Junior Data Scientist (1 year contract)

Background
The African Climate Foundation (ACF) is the first and only African-led climate change re-granting organisation on the continent. Through a combination of grant making, fellowships, transformational research, technical assistance, coalition building and advocacy the ACF seeks to support interventions at the nexus of climate change, and development that have the greatest potential to deliver long-term socio-economic transformation and inclusive development. ACF also provides Fiscal Hosting (also called Fiscal Sponsorship) services to support emerging and mission aligned organisations and initiatives

All African countries should have the capacities, resources, and tools to shape their own energy transitions. African Energy Futures (AEF), housed within the African Climate Foundation, will fund African institutions to build energy systems knowledge and tools that meet African needs; train the rising generation of African energy system analysts; strengthen local energy policy and decision-making; and ensure Africa plays a greater role in shaping energy research, policy, and investment.

Purpose

The African Climate Foundation (ACF) and African Energy Futures (AEF) are establishing a shared Strategic Data & Intelligence Unit to improve how African energy and development data are gathered, governed, analysed, visualised and used.

The unit will build and maintain an online data visualisation platform, develop compelling evidence-based narratives that can shift public and policy understanding, and provide strategic analytical services to grant-making and regranting organisations. It will work closely with Ember during the platform’s initial development, while progressively building independent African capability in data infrastructure, analysis and storytelling.

The initial four-person team is intentionally multidisciplinary. It combines strategic intelligence and philanthropy engagement, applied artificial intelligence and platform development, rigorous data science and governance, and sustained hands-on data acquisition and cleaning.

Scope of the role

Reporting to the Project Director, the Junior Data Scientist will provide the sustained hands-on work needed to turn fragmented and inconsistent information into reliable, usable datasets.  You will locate data, obtain and organise source files, clean and reconcile records, maintain metadata, run quality checks, support analysis and prepare charts and tables. This is an excellent development role for an early-career analyst who enjoys careful problem-solving and wants to build expertise in African energy and development data.

Responsibilities include but not limited to:

Data discovery and acquisition

• Search for and catalogue relevant public, academic, commercial and partner datasets across African countries and regions.
• Download, request, extract or transcribe data from spreadsheets, reports, APIs, databases and other source formats.
• Maintain a clear source register, data inventory and schedule for updates.
• Follow up with institutions and partners to clarify definitions, obtain missing information and document permissions.

Data cleaning and preparation

• Clean, standardise, merge and restructure datasets using repeatable scripts and documented procedures.
• Reconcile country names, units, currencies, dates, technology classifications and other coding systems.
• Identify duplicates, gaps, implausible values and inconsistencies and escalate unresolved issues.
• Prepare data for publication, visualisation and analysis while preserving raw source files and audit trails.
• Update metadata, data dictionaries, change logs and quality-control records.

Analysis and visualisation support

• Produce descriptive statistics, tables, charts and maps under the guidance of the Senior Data Scientist.
• Conduct literature and source reviews to provide context for quantitative findings.
• Replicate published calculations and check figures, labels, notes and citations before release.
• Support country profiles, comparative dashboards, data stories and strategic-analysis assignments.

Platform and team support

• Upload and test datasets and content on the platform and report user or data issues.
• Help maintain shared repositories, templates and documentation.
• Participate in training, peer review, team planning and engagement with the wider African data community.
• Use AI-assisted tools where appropriate, while checking outputs against original sources and following unit protocols.

Requirements include but are not limited to:

• Bachelor’s degree in statistics, economics, data science, computer science, engineering, geography, energy, development studies or another relevant quantitative field.
• At least 1-3 years of relevant experience, which may include internships, research assistantships or a strong portfolio of applied projects.
• Working proficiency in Python or R and spreadsheets; familiarity with SQL is strongly preferred.
• Practical experience cleaning and analysing real-world datasets and producing basic visualisations.
• High level of accuracy, organisation and persistence in repetitive or detailed tasks.
• Ability to document sources and methods clearly and to ask for help when data are ambiguous.
• Good written and verbal communication skills in English.

Desirable Experience

• Experience with African public data, energy statistics, development indicators or geospatial information.
• Familiarity with Git, notebooks, APIs, Power BI/Tableau or web-based visualisation tools.
• Experience extracting data from PDFs or poorly structured source files.

Start date: Position available immediately.

Location: ACF’s operational hub is in Cape Town, South Africa. Remote working will be considered for candidates based on the African continent.

Contract duration: 12 months (renewable based on mutual agreement and project success).
Closing date: 4 October 2026.

Application Details:

• Applicants must have the legal right to work in the country where they are based.

For further information about the ACF, visit www.africanclimatefoundation.org

For further information about the AEF, visit www.africanenergyfutures.org

Should you not hear back from us by 30 November 2026, please consider your application to be unsuccessful.

The ACF strives to be an equitable organisation with a team which reflects the diversity of Africa. 

In compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), The ACF assures all applicants that any personal information provided during the recruitment process will be treated with the utmost confidentiality and used solely for recruitment purposes. Your privacy and data security are of paramount importance to us. By applying for this position, you consent to the collection, processing, and storage of your personal information for recruitment-related activities only. The ACF is committed to safeguarding your privacy and maintaining the trust you place in us.