UNDP Jobs - 60817- Statistics Specialist (HDRO)

Statistics Specialist (HDRO)

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

01-Dec-2015

Application Deadline :

23-Oct-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-3

Duration of Initial Contract :

One year (renewable)

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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

The Mission of Human Development Report Office (HDRO) is to advance human development. The goal is to contribute towards the expansion of opportunity, choice and freedom. HDRO works towards this goal by promoting innovative new ideas, advocating practical policy changes, and constructively challenging policies and approaches that constrain human development. HDRO works with others to achieve change through research, data gathering, and communications and outreach work. The Human Development Report (HDR) is UNDP’s most visible global report. It receives wide acclaim and respect and must adhere to the highest professional rigour and standards.

The Statistics Specialist will work closely with the entire HDR team in the production of the HDR, establish working relationships with international data agencies and other specialized agencies and research institutes in the process of data collection and measurement development, interact with UNDP regional Bureaus and Country Offices to provide corporate support as well as with country governments and other external users of the Report for information outreach.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

Under the direct supervision of the Chief of Statistics, the Statistics Specialist in the Human Development Report Office:

Contributes to the thematic analysis of the Human Development Report and support other HDRO activities and publications;
Promotes the innovative use and elaboration of human development statistics and measures for policy analysis and advocacy;
Contributes to statistical information outreach, produces the HDR indicator tables;
Uses official work time for self-learning;
Performs other duties as required.

Functions

Contribute to the thematic analysis of the Human Development Report and support other HDRO activities and publications:

As part of the Report team, participate in the brainstorming and team discussions on various aspects of the Report production, and Contribute to the preparation and finalization of the structure and content of the Report;
Research sources of relevant statistics, collecting and assessing data from these sources; work with the chapter authors on the application of these statistics;
Conceptualize and design text tables, annex tables and graphs that facilitate the analyses;
Apply statistical modeling and other quantitative techniques to obtain estimates as required by the analyses;
Produces tables, graphs and other statistical information for the chapters of the Report;
Draft texts to assist in the interpretation of statistical analyses in the chapters of HDR when necessary; and
Provide statistical inputs for other HDRO activities and publications.

Promote the innovative use and elaboration of human development statistics and measures for policy analysis and advocacy:

Follow the current debates on key human development indicators in a broad range of thematic areas;
Conduct independent research and propose new approaches on measurement and data issues related to the specific theme of each year’s global HDR;
Contribute to the conceptual and methodological development of composite indices for measuring human development both for Improving existing indices and for designing new ones;
Contribute to the overall understanding among the Human Development Report (HDR) team of the conceptual and methodological issues related to specific statistical indicators in fields related to human development.

Contribute to statistical information outreach:

Design and prepare materials for the launch of HDR and other HDRO activities, including country fact sheets and other presentation materials especially related to statistics and analysis;
Take part in the global launch of the HDR; make presentations to various audiences; provide media interviews and briefings as requested;
Work with national, international statistical agencies and UNDP regional bureaux and Country Offices to enhance the general understanding of the use of statistics in the Report and to improve the international data availability and reliability of basic human development indicators;
Respond to media, government, UN, UNDP Regional Bureaux and Country Offices, and other external requests and queries both at the time of the launch of HDR and on an on-going basis;
Represent HDRO in interagency initiatives and projects, other international or regional statistical meetings and workshops and other events.

Produce the HDR indicator tables:

Take part in the revision and re-design of the indicator tables, contributing to the identification and introduction of new indicators, and improvement of creative presentation of statistical information;
Research sources of relevant statistics and interact with UN and other international and national agencies in the effort of data collection;
Conduct independent evaluation of data quality and reliability;
Apply statistical modeling and other quantitative techniques to obtain estimates as required;
Use survey micro data to estimate multidimensional poverty and inequality;
Take part in the editing and quality control of the HDR indicator tables to ensure accuracy, consistency and clear presentation;
Produces 10 or more of the final indicator tables and ensure quality and standards.

Use of official work time for self-learning:

Prepare, each year, one high quality paper suitable for peer-reviewed publication involving statistics related to human development.
Perform other duties as required.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by adhering and promoting the UN’s values and ethical standards;• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment;
Self-development, initiative-taking;
Acting as a team player and facilitating team work;
Managing conflict;
Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others;
Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing is the responsibility of each staff member;
Informed and transparent decision making.

Functional Competencies:

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise:

In-depth knowledge of statistics, including applications to quantitative social sciences;
Demonstrated outstanding analytical and quantitative skills, and the ability to conduct independent research;
Sound knowledge of the current state of human development statistics, preferably in one or more of the following areas: economics, poverty and inequality, health and education, demography, gender, the design, interpretation and use of composite indices;
Ability to manage multiple tasks efficiently and remain composed and focused under pressure.

Knowledge Management and Learning:

Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the office;
Actively works towards continuing personal learning and acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills.

Management and Leadership:

Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
Sound team player;
Excellent writing, communication, presentation and inter-personal skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree (PhD strongly preferred) from a recognized university, in economics, statistics, demography or other related quantitative or social science disciplines with a strong training in applied statistics/quantitative analysis.

Experience:

At least five years of relevant work experience with at least two years of experience with international data and statistics;
Demonstrated sustained high-quality work using statistical software for analyzing data (particularly STATA), and other standard office software such as Excel and Word;
In-depth knowledge and experience of using household survey data for estimation and analysis of models, distributions and population parameters;

Desirable:

Familiarity with the production of international, globally comparable statistics.

Language:

Excellent written and spoken English is essential;
Proficiency in other UN official languages is highly desirable.