Statistician (Agricultural Statistics) (four positions)

Overview

Support implementation of agricultural survey methodologies and improve data quality.

You have:

• Advanced university degree in statistics, mathematics, economics, agricultural economics, or a related field.
• Three years of relevant experience in the collection, processing, analysis and dissemination of food and agricultural statistics in national or international organizations.
• Working knowledge of English and limited knowledge of another FAO official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).

Organizational Setting The Statistics Division (ESS) develops, and advocates for the implementation of methodologies and standards for data collection, validation, processing and analysis of food and agriculture statistics. In these statistical domains, it also plays a vital role in the compilation, processing and dissemination of internationally comparable data, and provides essential capacity building support to member countries. In addition, the Division disseminates many publications, working papers and statistical yearbooks, that cover agricultural and food security relevant statistics (including prices, investments, production, trade and agri-environmental statistical data).

The incumbent will be part of the Survey Team and will contribute to the implementation of the 50x2030 Initiative to Close the Agricultural Data Gap and/or to the second phase of the Global Strategy to improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics (GSARS-II). He/she will work in close collaboration with the ESS staff, Government counterparts, donors and other relevant stakeholders. The 50x2030 Initiative supports national statistical services to accelerate the production and dissemination of high quality and timely statistics on the agricultural and rural sector, integrating production data with data on the technical, economic, environmental and social aspects of the agricultural holdings. The GSARS-II provides trainings and technical assistance to countries on topics that are relevant to agricultural surveys.

The post is located in various duty stations (Rome, Addis Ababa or Accra).

Reporting Lines The Statistician reports to a Senior Coordinator.

Technical Focus Support to the design and implementation of national agricultural survey programmes based on the principles of the 50x2030 Initiative. Organization and provision of technical assistance and training in agricultural statistics. The position will cover the technical assistance and training in agricultural statistics

Key Results Collection, analysis and review of information, data and statistics, and project/meeting services to support programme products, projects, publications, and services.

Key Functions • Participates in the development of improved and/or updated technical, statistical and/or analytical tools, systems, databases; participates in the collection, review, processing and/or analysis of key social/ economic/ environmental/ indicators, based on both traditional statistical methods/sources or on unstructured sources and data science methods, to support the delivery of economic and social development programmes of work, which can be focused on products, projects, publications or services; • Participates in the design and conducts research, data collection, validation, analysis and/or reporting in support of the development of technical standards, international instruments, innovative tools and methodologies to be used within the Organization or by external stakeholders; • Participates in the production of technical reports and provides input in technical documents, divisional publications and/or web pages; • Supports in the response to requests and provides technical and/or policy advice, assistance and solutions to Regional, Subregional, and Country Offices; • Participates in multidisciplinary teams, collaborates with other divisions and agencies on work groups and committees and promotes best practices; • Collaborates in capacity development activities, including the planning and organization of training workshops, seminars, and major meetings, and in the preparation of related information, materials, online tools and information kits; • Participates in multidisciplinary teams and short term work groups, leads and/or participates in divisional teams, participates in Organization-wide committees, project teams, and working groups and provides specialised expertise on international technical networks and/or technical policy and standard setting bodies; • Participates in the organization, conduct and follow-up of meetings, consultations and conferences, in the development and/or production of required materials and the provision of information and assistance to partners.

Specific Functions • Supports the team in setting-up or strengthening national agricultural survey programmes of the beneficiary countries in accordance with the principles of the 50x2030 Initiative; • Contributes to provide trainings and technical assistance to partner countries on agricultural survey methodologies, including survey design, sampling frame development, sampling design, questionnaire design, data collection methods and operations, data processing and data dissemination; • Provides hands-on support to national institutions in applying statistical methods to large farm survey datasets, including editing, validation and analysis of the data with statistical software; • Supports research studies when relevant; • Promotes international collaboration; advocates for best practices and increased policy dialogue and provides technical expertise at international meetings and conferences.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________ CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements • Advanced university degree in statistics, mathematics, economics, agricultural economics, or a related field; • Three years of relevant experience in the collection, processing, analysis and dissemination of food and agricultural statistics in national or international organizations; • Working knowledge of English and limited knowledge of another FAO official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).

Competencies • Results Focus • Teamwork • Communication • Building Effective Relationships • Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills • Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions is desirable; • Extent and relevance of knowledge and experience in designing, planning and implementing large-scale agricultural surveys in developing countries; • Extent of knowledge and experience in agricultural survey methodology, including survey design, sampling, questionnaire design, data collection methods, and dissemination; • Extent of proficiency and experience in CAPI survey tools and in using software tools ' such as SPSS, Stata, R ' for validating, processing and analysing microdata from large-scale agricultural surveys; • Extent of experience in microdata dissemination and knowledge of statistical disclosure control methods and tools; • Extent and relevance of knowledge and experience in project design/formulation and in delivering capacity development programmes and technical assistance in developing countries.

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Potential interview questions

Added 5 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: fao.org