Senior AI Systems Engineer NGO Job UNEP

• Implement and enhance priority AI use cases aligned with PoW indicators 7.1 and 7.2;
• Strengthen shared technical architecture supporting integration into the World Environment Situation Room;
• Establish operational monitoring, performance optimization, and governance safeguards for AI deployment;
• Support the assessment, design, and responsible deployment of AI tools in line with UNEP's mandate to strengthen environmentally sustainable artificial intelligence practices.
• Ensure documentation and knowledge transfer to enable internal maintenance and scale-up; Engaging a Senior AI Systems Engineer (Consultant) for a six-month period will enable UNEP to maintain momentum in delivering tangible digital solutions under the Digital Transformations subprogramme, directly contributing to measurable progress under PoW 2026-2027 indicators, while ensuring continuity during the recruitment of the permanent P4 and P5 positions.
• This post is remotely located in Nairobi with the possibility of remote arrangements with several trips to Nairobi, and reports to the Chief Digital Officer .

• An advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in Data Science, Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Statistics, Engineering, Applied Mathematics, or a related quantitative field is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced degree.
• A minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible professional experience in data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence, or related technical fields is required.
• Experience in implementing large language model (LLM)-based applications, including retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) architectures, document processing pipelines, and knowledge-based AI systems, is highly desirable.
• Proven experience with: Cloud platforms (preferably Microsoft Azure, including Azure ML, Azure OpenAI, Azure AI Search or equivalent services); Data ingestion and orchestration tools; Vector databases and embedding-based retrieval systems; API-based system integration and backend services; Monitoring, logging, and performance optimization of AI systems in production environments; Implementing safeguards to mitigate hallucinations, prompt injection, and other AI-related risks is desireable
• Experience working with environmental, geospatial, or policy-related data is desireable Prior experience working within the United Nations system, international organizations, or similarly complex institutional environments is desirable

Corporate Staffing