Programme Officer, Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), NOA, for 364 days, Baku, Azerbaijan

Contract

This is a NO-1 contract. This kind of contract is known as National Professional Officers. It is normally only for nationals. It's a staff contract. More about NO-1 contracts.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, results

The Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) is an international household survey programme developed and supported by UNICEF. MICS is designed to collect estimates of key indicators that are used to assess the situation of children and women. Over the past 25 years, MICS has evolved to respond to changing data needs, expanding from 28 indicators in the first round to more than 200 indicators in the current sixth round, and becoming a key source of data on child protection, early childhood education, and a major source of data on child health and nutrition. In addition to being a data collection tool to generate data for monitoring the progress towards national goals and global commitments for promoting the welfare of children, MICS provided valuable data for Millennium Development Goals monitoring as a major source of data for the UN Secretary General’s Final Millennium Development Goals Report.

As governments develop national frameworks to monitor progress towards the SDGs and establish baselines, strategic planning and investments will be required to collect robust, more frequent, and timely data. The 6th of MICS presents a unique opportunity to support this process.

The UNICEF Azerbaijan Country Office (UNICEF CO) already supported MICS surveys in 2000. To support monitoring and reporting on the prioritised Sustainable Development Goal target indicators UNICEF Azerbaijan Country Office will support conducting the MICS survey programme in 2022-2023. To ensure that the implementation of the MICS survey runs smoothly, specific deadlines are met and that the implementing partner, the State Statistical Committee (SSC) receives the technical assistance necessary to produce statistically sound and reliable data, the UNICEF Azerbaijan Country Office is hiring MICS Officer to oversee the MICS process from preparatory work to release of results.

The 2022-2023 Azerbaijan MICS6 will be implemented using CAPI (Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing) in which the interviewer uses a tablet to record data. CAPI data collection can reduce the time needed to collect and process survey data, facilitate real time monitoring, improve the quality of the data and reduce survey costs.

How can you make a difference?

Under the overall supervision of the Child Rights Monitoring Specialist, the MICS Officer will support and provide guidance to UNICEF Azerbaijan and the SSC for the preparation, implementation and completion of the MICS survey in Azerbaijan. The MICS Officer will advise the SSC, especially the Fieldwork Coordinator and sampling and data processing experts, during survey planning, questionnaire design, sampling, training, fieldwork, data processing, data analysis, dissemination and archiving, ensuring that MICS protocols and recommendations are being followed at all times. The MICS Officer will communicate effectively between the UNICEF CO and SSC, responding promptly to MICS related needs and issues as they arise.

The MICS Officer will be responsible for coordinating and supporting the work of other resource persons hired by UNICEF to provide technical assistance to the MICS process. The MICS Officer will work in close collaboration with the survey team, the stakeholders, and Steering and Technical Committees and will represent UNICEF in meetings and workshops in relation to the survey as needed. The MICS Officer will also work in close collaboration with the Regional MICS Coordinator at the UNICEF Regional Office (RO) and the MICS Team at UNICEF Headquarters (HQ), as well as expert consultants assigned to support the Azerbaijan MICS (collectively labelled “The UNICEF MICS Team”).

Major duties and responsibilities:

1. Provide technical and managerial support to the MICS survey;

2. Present the MICS methodology, tools, and guidelines to partners/stakeholders (e.g. ministries, UN Agencies, etc.);

3. Finalise in collaboration with national partners and UNICEF CO, the Survey Plan and Budget, including timetable and share with the Regional MICS Coordinator;

4. Ensure that the Ethical Protocol and other ethical recommendations are addressed in the survey implementation process and that all MICS related documents are shared with the national Ethical Committee on time for approval;

5. Oversee each stage of the survey process and ensure that the MICS protocols and standards are followed by the SSC, more specifically during training and field supervision visits;

6. Communicate regularly with the UNICEF CO and/or the UNICEF MICS Team (including RO and HQ colleagues) responding to all MICS related issues in a timely manner;

7. Provide monthly and ad-hoc updates on MICS activities to the UNICEF CO and Regional MICS Coordinator;

8. Coordinate the work of SSC specialists and the UNICEF MICS Team and other resource persons assigned by the UNICEF CO and/or the UNICEF MICS Team to support different survey stages;

9. Ensure that external technical reviews by experts (i.e., Sampling, Data Processing, and Household Survey expert consultants) are carried out at key survey stages and coordinate the feedback and response between the CO, the UNICEF MICS Team and the SSC;

10. Ensure that all survey related documents and deliverables are properly archived throughout the survey process (for example: Memorandum of Understanding, Survey Plan and Budget, questionnaires, manuals, sample design, training/pre-test reports, expert reports, CAPI application, output and tabulation plan tables, syntaxes, datasets, Survey Findings Report, Statistical Snapshots, dissemination materials etc.);

11. Participate in all MICS Steering and Technical Committee meetings;

12. Participate in, and contribute to, MICS Regional Workshops;

13. Organise, as required, and facilitate in the national Data Interpretation and Report Compilation Workshop.

14. Ensure that lessons learned, problems, and good practices are documented throughout the MICS process and rapidly shared with the MICS community (other MICS implementing countries and the UNICEF MICS Team) through all means available.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Bachelor degree in Demography, Statistics, Social Sciences, Epidemiology or any other related technical field is required.
• Proven minimum of 2 years’ experience in the coordination and/or management of quantitative household surveys (prior MICS or Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) requested;
• Strong computer skills and strong expertise in statistical analyses (familiarity with data processing and data analysis software, particularly SPSS);
• Experience with CAPI data collection;
• Training experience and ability to organise and facilitate training and presentations;
• Experience in data analysis and survey report writing;
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills;
• Familiarity and previous experience of working in Azerbaijan and/or in the region highly desirable;
• Demonstrated ability to work in a multicultural environment and to establish harmonious and effective relationships both within and outside the organisation, more specifically with National Statistical Offices;
• Demonstrated leadership, managerial and supervisory ability; Ability and willingness to travel extensively in-country and to attend regional workshops.
• Excellent oral and written communications in English and Azerbaijani required.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.