Ref.
2026/ODAE/15909
Job offer type
Field staff jobs
Type of contract
CDDU
Deadline date
2026/09/10 23:59
Contract
Employee
Duration
12 mois
Open Data & AI Expert (M/W)
Département Gouvernance - GOUV > Direction du département - GOUV
Published on : 2026/07/27
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
KENYA
Mission description
For the implementation of the project, Expertise France is currently recruiting an Open Data & AI Expert
The Open Data & AI Expert will hold the responsibility of ensuring Long Term expert. He/She will work in collaboration with EF Local project manager and the project manager in Paris.
He/she will be responsible for the following tasks:
- Support and advice to the EF Local Project manager on the project activities;
- Draft the terms of reference for the mobilization of International and national short-term public and private experts;
- Supervise and coordinate the work of short-term experts;
- Coordinate with other Team Europe experts and project managers to ensure smooth implementation of activities;
- Monitor the quality of expert services in the short term by ensuring the overall coherence of the various missions of the programme of activities;
- Monitor the technical implementation of the activities of the project in line with the budget capacity, the project objectives and the indicators achievements;
- Final quality control of project documents such expert deliverables, narrative reports;
Deliverables:
The key expert is responsible for ensuring the delivery of the EF outputs. In addition, the key expert holds responsibility for the production of the final outputs with which he/she is directly assigned.
In addition, the expert shall submit:
- Concept notes for each of the outputs, clearly indicating the type of support, timeframe, content of the deliverable(s) and expert inputs (as and if appropriate);
- Terms of reference for the mobilization of short-term experts;
- Inputs for the Inception Report, Progress Reports and the Final Report;
- Ad-hoc meetings documentation and reports subject to adjustment;
All deliverables shall be submitted using the templates provided by Expertise France.
Project or context description
The Multi-Donor Action “Digital Transformation Center Kenya II” (in the following “the Action”) is jointly co-financed by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by GIZ as part of the BMZ project “Digital Transformation Center Kenya”, which will then be funded with EUR 11,000,000. The total budget of this Action is EUR 11,000,000 (EU contribution 7,000,000 EUR, and BMZ contribution EUR 4,000,000).
The Action is set out in the EU Action Document “Human Centred Digitalisation – Phase II” and is a Global Gateway initiative and an Equality Flagship. It is part of and contributes to the second phase of the Team Europe Initiative (TEI) Human-Centred Digitalisation Kenya. The Action aims to contribute to a more inclusive and greener Kenya by promoting the digital economy and strengthening digital governance for a human-centred and sustainable digital transformation.
In phase II of the TEI, Team Europe can build on the learnings of phase 1, especially where it is already visibly impacting the lives of Kenyans in a positive manner. The digital economy pillar complements skilling through TVET under phase I by focusing on graduates’ immediate skilling needs to access private sector jobs. The digital governance pillar continues efforts on human-centric e-services, Digital Public Infrastructure/Goods, data protection, artificial intelligence and GovStack. In addition, the Action furthers digital diplomacy goals through its support to the Team Europe Digital Hub.
The Overall Objective of the Action is to contribute to a more inclusive and greener Kenya.
The Specific Objectives (outcomes) of the Action are:
SO1) The Digital Economy expanded.
SO2) Digital governance for a human-centred and sustainable digital transformation strengthened.
The Outputs of the Action are:
1.1 The institutional and entrepreneurial capacities for inclusive global employment in Kenya's digital economy are strengthened.
2.1 Implementation and operationalisation of human-centred and gender-responsive digital policies and regulations on data and emerging technologies has accelerated in line with the multi-actor approach
2.2 The capabilities of relevant public and private actors to develop, implement, use and scale digital public infrastructure (DPI) and digital public goods (DPG) are strengthened.
Expertise France will have the responsibilities of these following activities.
Identification, co-designing and implementation of a flagship use case:
- Facilitate the joint development of a sector-specific open data use case that demonstrate tangible socio- economic benefits
- Ensure the use case integrates gender, inclusion, and environmental sustainability dimensions
- Institutionalization and knowledge transfer
Capacity Building on Open Data Foundations and train civil servants and partner staff on how apply, maintain and scale the open data use case:
- Produce practical documentation, toolkits and guidelines to secure long-term adoption
Leverage French best practices in public sector AI: showcase concrete experiences such as Albert and Ekonom IA, demonstrating how AI can simplify administrative procedures, enhance efficiency and improve user experience, while embedding ethical and privacy by design principles through sandbox experimentation
Developing a robust AI data ecosystem: support the collection, curation and annotation of diverse datasets that capture Kenya’s demographics, cultural contexts, and economic realities, ensuring access to high-quality, representative, and ethically sourced training data.
Co-designing ethical flagship AI applications with Kenyan institutions: work with public authorities to identify, adapt, or develop AI use cases aligned with national priorities, such as: Multilingual chatbots and virtual assistants to expand inclusive access to government services ; AI-driven tutoring systems and teacher training modules to bridge educational gaps and improve learning outcomes; A digital creative platform powered by AI to boost market access, visibility, and income opportunities for local content creators.
Build institutional capacities for responsible AI adoption: deliver targeted training for civil servants on the opportunities and risks of AI, focusing on ethics, accountability, and responsible use. Pilot an AI “knowledge assistant” to help public officials retrieve information and provide faster, more accurate responses to citizens.
Required profile
Qualifications and skills
- Master's degree or equivalent in university degree in information systems, digital transformation, or other equivalent field;
- Proven ability to coordinate a project with ambitious indicators;
- Ability to work in a team and bring out ideas and operational solutions;
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills;
- Proactive, with a sense of responsibility;
- Organizational skills and attention to detail;
- Strong Institutional representation capacity;
- Demonstrated autonomy, flexibility, and responsiveness;
- Analytical mindset and ability to synthesize information;
- Demonstrated ability to work in a multicultural environment;
- Demonstrated ability to work in a complex context;
- Excellent proficiency of English, both oral and written, essential – French is a plus.
Professional experience
- Minimum of 10 years of progressive experience in the field of open data, artificial intelligence, digital governance, or digital transformation, with demonstrated expertise in designing and implementing innovative digital public sector solutions;
- Proven experience in international development projects related to digital transformation, open data ecosystems, and AI for public services, preferably including experience in Africa;
- Proven experience in identifying, co-designing, and implementing flagship digital use cases demonstrating socio-economic impact, including open data or AI-based applications in the public sector;
- Demonstrated experience in developing and operationalizing data ecosystems, including data collection, curation, governance frameworks, and the development of high-quality and representative datasets for AI systems;
- Proven experience in promoting responsible and ethical AI adoption, including integrating principles such as transparency, accountability, privacy-by-design, and inclusive digital development;
- Experience in capacity building and training for civil servants and institutional partners on topics related to open data, AI adoption, and digital public innovation;
- Familiarity with European and international best practices in public sector AI and digital government, including examples of AI-enabled administrative services, is an asset
- Proven ability to collaborate with government agencies, private sector partners, and civil society organizations to achieve project objectives;
- Experience in project management skills, deadline compliance, high quality of internal and external documents is an asset;
- Experience of the French digital public (mainly CNIL, DINUM, DITP, SIG..) and private ecosystem, including technical and institutional frameworks and key stakeholders is an asset.
Additional information
The Open Data & AI Expert will be based in Kenya and will report directly to unit manager of the "Justice and State Reform" unit at Expertise France headquarters in Paris, which falls under the "Governance" department.
Deadline for application : 2026/09/10 23:59
Expertise France is the public agency for designing and implementing international technical cooperation projects. The agency operates around four key priorities :
- democratic, economic, and financial governance ;
- peace, stability, and security ;
- climate, agriculture, and sustainable development ;
- health and human development ;
In these areas, Expertise France conducts capacity-building initiatives and manages project implementation, leveraging technical expertise and acting as a project coordinator. This involves combining public sector expertise with private sector skills to drive impactful results.