[E135] Head, Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning

Position Description

Purpose of the Position

The Head, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Unit will play a pivotal role in advancing AI practice for both UNICC and its partner organizations. Following the framework provided by the Data and Artificial Intelligence Section (DDA), the incumbent will be in charge of formulating the enterprise strategy, identifying relevant AI use cases and developing implementation roadmaps.

Objectives of the Programme

The objective of the Centre is to provide trusted ICT services and digital business solutions to its Clients and Partner Organizations.

Main duties and responsibilities:

The incumbent will work under the direct supervision and guidance of the Chief, Data and Artificial Intelligence Section (DDA) within the Digital Delivery Division (DD) and will formally supervise the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Unit (DDAI). This role involves leading cross-functional delivery teams to ensure the creation of value through AI solutions and tracking associated benefits. Collaborating closely with various departments and stakeholders, they identify GenAI needs, define project requirements, and ensure alignment of GenAI initiatives with organizational objectives. The Lead will be tasked with initiatives to design Data and AI related initiatives and frameworks. This includes building multistakeholder communities and initiatives involving data sharing, ownership, provenance and traceability, data rights, AI responsible design and release, open-source and licensing, and emerging frontier AI systems and technologies.

The incumbent will perform the following duties:

1. Develop and implement a visionary AI strategy for UNICC partners, aligning it with the UN 2.0’s objectives.
2. Supervise the creation of state-of-the-art multimodal AI models, prioritizing scalability and using industry-leading benchmarks to empower data-driven decision-making and innovation.
3. Oversee the training of large-scale AI models, managing the data pipelines, selecting appropriate algorithms, configuring parameters, and monitoring the training process to ensure efficiency and accuracy.
4. Ensure the quality and performance of generative AI models, conducting rigorous testing and evaluation, elevating standards of output quality, diversity, coherence and ethical integrity.
5. Work closely with various business units and stakeholders to identify and scope potential use cases for Generative AI within the organization to foster innovation within UNICC and its partner agencies.
6. Collaborate seamlessly with cross-functional teams to ensure the integration of AI into UN partners' objectives promoting synergies and amplifying impact.
7. Lead and inspire a high-performing team of AI experts, fostering a culture of excellence, innovation, and collaboration to propel the organization towards the forefront of AI innovation and achievement.
8. Collect and analyze data to identify trends or patterns and provide insight through graphs, charts, tables, and reports using data visualization methods to enable data-driven planning, decision-making, presentation, and reporting.
9. Provide other ad hoc support either within the team or in other teams as required - this includes participation in special projects or support to service delivery for short periods of time on a part-time or full-time basis upon request from senior management.

Recruitment Profile

Experience and Skills required:

Essential:

1. At least seven (7) years of IT experience, including proven experience in big data, blockchain, generative and multimodal AI, machine learning or related area.
2. Proven expertise in building advanced multimodal foundation models such as GPT-4, CLIP, Gemini, AudioPALM, and SeamlessM4T.
3. Deep understanding and strong technical expertise in areas such as image understanding, text generation, interactive image dialog systems, segmentation, generation, and editing.
4. Proven hands-on experience in data science and Natural Language Processing (NLP), Natural Language Understanding (NLU), and Natural Language Generation (NLG).
5. Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to think creatively.
6. Proven experience in leading applied AI and research groups, driving innovation within cross-functional teams.
7. Proven experience managing a multicultural team.
8. Deep business and technology acumen.
9. Ability to influence and drive transformative change within a complex and successful organization.

Desirable:

1. Publications and contributions to the AI research community are a plus.
2. Experience in Big data, high-tech or financial industry is beneficial but not mandatory.
3. Experience in data analytics or related area.

Education:

Essential:

1. Advanced university degree in Computer Vision (CV), Natural Language Processing (NLP), Speech Processing, Multimodal AI, Generative AI, or a closely related field.

Desirable:

1. PhD in Computer Vision (CV), Natural Language Processing (NLP), Speech Processing, or a related field.