Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have long term impact. Mercy Corps has been operating in Venezuela since 2018 implementing humanitarian and development programs, with special emphasis on water, sanitation and hygiene, health, protection, food security, and nutrition, and plays a key role in the collection, analysis, and dissemination of information relevant to the humanitarian community in the country. The team is expanding its programs at the country level and expanding its team at the country level to implement quality programs with the required attention. The Program The Venezuelan Crisis Analysis Unit (CAT) is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit analytical unit dedicated to facilitating understanding of the humanitarian situation in Venezuela. The products made by CAT pursue the following objectives:
Work with country/regional/sectoral teams to gather requirements on types of Reports/dashboards/visualizations that facilitate learning. Develops high-impact data visualizations to promote analysis and organizational learning, using examples to build replicable prototypes that can be used by other responses. Work with implementing partners and team leaders to create a database and forecast model to estimate the risk of natural disasters in Venezuela.INFLUENCE AND REPRESENTATION Identify, build, and manage collaborative alliances with partners, grantees, donors, local governments, and other stakeholders. Communicate effectively to ensure that the general objectives of the area and the obligations of donors are met.SECURITY Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies determined by the countries' leadership. Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.
Supervisory Responsibilities:
The Data Scientist will follow-up CIGIR staff in order to meet the projectโs goals. Accountability Reports Directly To: Senior MEL Officer Accountability to Participants and StakeholdersMercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects. Minimum Qualifications & Transferable Skills 2-3 years proven working experience on data science projects and/or participation Master's degree in data science, statistics, mathematics, or another field related to research and data. DESIRABLE. 2 to 3 years of experience building forecast systems for models with high confidence, likelihood, and feasibility. Experience in building high-quality databases with a view to representative results. Passion for handling large amounts of data and transforming it into compelling visualizations that facilitate analysis and decision-making Demonstrated understanding of intermediate statistics and the ability to summarize, generalize, and make predictions from large data sets. Exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills Experience with statistical/graphical software (R, iPython notebooks, Stata, Azure, Power BI) or other open source software is a plus. Working knowledge or interest in learning any of the following: interactive mapping software (Mapbox, CartoDB, Google Fusion Tables), visualization software/libraries R, iPython notebooks, Tableau, D3.js, Chart.js. DESIRABLE. Interested in building iterative learning systems or feedback loops and working with a human-centered design approach Previous experience working with an NGO and in the field of Information Management preferred. DESIRABLE. Success FactorThe Data Scientist will have strong organizational skills and the ability to interact effectively with international and national personnel. He/she will have excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, and a demonstrated ability to multi-task problem solve, analyze and process information into action. S/he will aim to produce information and learning that is used by program teams to make strategic and operational decisions. A successful Data Scientist will be comfortable with collecting, analyzing and presenting it. Ability to think creatively with incomplete information; Ability to understand quickly the business issues and data challenges of the organization; Able to prioritize in accordance with business needs with limited supervision.
Living Conditions / Environmental ConditionsThe position is based in Caracas (or remote), Venezuela and will require occasional travel to support country programs, which may include travel to insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited. Housing for this role is in individual housing and staff will have access to good medical services.
Ongoing LearningIn support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development
Diversity, Equity & InclusionAchieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the worldโs most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.
We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.
Equal Employment OpportunityMercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.
Safeguarding & EthicsMercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.