HIP Consult is a strategic consulting firm based in Washington, DC with expertise in emerging markets. Over the last year, our team has been developing InfraNav, a mapping and analytics platform for telecom infrastructure in Africa. The role of the GIS Intern will be to provide support for the HIP Consult mapping team, which is developing a platform to aggregate, visualize, and analyze infrastructure data in emerging markets.
How you will benefit from this internship
- Learn how to use cutting-edge open source mapping software and platforms, including CartoDB, QGIS, PostgreSQL, and OSM to visualize data
- Contribute to enhancing and populating a growing database of African socioeconomic and infrastructure data
- Take your GIS skills to the next level by learning about interactive web mapping, programming, and software development
What you will do
- Conduct research to obtain publicly available socioeconomic and infrastructure data for emerging markets
- Use open source mapping software to plot geolocation data and associated metadata
- Use PostgreSQL to populate spatial database with metadata
- Maintain, clean, and organize the infrastructure database
- Contribute to the InfraNav blog
What we require
- Proficiency in open source GIS mapping software and platforms required; proficiency in PostgreSQL, PostGIS, and programming languages preferred
- Background in computer science, math, geography, statistics, international development, and /or other relevant field
- Experience with database management
- Strong research capabilities
- High familiarity with acquiring, cleaning, and modifying geospatial data
- Interested in web mapping applications, design, and software development
- HTML, CSS, JavaScript knowledge is a plus
- Interested to learn about development in emerging markets, particularly Africa
- Excellent organizational skills and meticulous attention to detail
- Creative and flexible; comfortable working on a small team with limited supervision
- Fast learner; willingness to take on projects outside the scope of work
- Enthusiastic, motivated team player
We will do our best to make sure you receive a learning experience that aligns with your career goals. You will become knowledgeable in open source mapping and database software, hone your research skills, learn about infrastructure development in emerging markets, and contribute to the development of a cutting edge mapping and analytics platform. You will also learn how to work in a professional environment and will have ample opportunity to work with consultants who are experts in data visualization and analytics in the emerging market context. You may be asked to assist with projects beyond your scope of work, so we are looking for a candidate with a very open mind and willingness to learn and grow.
Details
This position is available immediately. The position is paid and would be approximately 32 hours per week. There is potential for internship extension or even full-time employment after the summer. To apply, please submit your resume and cover letter via email with the subject line GIS Intern to Kerry Frank at klfrank@hipconsult.com.
