VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

AKADEMIYA2063 is an Africa-based non-profit research organization with headquarters in Kigali, Rwanda and a regional office in Dakar, Senegal. Inspired by the ambitions of Agenda 2063 and grounded in the recognition of the central importance of strong knowledge and evidence systems, the vision of AKADEMIYA2063 is an Africa with the expertise we need for the Africa we want. This expertise must be responsive to the continent’s needs for data and analysis to ensure high-quality policy design and execution. Inclusive, evidence-informed policymaking is key to meeting the continent’s development aspirations, creating wealth, and changing livelihoods for the better. AKADEMIYA2063’s overall mission is to create, across Africa and led from its headquarters in Rwanda, state-of-the-art technical capacities to support the efforts by the Member States of the African Union to achieve the key goals of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 of transforming national economies to boost growth and prosperity. Following from its vision and mission, the main goal of AKADEMIYA2063 is to help meet Africa’s needs at the continental, regional and national levels in terms of data, analytics, and mutual learning for the effective implementation of Agenda 2063 and the realization of its outcomes by a critical mass of countries. AKADEMIYA2063 strives to meet its goals through programs organized under five strategic areas—policy innovation, knowledge systems, capacity creation and deployment, operational support and data management, digital products, and technology—as well as partnerships and outreach activities. For more information, visit www.akademiya2063.org.

Vacancy Details

Vacancy Number: SN23004/RW23006

Position Title: Machine Learning Specialist

Department: Data Management, Digital Products and Technology

Location: Dakar, Senegal or Kigali,Rwanda

Duration: 2-year renewable

Position Summary

Through its department of Data Management, Digital Products, and Technology, AKADEMIYA2063 seeks a qualified candidate to serve for a two-year, fixed-term, renewable appointment as a Machine Learning Specialist. The selected candidate will report to the Director of Data Management, Digital Products, and Technology. The candidate must have good experience in building, deploying, and maintaining Machine Learning models and show a strong capacity in working autonomously and dealing with several priorities in a fast-paced environment. S/he must have strong interpersonal and communication skills and the capacity to collaborate with the staff at different levels of the organization. S/he must have a strong capacity for self-motivation, must be exceptionally resourceful, detail-oriented, and have high organizational skills, organizational planning, and reporting. This position is based in either Dakar, Senegal or Kigali, Rwanda.

Duties and Responsibilities

Specific duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• The main responsibility of the Machine Learning specialist is to implement and coordinate all activities related to the use and development of machine learning techniques and algorithms in our several projects under the supervision of the Director of Data Management, Digital Products and Technology. One of the first projects he/she will be working on is in crop taxonomy that combines satellite remote sensing data and machine learning techniques to map crop pixels by type.
• In collaboration with the team members, the machine learning specialist will explore, define, and implement computational power needs for the department’s work in the area of machine learning and data processing. S/he will be responsible for guaranteeing an up-to-dated and tailored infrastructure for machine learning applications within the institution.
• The Machine Learning specialist will also define and build pipelines for data access for the department and the institution. The type of data includes but is not limited to satellite remote sensing data, time series data such as price data, among others.
• The Machine Learning specialist will also contribute to increase the department’s portfolio of projects that uses machine learning applications. The contribution could be but not limited to exploring new funding opportunities, concept notes and proposals writing, grant application, among others.
• The Machine Learning specialist is expected to represent the institution in regional and global gathering related to topics such as Artificial Intelligence and related field, agricultural digitalization, food systems, climate change, among others. Therefore, the candidate is expected to have minimal knowledge about those topics.
• The Machine Learning specialist is expected to be aware of the latest trends in AI in general and AI applications to Earth observation and related topics such as agriculture, water management, climate modeling, time-series forecasting, among others. S/he will be responsible to ensure the latest techniques are employed in the department and the institution’s workstreams.
• The machine learning specialist will foster collaboration between AKADEMIYA2063’s departments and explore new avenues of collaboration with external partners.
• The machine learning specialist is expected to work towards positioning AKADEMIYA2063 and a leader of the use of emerging technologies in decision-making, especially at the nexus of food systems and climate variability and climate change.

Selection Criteria

• A Ph.D. in data science, mathematical modeling and simulation or related fields.
• A minimum of 2 years of experience (Post Ph.D.) in the field of building and deploying machine learning models with time-series and image data primarily.
• Knowledge about satellite remote sensing data will be a significant advantage.
• A good knowledge of machine learning algorithms architecture and mathematical formulations.
• A good knowledge of the process (including the technical aspects) of building machine learning models, their deployment and maintenance.
• Excellent coding skills with Python and strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Knowledge about other programming languages such as JavaScript will be a plus.
• A strong systemic approach when tackling development problems and creativity.
• Excellent written and spoken English and French.
• Excellent growth, ownership, and beginner’s mindsets when tackling new problems.
• Excellent interpersonal and leadership skills.
• Excellent organizational and methodological skills.
• Capacity to lead and coordinate several projects simultaneously.
• Capacity to work in a high pace environment.
• Capacity to work with limited supervision.