Information & Data Management Internship – UNHCR Kenya Hiring

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is offering an Internship opportunity in Information & Data Management in Nairobi. This demanding UN internship in Kenya is open to current students or recent graduates (within two years) who have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies. The Intern will provide crucial support in data management, building reproducible data pipelines, developing Power BI dashboards, and prototyping innovative solutions using Machine Learning (ML) and Large Language Models (LLMs) to strengthen humanitarian data responsibility.

About United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

The UNHCR is the UN agency dedicated to protecting the rights and well-being of refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people globally. Based in Nairobi, the organization relies on robust, ethical, and advanced data management to inform its regional and country operations and ensure effective, needs-based humanitarian assistance.

Role Overview

The Information & Data Management Intern will work hands-on with the DIMA Unit, focusing on leveraging modern data science and automation tools to enhance data quality and reporting. Key technical responsibilities include implementing validation rules, developing analytics dashboards, applying ML/NLP methods for tasks like forecasting and anomaly detection, and prototyping RAG/LLM solutions to index internal knowledge bases for efficient information retrieval.

Key Responsibilities

• Data Management & Quality: Build and maintain reproducible data pipelines (using Power Query, R/Python, SQL) across administrative and partner data sources; implement automated Quality Assurance (QA) checks and metadata.
• Analytics & Dashboards: Contribute to the development of Power BI datasets, measures (DAX), and visuals for robust regional and country reporting.
• Advanced Methods: Prototype and evaluate Machine Learning (ML) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) models for classification, forecasting, anomaly detection, and text clustering.
• LLM Innovation: Drive RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)/LLM innovation by prototyping systems that index internal knowledge bases using vector search and frameworks like LangChain or LlamaIndex.
• Workflow Automation: Create low-code/no-code and scripted automations (e.g., Power Automate, Python, Microsoft Fabric) for tasks like data ingestion, validation, and scheduled refreshes.
• Data Ethics & Protection: Uphold UNHCR’s Data Protection Policy and humanitarian data responsibility guidance, applying principles like de-identification and secure data handling.
• Capacity Building: Draft concise user guides, documentation (READMEs, data dictionaries), and run brown-bag sessions to upskill UNHCR colleagues in data management and tools.

Qualifications & Experience

• Eligibility: Must be either a current student in a graduate/undergraduate program or a recent graduate (completed studies within two years of applying) from an accredited university.
• Studies: Must have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies in a field relevant or of interest to the work of UNHCR (e.g., Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, etc.).
• Technical Skills (Implied): Experience or strong interest in data pipelines (SQL, Python/R), Power BI, and concepts related to ML/LLMs and data ethics is necessary.

How to Apply

Qualified students and recent graduates for this exciting UNHCR internship in Nairobi should submit their application through the official online portal:  United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on unhcr.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com