Consultant: Small Area Estimation (SAE) Methodology Development

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

The Position:

The SAE methodology development consultant is expected to develop innovative methodologies to estimate UNFPA core indicators at small geographical levels. Examples of these indicators are SDG or ICPD indicators such as contraceptive prevalence rate, teenage pregnancy, gender based violence, etc. The consultant will review existing methodologies developed by UNFPA, and develop a few SAE analytical case studies to: Develop an innovative method using various datasets, such as, census, Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), MICS, other survey data, geospatial data, and other auxiliary information. In addition, a consultant will provide recommendations on how to customize the approach and select an appropriate methodology to a specific country when scaling up to more countries. The consultant will also support relevant some small area estimation guidelines, manual, and training materials during the project. Outputs from the consultant will contribute to the knowledge of potential SAE approaches under the different country context and data availability, and contribute to UNFPA’s national capacity development on SAE.

How you can make a difference:

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s new strategic plan (2018-2021), focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices.

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction. UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.

Job Purpose:

The SAE methodology development Consultant will create development research documents and submit to the team, PDB, UNFPA. The consultant will work closely with the UNFPA SAE research team. The Consultant shall have the following responsibilities:

● Review existing SAE method and case study developed by UNFPA – logistic regression model combing census and DHS; ● Support selecting countries and indicators for SAE case studies discussing the SAE teams. This include scoping data availability (e.g. census, IPUMS, DHS, other nationally-representative household surveys, geospatial data, etc.) and reviewing questionnaires, metadata, and relevant demographic and health status in order to design a customized model to address a critical issue of the country; ● Develop the SAE methodologies through a few case studies, ideally integrating census/IPUMS, DHS survey (and/or other surveys) and geospatial data, based on data availability;

The following deliverables are expected: - Develop a methodology report based on the case studies. Along with the report, package of data, analytical codes and results will be delivered; - Support SAE training materials, webinars, and manuals etc.

Required qualifications and experience

• Ph.D degree level in statistics, applied mathematics, demography, public health, economics or a related discipline.
• At least 10 years’ experience in small area estimation, missing value imputation, data quality assessment, modeling, survey sampling, or relevant official statistics project implementation, including:
• Expertise in small area estimation combining multi-data sources
• Expertise in statistical approaches, e.g. general linear mixed model, regression model, hierarchical linear model, Bayesian model, etc.
• Master statistical software, e.g. R, SPSS, STATA, SAS, Python, etc.;
• Experience of working with population and health data, e.g. census, household or health survey data;
• Missing data problem;
• Sampling/Weighting
• Experience of developing SAE / or relevant methodology for official statistics with National Statistical Offices
• Big data/geospatial data handling experience
• Experience in a teaching or support SAE and relevant knowledge
• Fluency in English, working knowledge of other official UN languages, preferably French or Spanish, is desirable.

Compensation and Duration

This position offers attractive remuneration package. Note that the consultant will work remotely for 84 days (May-December)

Disclaimer

UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Fraudulent notices, letters or offers may be submitted to the UNFPA fraud hotline http://www.unfpa.org/help/hotline.cfm

UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, teamwork, Embracing diversity in all its forms, integrity and a healthy balance of work and life. We are committed to maintaining our balanced gender distribution and therefore encourage women to apply. UNFPA promotes equal opportunities for all including persons with disabilities.

How to Apply

Please send a motivational cover letter and CV/Resume to osanya@unfpa.org with “Consultant: SAE Methodology Development” in the subject by 17 April 2021. Due to the volume of applications received, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.