AI Research Specialist

Job Highlight

This role leads Giga's AI-driven applied science agenda—driving cutting-edge research, partnerships, and data-powered insights that accelerate global school connectivity efforts from the Giga Barcelona Tech Centre.

About The Project Office
Launched in 2019 as a joint initiative between UNICEF and ITU, Giga has set the ambitious goal to connect every school in the world to the internet. Half of the world's population has no regular access to the Internet. Millions of children leave school without any digital skills, making it much more difficult for them to thrive and contribute to local and global economies. This has created a digital divide between those who are connected and those who are not, a divide that has become even wider during the Covid-19 pandemic. UNICEF and ITU have therefore joined forces to create Giga, an initiative to connect every school in the world to the Internet and address this new form of inequality.

Giga focuses on connecting schools so that children and young people have access to information, opportunity, and choice. It also uses schools as anchor points for their surrounding communities: if you connect the school, you can also connect local businesses and services. This creates opportunities for service providers to generate revenue from paying users, making connectivity more sustainable. A 2021 report by the Economist Intelligence Unit found that a 10% increase in school connectivity can increase effective years of schooling by 0.6% and increase GDP per capita by 1.1%.

You can read more about Giga's work at and by following us on X/Twitter @Gigaglobal

Giga's mission is supported by advanced data science and AI-driven mapping to identify connectivity gaps, optimize investment, and expand access efficiently and equitably. To date, over 2.1 million schools across 136 countries have been mapped using AI and satellite imagery. Giga has supported governments in over 40 countries and helped increase connectivity in more than 20,000 schools globally.

About The Group
As part of the Global Portfolio Office, UNOPS Geneva provides comprehensive solutions in secretariat hosting, operational support, and fund management. We manage global programmes, including the Water, Environment and Climate (WEC) Portfolio, offering project management, procurement, HR, and financial services. Geneva hosts the secretariats of eight global partnerships focused on health (RBM, Stop TB, ATscale), nutrition (SUN), water/sanitation (SHF), humanitarian leadership (GELI), urban development (Cities Alliance), and disaster displacement (PDD). We also provide fund management for EIF and UN Water, and operational support to Geneva-based partners like the Global Fund and UNHCR.

Role Purpose
The position will be based in Barcelona, Spain, as part of the Giga Barcelona Tech Centre. The consultant's on-site presence facilitates collaboration, engagement with local partners, and participation in key events.

Functions / Key Results Expected
Under the supervision of the Innovation Manager, the AI Research Specialist will coordinate Giga's Applied Science workstream, ensuring that artificial intelligence and data science are effectively applied to advance Giga's mission. The consultant will play a key role in designing and implementing AI-driven research, managing collaborations, and translating technical findings into actionable insights for advocacy, planning, and operational decision making.

Your main responsibilities and tasks will be:

• Lead the implementation of Giga's Applied Science roadmap, including AI mapping, optimization, QoS, and social science research.
• Support the design and execution of applied AI and machine learning research related to connectivity mapping, monitoring, and impact assessment.
• Provide technical guidance and coordination to Giga teams on AI, data science, and research methodology.
• Foster academic and non-academic partnerships with universities, research labs, and private sector actors.
• Contribute to the publication and dissemination of scientific research, including journal papers and conference presentations.
• Communicate technical findings clearly to both technical and non technical audiences, ensuring research outcomes inform programmatic decisions.
• Represent Giga in relevant AI, data science, and connectivity forums.
• Contribute to reporting, knowledge sharing, and documentation of applied research results.

Monitoring and Progress Controls      

Item

Outputs/Deliverables

Month/Year

1

Research roadmap for Giga's Applied Science workstream finalized, including methodologies, datasets, experimentation plan and expected outputs.

Month 1, then updated quarterly

2

Machine learning / AI prototypes developed and tested, with experiment documentation (models, datasets used, evaluation metrics, learnings). At least one prototype converted into a usable internal tool or insight for decision-making.

Ongoing

3

Technical outputs produced and shared (research briefings, presentations, internal memos, or draft publication manuscripts). Findings translated into actionable recommendations for teams.

Monthly

4

Partnerships with universities or research labs coordinated, ensuring timely exchange of datasets, joint experiments, and co-authored research outputs. Summary of progress and risks submitted to supervisor.

Quarterly

Required
Education Requirements

• An advanced University Degree (master's degree or equivalent) preferably in data science, Computer Science, AI or a related field is required.
• A first level University Degree (Bachelor`s degree or equivalent) in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of the Advanced University Degree.

*Required
Experience Requirements*

• A minimum of 5 years of professional experience in AI research or applied data science is required.
• Experience in machine learning, optimization, and data analysis using Python is required.
• Proven record of applied research and scientific publication is required.

Desired

• Experience in both academic and industry/start up settings is desirable.
• Experience with cloud-based platforms (especially Azure ML) an asset.