Innovation Dashboard Support

Host entity: UNDP

Application deadline: 08/09/2026

Mission and objectives

UNDP works in more than 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. We help countries develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build resilience to sustain development results. UNDP has been present in Malawi since 1964.

Working closely with the Government of Malawi, civil society and the private sector, UNDP' s work aims to contribute to economic growth, sustainable environmental management, and democratic governance and accountability in Malawi.

UNDP’s Country Programme Document is closely aligned to the Malawi Agenda 2063 and supports Malawi’s aim to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

UNDP ‘s programme is designed to address the interlinked issues of poverty, inequality and vulnerability to shocks and is managed within two portfolios:

Responsive Institutions and Citizen Engagement which works towards strengthening effective, accountable and inclusive governance that promotes civic engagement, respect for human rights, rule of law, peace and democracy. It also works towards strengthening data generation and analysis.

Resilience and Sustainable Growth which focusses on enhancing economic innovation, inclusive business, job creation, and renewable energy access. It also works towards helping Malawi adapt to climate change and build resilience to disasters.

Assignment context

UNDP Malawi, in collaboration with the Government of Malawi, established the University Innovation
Pod (UniPod) at the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS) in 2024. The
UniPod is a state-of-the-art facility that promotes innovation, product development, prototyping and
small-scale manufacturing. It bridges academia, local innovators and industry by transforming ideas
into practical solutions that address Malawi’s development challenges. At the regional level, the
UniPod is connected to UNDP’s timbuktoo initiative and contributes to a growing network of
university-based innovation and entrepreneurship hubs across Africa.

UNDP seeks to engage a UN Volunteer to build and embed an innovation-tracker dashboard to
improve UniPod’s management of day-to-day operations and give UNDP, MUBAS, and other
stakeholders a clear, evidence-based view of UniPod’s impact and remaining gaps.
The UN Volunteer will receive the benefit of portfolio development, exposure to UNDP initiatives, and
a reference letter upon successful completion of the assignment.

Task description

Duties and Responsibilities

• Support finalization of the KPI framework across the dashboard’s four modules (equipment
and space use, skills and training, IP, outcomes and consumer trust).
• Build and refine simple data intake forms (e.g., in Kobo Toolbox or Google Forms) aligned to
each module.
• Support development of the MVP dashboard (e.g., Google Sheets + Looker Studio, or Power
BI), populating it with available pilot data.
• Support training of designated UniPod staff data owner and help produce a short
maintenance guide.
• Document processes clearly enough that a non-technical staff member can maintain the
dashboard independently.
• Integrate the Dashboard in UniPod website
• Provide monthly progress updates to assigned supervisor.

Expected Outputs

• A working, documented MVP dashboard populated with pilot data.
• Data intake forms in active use across all four modules.
• A short-written maintenance/handover guide.
• A brief monthly progress note to the UniPod/UNDP focal point.

Skills and experience

Education

• Background or ongoing study in data analytics, statistics, IT, or related field.

Experience

• Previous work in IT, data management, and data analysis/analytics or data visualization is preferable.
• Experience working with multidisciplinary or volunteer teams is an asset.


Skills and Competencies

• Working familiarity with at least one of: Google Sheets, Looker Studio, Power BI, or Excel.
• Strong written communication skills, comfortable documenting work for a non-technical
audience.
• Genuine interest in youth innovation ecosystems; prior remote/volunteer experience is a
plus but not required.
• Fluency in English; knowledge of Chichewa is desirable.

Full eligibility requirements, conditions of service and application instructions are available on the official UNV platform.