AI Engineer Consultant (Local - HQA)

Result of ServiceThe UNRWA Relief & Social Services Department is advancing The UNRWA Digital Archiving Project for Palestine Refugee Family Files. It represents a transformative initiative to digitize, structure, and semantically enrich decades of historical records into an accessible, secure, and intelligent archive system. This solution addresses the need to preserve refugee family history, enable data-driven decision-making, and support the reconstruction of family trees spanning back to 1948. UNRWA is looking for an experienced AI Engineer / Data Scientist to lead the design and implementation of AI-driven components within the organization’s digital document archiving and processing solution. This role will focus on extracting structured data from historical scanned documents using Microsoft Azure AI services, including Form Recognizer, Azure Cognitive Search, Azure AI Search and Computer Vision APIs. The candidate will work closely with backend and data engineering teams to improve extraction accuracy and support human-in-the-loop validation. To ensure the timely delivery of the Digital Archiving Project's key business capabilities, a core development team must be onboarded immediately. These roles are critical to the technical implementation of foundational systems, including the AI document processing pipeline, business applications (DVCS), and advanced data extraction models. Work LocationAmman, Jordan (HQ Amman) Expected durationThe duration of the Contract is up to 11 months, and the possibility of extension is subject to the availability of funds and continuing need and satisfactory performance. Duties and ResponsibilitiesThe Consultant will be responsible for developing and maintaining various modules of the eHealth System. Key tasks include building new power platform components, updating existing components, and ensuring system security through regular updates and patches Specific Outputs/Tasks include but not limited to: • Develop and train custom models using Azure Form Recognizer for structured document extraction and document classification. • Design and configure Azure Cognitive Search with enriched AI metadata, OCR, and tagging • Implement document classification, entity recognition, and validation workflows • Collaborate with backend developers to integrate AI models into Azure Functions and processing pipelines • Evaluate and continuously improve model accuracy using real-world feedback and test data • Conduct POCs for additional AI services such as Azure Language Service, OCR handwriting support, and custom vision • Support quality assurance teams in identifying, troubleshooting, and refining document-level data issues • Document model configurations, data preprocessing techniques, and performance benchmarks • Deliver a monthly progress report with a backlog tracker DELIVERABLES: The consultant is expected to deliver the following output: • Onboarding & familiarization • AI Document processing & data verification • Data correction solution development • Human Review & Data Correction module • Reinstatement & Relinking system • Refugee Document Master Data Management Qualifications/special skillsMINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE • A university degree or master’s degree in information technology or related field. • Minimum of 6 years of overall professional software development experience; out of which are 3 years of experience in AI/ML or data science roles, with a focus on document processing or NLP. Preferred Experience: • Strong experience with Microsoft Azure AI Services, including: o Azure Form Recognizer (custom models, labelling tool) o Azure Cognitive Search (enrichment, indexer design) o Azure Computer Vision API o Azure AI Search • Proficiency in Python, JSON, and REST API integration or any AI related language • Experience working with OCR, text extraction, and entity recognition workflows • Familiarity with tools like Azure Machine Learning Studio, Power BI, and Azure Blob Storage • Ability to work with non-standard or low-quality scanned documents and improve data accuracy COMPETENCIES • Applying Technical Expertise • Planning and Organizing • Creating and Innovating • Analyzing LanguagesExcellent command of written and spoken both Arabic and English. Additional InformationThe Consultant will report technically to Solution Architect Digital Archive AI System No FeeTHE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.