Title: Geographic Information System (GIS) Project Associate

​​Requisition ID: 6987
Grade: ISA-P1
Country: Home Based
Duty Station: Home Based
Category: International Consultant
Type of Job Posting: Internal and External
Employment Type: NonStaff-WAE
Contract Duration: 63 working days over a period
Application Deadline: 6-Feb-2026, 11:59 PM (Vienna, Austria time)

Vacancy Announcement
TEMPORARY APPOINTMENT OF PROJECT PERSONNEL

Female candidates are encouraged to apply.

UNIDO welcomes applications from qualified persons with disabilities. Reasonable accommodation will be provided to applicants and employees with disabilities to support full participation in the recruitment process and in the performance of their duties.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is the specialized agency of the United Nations that promotes industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability. The mission UNIDO, as described in the Lima Declaration adopted at the fifteenth session of the UNIDO General Conference in 2013 as well as the Abu Dhabi Declaration adopted at the eighteenth session of UNIDO General Conference in 2019, is to promote and accelerate inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID) in Member States. The relevance of ISID as an integrated approach to all three pillars of sustainable development is recognized by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will frame United Nations and country efforts towards sustainable development. UNIDO’s mandate is fully recognized in SDG-9, which calls to “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation”. The relevance of ISID, however, applies to a greater or lesser extent to all SDGs.

The medium-term programme framework (MTPF) is UNIDO’s core strategic document. As the Organization moves from the 2022–2025 cycle to the 2026–2029 MTPF, it sets a renewed vision to support Member States shape their industries for development. The new priorities include renewable and clean energy, sustainable access and climate action, ending hunger through innovation and local value addition, and fair and sustainable global and regional supply chains. Cross-cutting priorities focus on industrial and economic policy advice, skills development, fostering digitalization and artificial intelligence, gender equality and the empowerment of women, supporting youth, promoting cleaner production and circular economy, and leveraging private sector investment and development finance.

Each of these programmatic fields of activity contains a number of individual programmes, which are implemented in a holistic manner to achieve effective outcomes and impacts through UNIDO’s four enabling functions: (i) technical cooperation; (ii) analytical and research functions and policy advisory services; (iii) normative functions and standards and quality-related activities; and (iv) convening and partnerships for knowledge transfer, networking and industrial cooperation. Such core functions are carried out in Divisions/Offices in its Headquarters, Sub-regional Offices and Country Offices.

The Directorate of SDG Innovation and Economic Transformation (IET), headed by a Managing Director, is responsible for the development of innovative UNIDO services in the areas of agro-industry and agribusiness, sustainability standards and fair production, and climate-relevant or climate-improving technologies. It is also, in collaboration with ODG, responsible for developing innovative technical cooperation concepts, identifying new sources and means of finance and entering into new partnerships with a broad range of relevant stakeholders.

The Division of Fair Production, Sustainability Standards and Trade (IET/PST) develops and implements an innovative service package in response to UNIDO's mandate for fair and responsible local industrial production and trade with a particular focus on building the required skills and capacities and foster a conducive business operating environment to ensure that such production and trade are as inclusive as possible, promoting – among others – the development of human capital through vocational training and industrial skills development.

The Sustainable Investments and Responsible Business Unit (IET/PST/SIB) fosters the uptake of sustainability standards in Member States across local, regional and global value supply chains. To this end, it induces responsible investments into sustainable value chains working with multinational corporation (MNC) networks and other platforms such as the UNGC, UNPRI and others to advance socially minded, gender-responsive and responsible business. The Unit supports Member States in establishing robust empirical systems and norms at the country and regional level to monitor the contribution of value chains to economic, social and environmental sustainability standards and advances cooperation between firms, institutions and policy actors to advance required reforms. The Unit also supports the transition of public and private procurement and consumption patterns to become greener and more socially balanced and incentivizes supply chains to become investment ready.

PROJECT CONTEXT

The Project (No. 170049) represents the meso-level component of a larger Programme “Supporting business-friendly and inclusive national and regional policies, and strengthening productive capabilities and value chains”. The meso-level is being implemented by UNIDO in close synergy and coordination with two other implementing partners, the World Bank Group and the International Trade Centre (ITC). The World Bank Group will address the policy and investment climate reform dimensions of the Programme (the macro-level) whereas ITC will work at the micro-level to upgrade small-call private sector actors in defined value chains. The meso-level component will both feed into and receive information from the macro and the micro-levels thereby augmenting the overall impact of the intervention compared to a stand-alone intervention.

At the meso-level, the Project focuses on institutional capacity building of investment promotion institutions (IPAs) and, more specifically, national-level Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs). Capacity building will aim at strengthening investment promotion capabilities, business support programmes, marketing, monitoring, and partnerships for better coordinated and more encompassing investment promotion efforts. Based on a robust empirical foundation of FDI firm-level investor data, which will be collected/updated through the Project, IPIs will be able to better monitor FDI and its various impact channels necessary to achieve country- and regional-level Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Investment project profiles will be collected for global dissemination to potential foreign direct investors leveraging UNIDO’s Networks such as the Investment and Technology Promotion Office (ITPO) Networks and the Network of Subcontracting and Partnership Exchange (SPX) Centres.

The Project Document can be found under:

https://open.unido.org/api/documents/13311469/download/EU%20Delegation%20agreement_%20ACP_170049.pdf

FUNCTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Under the supervision of the Project Manager and in coordination with an UNIDO HQ-based “GIS Project Associate Expert” and the project team in the HQ and field location, the Project Associate provides expert GIS support to the project implementation and is responsible for the following key functions:

MAIN DUTIES

Main Duties

Concrete / Measurable outputs to be achieved

No. of days

Location

Assist in the creation and maintenance of data management systems, particularly pgeospatial data management systems, to ensure that all GIS processes for Project 170049 align with industry standards;

Geodatabase established and documented, including standardized schema, metadata, naming conventions, and user access settings, aligned with UNIDO and industry GIS standards.

4 days

Home based

Contribute to the development and maintenance of web-based mapping applications and dashboards using relevant APIs (e.g., ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Dashboards, JavaScript API).

Operational web-based mapping applications and dashboards deployed on the IACP platform, including tested layers, symbology, filters, and user interactions, and validated with project stakeholders.

23 days

Home based

Collect, input, edit, and maintain spatial and attribute data from various sources (e.g., GPS field collection, aerial imagery, legal descriptions, CAD files, external hosted feature layers). In this, work in coordination with the other GIS Project associate in quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) checks to ensure data accuracy and integrity.

Validated and QA/QC-checked spatial datasets integrated into the IACP AGOL environment, including documented data sources, and accuracy checks.

13 days

Home based

Provide technical guidance, liaise with the end-users, on GIS software and web applications support and assist in the development of technical documentation and training materials.

User-oriented GIS training materials developed, including step-by-step guides and reference documentation for internal staff on data management and web mapping applications.

8 days

Home based

Assist with the integration of GIS data with other databases and systems (e.g., DIPS database) and recommend modifications to improve efficiency.

AGOL–DIPS data integration workflows implemented and tested, including basic automation scripts or processes and a short technical note outlining efficiency improvements.

11 days

Home based

Maintain up-to-date electronic filing system and databases related to the GIS work for retrieval and reporting in relation to Project 170049;

Prepare final report, contribute to ad-hoc assignments and research activities, as required.

Management of Microsoft and AGOL databases and recording of all relevant processes and information.

4 days

Home based

MINIMUM ORGANIZATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Education: Advanced university degree (master's or equivalent) in economics, engineering, sciences, business administration, or other relevant discipline is required.

Alternatively, a first level university degree or an advanced technical college diploma may be acceptable provided it is combined with additional 1 year of professional hand-on experience that is directly relevant to the expertise required by the specific assignment. Completed university degree with a significant portion of study in Geographic Information Systems is desirable.

Experience, Technical and Functional Expertise:

Languages: Fluency in written and spoken English is required. Fluency and/or working knowledge of another official UN language is desirable.

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

Core values:
WE LIVE AND ACT WITH INTEGRITY: work honestly, openly and impartially.

WE SHOW PROFESSIONALISM: work hard and competently in a committed and responsible manner.

WE RESPECT DIVERSITY: work together effectively, respectfully and inclusively, regardless of our differences in culture and perspective.

Key competencies:
WE FOCUS ON PEOPLE: cooperate to fully reach our potential –and this is true for our colleagues as well as our clients. Emotional intelligence and receptiveness are vital parts of our UNIDO identity.

WE FOCUS ON RESULTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES: focus on planning, organizing and managing our work effectively and efficiently. We are responsible and accountable for achieving our results and meeting our performance standards. This accountability does not end with our colleagues and supervisors, but we also owe it to those we serve and who have trusted us to contribute to a better, safer and healthier world.