translate to clear and consistent programmatic guidance. Specifically, the objective of the project is to develop a composite proxy-indicator for risk of inadequate dietary micronutrient intake and integrate it with in the HungerMapLIVE systems and related products.

The expansion of the HungerMapLIVE to include a data layer on risk of dietary vitamin and mineral inadequacy and the potential of different programs, including LSFF, to fill nutrient gaps has been identified as an opportunity to support programme and policy decision-makers from national governments and other stakeholders. This activity will bring together the analytical and government technical assistance expertise of the Nutrition Knowledge and Innovation team, data collection and visualization experience from the HungerMapLive Team and WFP’s digital innovation and project accelerator capacities. For this project, the Forecasting & Early Warning Unit seeks a Data Scientist Consultant to work with the project team on the development of the methodology for accessing the risk of dietary VMD and support the integration in HungerMapLIVE.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Consultant will be responsible for the following activities: 

• Design and implement models for estimating risk of dietary VMD at national and sub-national level.
• Support ad-hoc data explorations and analysis for the project, by means of traditional statistical analysis as well as state-of-the-art data science methodologies. 
• Supervise team members contributing to data exploration, design and implementation of models estimating risk of dietary VMD.
• Coordinate with other workstreams (e.g., software development, nutrition analysis) to ensure alignment with project goals and effective communication across all teams involved.
• Participate in the writing of technical papers and reports to be submitted to peer-reviewed international journals;
• Participate in scientific and humanitarian conferences, workshops and meetings to present the technical aspects of the project.
• In collaboration with the software engineering team in Hunger Monitoring Unit, design and implement production-ready data pipelines for visualizing the data in the HungerMapLIVE;
• Ensure adherence to WFP policies regarding data, including data privacy, security, management, and code documentation;
• Support the EU-funded Thinking Earth project by coordinating with stakeholders and contributing to the development of advanced analytical tools in causal machine learning;
• Participate in field missions as required;
• Perform other tasks as required.

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

• Technical inputs to the project methodology, including the code and methodology for the validation of the proxy indicators
• Deploy machine learning models for the estimation of VMD in the required production environment.
• Visualize the proxy indicators in the Hunger Map Live and related products
• Participation in project meetings, scientific committee meetings and dissemination events
• Presentations on the technical aspects of the project, as needed.  

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

Master’s degree in statistics, mathematics, computer science, quantitative economics or a similar quantitative field.

Experience:  

At least 3 years of professional experience in a data science-related field

Knowledge & Skills:

• Strong Python programming skills and experience with data science libraries (pandas, numpy, scikit-learn, keras/tensorflow/pytorch, etc.);
• A passion for machine learning with an understanding of algorithms ranging from NLP to Computer Vision.
• Experience in designing and querying SQL databases;
• Experience with Remote Sensing data and GIS skills (QGIS, GDAL) is highly valued;
• Proficiency in git and experience with other developer tools (aws, docker, etc.) is highly valued;
• Knowledge of Bayesian inference is an asset;
• Data Visualization coding skills (JavaScript libraries) and Business Intelligence software (Tableau) is an asset;
• Knowledge of survey methodologies is an asset;
• Knowledge of food security and nutrition data is an asset;
• Experience working with the humanitarian sector or in food security\nutrition field is an asset.

Languages:

Spoken and written English required. Spoken and written French, Spanish or Arabic would be an asset.

WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK

 

WFP Leadership Framework guides to the common standards of behavior that guide HOW we work together to accomplish our mission.

Click here to access WFP Leadership Framework

 

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

 

WFP is committed to supporting individuals with disabilities by providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process. If you require a reasonable accommodation, please contact:  global.inclusion@wfp.org

NO FEE DISCLAIMER

 

The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.

 

REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

• All applications must be submitted exclusively through our online recruiting system. We do not consider CVs or applications sent by email, LinkedIn, or any other channel.

• We strongly recommend that your Workday profile is accurate and complete, and that all sections are filled in, including your employment history, academic qualifications, language skills, and UN grade (if applicable). Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application.

• If you experience technical issues while submitting your application, you may contact us at global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org. Please note that this email is only for technical issues with an application - unsolicited applications or documents sent to this inbox will not receive a reply.

• At the application stage, the only required documents are your CV and Cover Letter. Additional documents (passport, certificates, recommendation letters, etc.) may be requested later in the process.

• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the recruitment process.

All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.