Data Scientist at Mastercard Foundation

Mastercard Foundation is a global foundation based across four hubs in Kigali, Rwanda, Nairobi, Kenya, Accra, Ghana and Toronto, Canada. Our programs promote financial inclusion and advance education and learning in Africa, primarily for young people, and in Canada for Indigenous youth. The Foundation was established in 2006 through the generosity of Mastercard when it became a public company. From inception, the Foundation was designed to be a separate entity and independent from Mastercard. Our policies, operations, and funding decisions are made by our President and Board of Directors.

The Foundation believes that youth employment is key to unlocking prosperity, both for youth and their societies. Enabling young women and men from disadvantaged communities to secure dignified and fulfilling work will ensure inclusive development and economic growth in Africa.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Data Scientist

Location: Nigeria

The Work At The Foundation

We have entered a very exciting time at the Foundation as we scale up our operations across Africa to realize our Young Africa Works strategy. Our role at the Mastercard Foundation is to be a catalyst. Our Young Africa Works strategy focuses on working with others to spur systemic change so young people have the opportunity to find work that is dignified and fulfilling.
The Foundation has opened offices in Rwanda, Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Uganda, building a broader leadership presence in Africa to develop specific strategies that support youth employment.
Within a country, we work with governments, the private sector, educators and other funders to improve the quality of education and vocational training, prepare young people for the work force, expand access to financial services for entrepreneurs and small businesses, and connect job seekers to dignified and fulfilling work.
We are ambitious and driven. Our values transcend and rise above everything else as our guide. We encourage you to bring your bold ideas, curiosity, and expertise to your work. We laugh at ourselves and with each other. We are a team. Our journey together makes our impact even more meaningful.
If you are a Data Scientist and passionate about using data and analytics to solve key social problems in Africa and increase your impact, read on!

The Opportunity

This position offers the possibility to enter a dynamic team, working with a team of Advanced Analytics and Business Intelligence professionals that are passionate about making an impact on the continent by leveraging analytics and data science.
The Data Scientist will have vast experience in applying data science, machine learning and deep learning in solving complex problems and generating insights. S/he will apply descriptive, predictive, and potentially prescriptive analytics in supporting the Regional, Country, Research, and other Functional teams to identify and incubate key opportunities that uncover insights and enhance improved programmatic decision making.
The job holder will support the delivery of Advanced Analytics initiatives & Data CoE for Public Good.
The successful candidate will be based in Canada or any of our listed offices in Africa (Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria).

Ways You Can Contribute

Implement Advanced Analytics “development-focused” Use Cases to accelerate our goals and vision.
Apply descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics to address business needs and answer pertinent programmatic questions.
Execute the development of descriptive, predictive and gradually prescriptive analytical models for programmatic purposes potentially through collaboration with external partnerships.
Devise data aggregation and integration approach; creation of new & innovative data collection & delivery interfaces and strategic development of external data partnerships, to enable a public facing Data & Advanced Analytics CoE.
Conduct analysis to establish trends & correlation as necessary for reports and internal / external use (i.e., regression models, correlations).
Interpret the analysis in order to create concise, insightful stakeholder communications (presentations, documentation etc.).
Communicate obstacles and findings from analytics to relevant stakeholders in an effort to improve decision making and drive impact.
Demonstrate where and how data science can drive increased impact, better partnerships and greater results.
Engage with stakeholders in order to understand their business processes, imperatives, constraints and priorities, and design appropriate analytics solutions to help in achieving their goals.
Credibly influence people regardless of the hierarchy and develop strong stakeholders relationships.
Excellently communicate and engage audiences of non-data experts to understand the power and potential of data science techniques amidst complex systems and data landscapes.

Who You Are

At least 6+ years’ experience in delivering Advanced Analytics Solutions.
At least 2 years of Data Science experience that has been focused on the Development sector and/or Advanced Analytics solutions for Social Impact.
Bachelor’s in Computer Science, MIS, Information Management, Economics, Statistics or any relevant field.
Experience planning and delivering BI and statistical analyses with knowledge of most major platforms and languages, e.g., Azure, SQL, Python/R, PowerBI, ETL Tools & Techniques, Excel, Tableau etc. (or equivalent).
Proven experience building statistical models for predictive and prescriptive analytics using machine learning, deep learning tools etc.
Strong problem framing ability with pragmatic approach to establish, prove/disprove hypothesis or simulate and be able to intuitively translate insightful discovery into plain language, both in speaking and writing. Deep knowledge in applied statistics, data management, analytics & data model design and tool sets.
Ability to flexibly engage other analytics capabilities within the org (e.g., Impact) to execute against co-owned deliverables.
Deep experience in mathematics, statistical and regression analysis along with proven expertise in machine learning and deep learning.
Ability to work with complex data sets and understand how to transform disparate data to enable effective analytics.
Possess exceptional understanding of the latest data and technology thinking across the external landscape. This includes knowledge and experience of latest tools, platforms and data provisioning software.
Demonstrated full tool-kit of data management and analytics (e.g., cleaning, structuring, validating, correlations, regressions, statistical analyses).
Passionate about using data and analytics to solve key social problems in Africa.
French language skills are an asset.