AI Geospatial Data Science Advisor (Cadastral Modernisation)

**Job Highlight**
This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to the modernization of Albania's land administration system using AI technologies. The position offers a chance to work on a high-impact project to strengthen Albanian’s property rights, legal certainty, and economic development in Albania, while aligning with EU accession requirements.

**Job Specific Context**
The European Union-funded EU for Property Rights (EU4PR) project, implemented by UNOPS, supports the State Cadastre Agency and the Agency for Agriculture and Rural Development in strengthening land administration and property rights systems in Albania. Key project activities include the digitisation of cadastral records and maps, first-time property registration, data enhancement, and support to the development of an EU-compatible Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS), which contribute to improved transparency, efficiency, and alignment with EU accession requirements.

The project further supports the modernisation of institutional processes and systems through digital transformation, interoperability, and institutional capacity strengthening, contributing to sustainable land governance and alignment with EU standards and practices. Within this context, the AI Specialist will serve as a key technical expert supporting the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as an enabling tool for the Business Process Review (BPR), cadastral map digitisation, first-time property registration, and LPIS-related activities. The role will include researching, proposing, and adapting AI technologies, methodologies, and innovative approaches to address the specific operational project needs, and institutional needs of the State Cadastre Agency, and the Agency for Agriculture and Rural Development.

**Role Purpose**
The AI Specialist will provide expert technical guidance and support in the application of AI technologies to enhance the efficiency, accuracy, and transparency of land administration processes within the EU4PropertyRights project. The specialist will research, propose and adapt AI solutions to address specific challenges in cadastral data management, property registration workflow, and the development of a Land Parcel Information System (LPIS). AI application will be aligned with the BPR framework, supporting evidence-based data analysis and process optimisation, subject to data availability and system readiness. The Expert will work in close coordination with other experts and national counterparts throughout the assignment. In addition to the delivery of the specific tasks under this ToR, the Expert is expected to contribute with relevant technical knowledge, practical experience, and lessons learned from the implementation of similar projects and international best practices, with the aim of supporting high-quality and sustainable project outcomes.

**Functions / Key Results Expected**
1. AI Strategy and Implementation

The expert will  provide recommendations on the application of AI tools and technologies to enhance land administration processes and service delivery. Review and propose improvements to the existing AI models and algorithms to address specific challenges in the Albanian context, such as inconsistent cadastral data, incomplete first registration, interoperability limitations, legacy records digitisation, and data quality improvement across cadastral zones,legal inconsistencies while supporting the strengthening of Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) interoperability and data harmonisation of datasets. Support, focusing on advising and demonstrating AI applications for data correction, verification, and validation,  processes within the cadastral system.

More specifically, the expert will provide recommendations in the following aspects:

Intelligent Document Processing

• Legacy Digitization: convert historical handwritten deeds and paper archives into structured, searchable digital data.
• Information Extraction: build models to automatically extract legal names, parcel numbers, boundaries, and transaction history from unstructured notary acts.
• Cross-Registry Validation: develop search tools to automatically verify consistency between notary documents and the live cadastral database.
Geospatial AI & Automated Mapping

• Feature Extraction: automatically detect building footprint and parcel boundary from other sources or imagery (satellite, drone)
• Discrepancy Resolution: automatically flag overlaps, gaps, and structural anomalies between historical maps and modern GIS data.
• Data Harmonization: standardize geospatial datasets to achieve full compliance with national, international and EU spatial data standards.
Fraud Prevention & Process Automation

• Risk Modeling: Design predictive risk-scoring models to detect suspicious transaction patterns, unauthorized alterations, or fraudulent claims.
• Smart Workflow Routing: Implement machine learning algorithms to automatically approve low-risk standardized application