Under the overall authority of the Director of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), the direct supervision of the Head of Education UIS and the matrix / administrative supervision of the Director of UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNESCO Santiago)the incumbent’s key role is focused on improving the coverage for the UIS core set of indicators through working with member states on responses to the UIS data collections and strengthening the capacity of member states to monitor SDGs including securing national commitments to SDG4 benchmarks.
Main responsibilities and tasks:
Data Collection:
Develop and implement a workplan to improve the quality, timeliness and completeness of data and indicators collected against the UIS Core System of Education Indicators.
Monitor the response rates and the quality of data reported by countries to the UIS and coordinate the needed actions to increase these. Obtain country validation of indicators to be reported by the UIS. Support the development of UIS regional activities for effective implementation of UIS regional programmes, supporting the follow up and review of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Education 2030 Agenda, advocating for alignment of monitoring frameworks and promoting data driven policymaking. Conduct activities required for the implementation of UIS programmes in the fields of education, literacy skills measurement, and assessment of learning outcomes, science, technology & innovation, culture, and communication & information statistics.
Capacity Development:
In collaboration with UNESCO Regional Bureau of Education for Latin America and the Caribbean,
develop medium term plans outlining the priorities to strengthen the reporting and monitoring of the SDG4 Agenda by Member States;
conduct mapping of key stakeholders in the region and enhance the UIS's network of partnerships involved in data quality at national and regional levels;
articulate and implement a regional resource mobilization plan for capacity building.
Within the framework of UIS medium term strategy and agreed allocation of resources, support the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education for Latin America and the Caribbean to
develop policy briefs and prepare regional and national studies and reports on SDG4;
contribute to building the capacity of Member States in the region to collect and disseminate education data.
Contribution to UIS Core work:
Contribute to UIS reporting, including technical documents, documents for UIS and UNESCO governing bodies as well as for other internal and external stakeholder including donors and development partners.
Liaise with the UNESCO Office in Santiago, the Regional Bureau for Education, UNESCO national and cluster Offices as well as Regional Bureau of Science and Culture for the effective implementation of UIS activities in the region.
Perform any additional activities that may be required in support of the mandate of the UIS and to ensure the success of the work.
Required Qualifications:
Education :
Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in statistics, economics, demography, education or social sciences with a substantial applied statistics / data sciences component.
Work Experience:
A minimum 4 years of progressively responsible relevant professional experience as a statistician working with administrative, finance, survey, and/or assessment data relating to education of which preferably at least 2 years acquired at regional / international level strengthening education data capacity.
Experience working in developing countries with National Statistical Offices or Planning Units.
Experience with partnership development and resource mobilisation.
Skills and competencies :
Ability to explore innovative options to deliver education data, including understanding how to leverage on emerging methodological and technology opportunities.
Experience with relevant coding languages (e.g., Python, R), data visualisation tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau) and database management (e.g. SQL).
Technical competence in the use of standard office and data processing/analysis software (i.e., MS Excel, MS Word, SPSS, Stata or SAS)
Proven ability to provide advice to national statisticians on statistical and methodological issues related to data collection, analysis and reporting.
Ability to develop and analyse project proposals and monitor project implementation.
