UNDP Jobs - 53319- Data Processing Expert

Data Processing Expert

Location :

HARARE, ZIMBABWE

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

16-Feb-2015

Application Deadline :

06-Feb-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

1 month

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

1 month

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Recovering from the height of the 2008-2009 crisis characterized by hyperinflation, conflicts, water borne diseases and the imminent collapse of the health and education system, Zimbabwe is slowly starting to rebuild structures to lay a new foundation for sustainable development. The improving situation over the past five years has prompted the scaling down of humanitarian interventions and paved the way for transitional initiatives addressing sectorial issues in areas such as health, education and water and hygiene, maternal mortality, HIV, TB and education for all. Overall the situation is stabilizing and systems are being reactivated (with support from bilateral as well as multilateral donors) to rebuild functioning social service delivery structures in the above mentioned areas.

UNDP with support from a number of bilateral donors consequently decided to take a closer look at some of the root causes and links between a number of interlinked multisectorial factors affecting the resilience of at-risk communities as well as the overall capacity of the country’s poor to move out of poverty.

Within the UN system, UNDP has taken the leading role in guiding agencies through a series of conversations, meetings and workshops to define a strategic framework that could work for the UN and GoZ to build resilience in at-risk communities. Additionally consultations have been held with international as well as national NGOs for a broad perspective.

To be able to support the thinking and prevent at-risk communities from continuously sliding back into a situation calling for humanitarian assistance, the discussion of a funding mechanism for Resilience building have taken off in parallel with the above. This discussion has clearly exposed the need for improved and increasingly joint analysis of a number of factors involved in building resilience. The proposed joint analysis requires setting up of an elaborate knowledgebase to answer the five programming questions: what, who, where, when, why on poverty alleviation and resilience building. Ultimately answering these questions will provide the technical rationale behind improved and increasingly joint targeting, programme design and activity selection for these new initiatives. Building up an evidence base also offers the opportunity to create the basis for tracking of results in the short, medium and longer term.

Duties and Responsibilities

Identify and extract required datasets for analysis of poverty and resilience capacities;
Assemble, format and integrate datasets into the appropriate standard;
Check data for errors and completeness;
Build a database of poverty and resilience as required;
Conduct descriptive analysis and compile reports, charts and graphs;
Participate In data collection surveys and field level verification and validation;
Any other duties as assigned.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Accuracy and attention to detail;
Good communication skills, including the ability to write high quality reports, conduct studies and to articulate ideas in a clear and concise style;
Excellent interpersonal skills, teamwork and adept at working with people of diverse cultural and social backgrounds;
An understanding of and ability to abide by the core values of the United Nations.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent in Statistics, Economics, Information Management or other related field.

Experience:

A minimum of 2 years’ experience working in busy analytical environment and at least 2 years of relevant experience and proven expertise and proficiency with SPSS, Stata, Excel, database packages or other appropriate packages. Knowledge of GIS will be added advantages;
Positive past experience in working on UN supported projects and/or with other bilateral/multilaterals is an added advantage.
Proven experience working in a busy analytical environment and handling large datasets complex analysis;
Practical experience in the East and Southern African region and/or knowledge of the development issues in low income countries is an asset;
Proven excellence in written and spoken English, including excellent report writing skills as well as analytical and computer skills;
Experience in working with teams and team processes;
Proven track record in strategic planning and M&E frameworks.

Language:

Fluent in English.