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International Growth Centre (IGC) and the Data Science Institute (DSI)

Data Engineer (Zambia Evidence Lab)

Fixed term contract to 30 September 2026

Salary from £42,429 to £50,656pa inclusive with potential to progress to £54,295pa inclusive of London allowance

The International Growth Centre (IGC) works with policymakers in developing countries to promote inclusive and sustainable growth through pathbreaking research. We are a global research centre with a network of world-leading researchers and in-country teams and initiatives working across Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East. Based at LSE and in partnership with the University of Oxford, we are majority funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). We work to improve the productivity of people and firms as the key driver of sustainable economic development.

The Data Science Institute forms the institutional cornerstone of data science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) activity at the LSE. Working alongside academic departments and research centres across the School, the DSI fosters research, education and engagement in the study of data science and AI through a social science lens.

Based at the IGC Head office at LSE in London and reporting to IGC Country Manager for Zambia, the Data Engineer will lead the development of data architecture and key data products for the Zambia Evidence Lab (ZEL) at the Ministry of Finance and National Planning. ZEL, a pathbreaking government-led initiative, aims to enhance the use of data to support evidence-based policymaking in Zambia. Critical to this aim, this role involves using data engineering, data science, and computational methods to turn complex data into actionable insights for policymakers.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop ZEL’s data architecture to support policy outputs using diverse datasets.
• Apply data engineering tools (e.g., data mining, visualisation, large language models) across the project lifecycle.
• Create interactive dashboards (e.g., Tableau, R) for real-time policy insights.
• Use R, SQL, Python, and other languages to manage and analyse data.
• Apply AI and machine learning to improve data integration and analysis.

Key qualifications and experience required:

• BSc/MSc in computer science, data science, data engineering or a related field.
• Strong skills in Python, R, and scripting languages.
• Experience with interactive dashboards and data transformation processes.
• Excellent SQL/NoSQL knowledge and familiarity with databases (e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB).

We offer an occupational pension scheme, generous annual leave, hybrid working, and excellent training and development opportunities.

The position is offered full-time on a fixed term contract basis ending on 30 Sept 2026 with the possibility of extension.

For further information about the post, please see the how to apply document, job description and the person specification.

 If you have any technical queries with applying on the online system, please use the “contact us” links at the bottom of the LSE Jobs page. Should you have any queries about the role, please email Shahrukh Wani at s.rukh@lse.ac.uk.

The closing date for receipt of applications is 7 November 2024 (23.59 UK time). Regrettably, we are unable to accept any late applications.