AI in box fellow

Background

UNDP Senegal, in partnership with the UNDP Seoul Policy Centre (USPC), is implementing the AI in a Box pilot initiative. The initiative deploys offline-capable edge AI devices at partner government institutions, addressing a common constraint: public institutions hold large volumes of paper or unstructured digital records that cannot be processed using cloud-based AI tools due to data sovereignty, connectivity, and cost constraints. AI in a Box provides a locally controlled, offline AI compute environment that brings document digitization, OCR, and intelligent search capabilities within reach of institutions that would otherwise be excluded.

The pilot is organized into three parallel batches, each anchored by one Country Office working hands-on with USPC. UNDP Senegal is the anchor case for Batch 3 - Extraction from Digital Documents, working most intensively with the USPC technical team. Pipelines and lessons validated in the anchor case feed directly into a shared playbook used by cohort Country Offices across the batch.

In this context, UNDP Senegal is partnering with the Ministry of Justice to address a critical gap in the management of judicial records. The Pikine Guédiawaye tribunal's archives - comprising 150,000 to 200,000 pages of scanned judicial documents - have completed phase-one digitization but remain unstructured and unsearchable. The pilot will establish an AI-assisted extraction and indexing pipeline to turn these scanned PDFs into structured, queryable records feeding the Ministry's e-justice platform. All processing takes place on a locally deployed edge AI device; no judicial data is transmitted to external cloud services.

To deliver this pilot effectively, UNDP Senegal is recruiting a Fellow who will serve as the primary in-country implementation coordinator - managing day-to-day relations with the Ministry partner, coordinating operational logistics, tracking implementation progress, and acting as the principal communication link between UNDP Senegal, the Ministry of Justice, and the USPC technical team. While deep technical expertise is not required, the Fellow must have sufficient understanding of AI and data systems to engage meaningfully with the USPC technical team, assess the quality of outputs, and flag issues that require technical attention

Duties and

The Fellow will assist in the following duties and responsibilities:

ilot Implementation and Project Coordination (45%)

Lead the day-to-day coordination of the AI in a Box pilot, ensuring that pipeline deployment, data extraction, and system integration activities progress as planned.

Serve as the principal point of contact on the ground, coordinating across government partners, UNDP Senegal, and the USPC technical team, and escalating issues to the supervisor or USPC as appropriate.

Troubleshoot technical issues, identify root causes, and implement long-term scalable solutions.

Participate in ongoing platform enhancements, modernization initiatives, and strategic technology projects.

Build and maintain productive working relationships with Ministry stakeholders, ensuring that partner needs and feedback are accurately conveyed and addressed throughout implementation.

Monitoring, Reporting, and Documentation (35%)

Track implementation progress against agreed milestones and maintain regular reporting to the supervisor and USPC technical team.

Document operational lessons, context-specific adaptations, and key decisions in formats suitable for sharing with cohort Country Offices and for inclusion in the AI in a Box shared playbook.

Participate in the AI in a Box community of practice, representing the Senegal anchor experience in batch-level meetings and contributing to knowledge exchange across the batch.

Support, Collaboration, and Capacity Building (20%)

Provide ad hoc support for various activities as required, ensuring that these efforts contribute to the strategic objectives of UNDP Senega...