DATA SCIENTIST I/II

Location:  Nairobi, Kenya or Delhi, India.

IDinsight is hiring full-time junior data scientists (0 to 4 years of relevant experience) to grow our machine learning and broader data science capabilities. In this role, the data scientist will work with project teams and clients to use advanced analytics to drive social impact. You may build models that help locate out-of-school children, optimize the routing of community health workers, identify infants with high mortality risk, or make credit scoring possible for the unbanked for the first time.

We are a social-impact-oriented organization, so we can guarantee incredibly meaningful work tackling some of the world’s most complex international development challenges.

Grow as a data scientist while doing meaningful work

We are working to build IDinsight into a global leader in using machine learning to solve some of the world’s most urgent problems. 

You’ll be joining a growing data science team and working on highly impactful and innovative projects with our partners. You’ll be joining an entrepreneurial team where you have a strong voice in how the team functions and grows. You’ll get to work on the full spectrum of the data science solution - from design to deployment. To be effective, data science products need to be contextually relevant and build on subject-matter expertise. You will get to work closely with our partners, our team of economists, social sector experts, and public health specialists to build and test solutions.

Learning is a key part of being a data scientist. 10% of your time would be dedicated to learning new skills and side projects of your choice. You’ll have strong mentorship to guide your data science career, and you’ll make interesting and valuable connections.

About IDinsight

IDinsight helps leaders combat poverty worldwide by designing, deploying and promoting evidence-generating tools. We tailor the best methodologies to partner needs and constraints to fuse evidence with action. We serve governments, NGOs, foundations and social businesses across Africa and Asia in all major program areas, including health, education, agriculture, livelihoods, finance, energy and governance.

Our approach rests on four pillars:

• Rigorous: We develop and use a wide range of cutting-edge data and evidence tools, including experimental evaluations, monitoring systems, data analytics and visualization, process evaluations, machine learning and more.
• Cost-effective: Every dollar spent is justified by expected impact. If funds could be better used in another way, we say so.
• Timely: Actionable information is delivered in time for client decision-making deadlines.
• Demand-driven: We deploy solutions tailored to partner contexts and needs with no competing agendas.

Our diverse, growing team of roughly 200 outstanding colleagues operates in nearly two dozen countries worldwide.  Learn more about our mission and values at www.IDinsight.org.  

About the Role

We are seeking candidates with a strong background in Python and core data science skills, and a passion for building solutions to difficult social problems. Most importantly, successful candidates should possess the ability to work independently to solve complex challenges related to both human and technological.

As a junior data scientist, the day-to-day work may include:

• Working with clients to understand their needs: Understanding their current processes and pain points and identifying which of these can be framed as a tractable data science problem.
• Wrangling/cleaning government or client data: from extracting data from SQL databases and making API calls to scraping websites and cleaning survey data.
• Designing, testing, and improving various algorithms: From OOTB sci-kit-learn algorithms to bespoke ones.
• Synthesising, visualizing, and communicating results: Dashboards, plots, interactive viz, presentations and reports
• Working with other team members to test and deploy these solutions.

Career development

Professional development for our technical roles is essential for IDinsight’s long-term impact. With support from IDinsight leadership, the employee will maintain self-directed professional development plans and will be given "stretch" opportunities designed to strengthen their professional skills. Real-time feedback and structured reviews are regularly provided to maximize each data scientist’s expertise. IDinsight’s entrepreneurial culture allows roles and career progression to be tailored to individual strengths, interests, and goals.  Employees have the opportunity to increase responsibilities, and high performers will have the opportunity to move up in the organization along technical, managerial, or client-facing paths.

Required Technical Qualifications

• Proficiency working in Python is required. Please do not apply if you are not proficient in standard data science packages in Python (numpy, pandas, scikit learn, etc.). The application will ask you specific questions about your Python abilities.
• Proficiency in understanding and coding standard supervised and unsupervised machine learning algorithms and components of the data science pipeline - data cleaning, feature selection, cross-validation, parameter tuning, etc.
• Sound foundations in statistics and probability.
• Working knowledge of SQL
• B.S./B.S.E. degree in Applied Math, Data Science, Computer Science, Physics, or a Similar Technical Field
  
  

Other required qualifications:

• Proven ability to work alone and with teams in a dynamic, multicultural environment.
• Passion for improving lives through evidence-informed policy.
• Strong oral and written communication skills in English. Fluency in languages spoken in countries where IDinsight works is a plus.
• Strong values aligned with IDinsight’s stated values.
• Ability and interest in sharing knowledge, mentoring others, presenting work and reviewing the work of others.
• Deeply passionate about global development and improving lives in disadvantaged populations
• Open-minded self-starter who will thrive while tackling new, unusual and unpredictable challenges

Preferred Qualifications

 The most competitive applicants will also have experience in one or more of the following:

• Experience living and working in developing country settings.
• Experience working on optimization and unsupervised learning problems.
• Experience working with SQL, custom APIs and AWS products like RDS, EC2, and Lambda.
• Experience working with GIS software such as QGIS.
• Experience working with satellite imagery / remote sensing data. 

Locations

This position is located in one of IDinsight’s existing offices, with the possibility of extensive travel dependent on project needs. The most likely offices for this position are New Delhi, India, and  Nairobi, Kenya. Preference will be given to those with pre-existing work authorization in these countries; however, IDinsight will seek work permits where possible for exceptional candidates.

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, we are currently “working from home” globally. As such, successful candidates would be expected to work from home until it is possible to safely and responsibly work from an IDinsight office.

Compensation

Compensation is commensurate with relevant experience and background and is competitive within the social sector. Please note that, as a non-profit, we are unable to provide compensation similar to leading technology firms.

Start Dates

The start date of this position is flexible, although there is the potential to start almost immediately. We expect a minimum one-year commitment, with regular professional development conversations and potential for a long-term career at IDinsight.

References

Applications should include three references, including email, phone, and title. Briefly state in what capacity you worked with each reference. 

How to apply

Please click the "Apply for this job online" button at the top right. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The application asks various questions for us to get to know you and requires a CV and cover letter. 

Please ensure that your CV includes relevant professional and personal experience and details on academic qualifications. CVs can range from one to two pages. Please note that headshot photographs, parental information, birth dates, marital status, and other personal information not relevant to the application do not need to be included in your CV. Additionally, we strongly encourage you to use your cover letter to highlight why you want to work for IDinsight specifically and what has prepared you to succeed in the role you’re applying for. A customized cover letter is an important part of IDinsight’s recruiting process as it allows us to understand your motivations for the position, relevant skills, and clarity of writing.

More information, including details on IDinsight’s hiring process and frequently asked questions, can be found online at IDinsight Careers. Any queries should be directed to redteamcareers@idinsight.org

N.B. To prevent important email correspondence from going directly into your SPAM folder, thereby missing important application updates, please ensure that you whitelist redteamcareers@idinsight.org

IDinsight’s commitment to reducing power asymmetries

IDinsight is committed to reducing power asymmetries in the social sector. Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion reflects our understanding of the need for the sector to abandon unhealthy practices of the past. We wish to be part of a new generation of international NGOs who are honest about this history and transparent about our role in the present. Our commitment is also aligned with the impact of our work. 

We seek a workforce that is inclusive of a variety of perspectives that will help us refine and improve our methods and relationships and strengthen the services we provide our clients and their communities or constituencies. The following commitments represent our vision for the IDinsight team:

1. IDinsight will have greater representation from the populations we work with and the clients we serve.
2. IDinsight will have greater representation from the countries in which we work.
3. Across all countries in which we recruit, we will seek greater representation from historically excluded communities.
4. IDinsight will foster an inclusive work culture that empowers a diverse team to do their best work.

IDinsight is an equal-opportunity employer and strives to create a diverse and supportive workplace.