Statistician (Food Security And Nutrition)

Overview

Provide technical and managerial leadership in food security and nutrition statistics.

You have:

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in statistics, mathematics, economics, agricultural economics or a related field.
• Seven years of relevant experience in food security and nutrition statistics, including the design, implementation and quality assurance of statistical programmes and projects, methodological development, indicator production, capacity development and coordination with national, regional and international partners.
• Working knowledge (proficiency - level C) of English and intermediate knowledge (intermediate proficiency - level B) 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, in the food and agriculture statistics domains. In these statistical domains, it also plays a key role in the compilation, processing and dissemination of internationally comparable data, and provides essential capacity building in support of member countries. The Division also disseminates publications, working papers and statistical yearbooks, that cover agriculture and food security statistics, including prices, investments, production, trade and agri-environmental statistical data. Finally, as the ESS Director also plays the role of FAO Chief Statistician, the Division supports the various functions of the Chief Statistician, that is to ensure stronger governance of FAO's data and statistical system, foster consistency of FAO's Data and Statistical programme within the Strategic Framework, ensure statistical excellence through the implementation of statistical standards and quality assurance mechanisms, and position FAO's presence in data and statistical discussions at global level.

The incumbent will work in the Food Security and Nutrition Statistics team within the Statistics Division and will coordinate the implementation of projects aimed at generating valid and reliable food security and nutrition statistics to inform monitoring frameworks, classification systems and monitoring and evaluation assessments, in support of evidence-based policies and interventions, including for humanitarian response. The projects seek to address data gaps, provide technical support to national and regional institutions for food security and nutrition monitoring, and strengthen institutional capacity for accurate and effective reporting of food security and nutrition statistics.

Among the projects, the incumbent will be required to manage and coordinate the implementation of two key initiatives: Produce reliable information on food security and nutrition to guide policies and interventions to end hunger and malnutrition and Supporting governments to improve the affordability of healthy diets. The first initiative focuses on strengthening and enabling institutions responsible for assessing food security to generate accurate and reliable food security and nutrition statistics. The second initiative aims to establish monitoring systems for cost of healthy diets in selected countries.

The position is located in ESS at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Reporting Lines

The Statistician (Food Security And Nutrition) reports to the Senior Statistician and team leader of the Food Security and Nutrition Statistics team under the overall guidance of the Director of ESS.

Technical Focus

The Statistician will provide technical and managerial leadership in food security and nutrition statistics, overseeing the design, implementation and quality assurance of statistical programmes and projects. The role includes methodological development, supports the production of policy-relevant indicators, coordinates technical teams and partners, and contributes to capacity development and global monitoring activities.

Key Results

Comprehensive technical, statistical, analytical and/or policy analysis services and the development of specialized tools, methodologies, systems and/or databases to support the planning, implementation/delivery and monitoring of the programme of work and related products, projects, publications and services.

Key Functions

• Plans and leads components of 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 specialized expertise on international technical networks and or technical policy and standard setting bodies.
• Coordinates the collection, review, processing and/or analysis of key social/economic/environmental indicators, based on either traditional statistical methods/sources or on unstructured sources and data science methods to support the delivery of economic and social development programmes of work whether focused on products, projects, publications or services.
• Designs and develops improved/updated technical, statistical and/or analytical tools, systems and databases.
• Designs 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.
• Coordinates the production of a variety of technical reports and provides input in flagship publications, technical documents, Divisional publications and/or web pages.
• Coordinates and provides responses to requests and provides technical and/or policy advice, assistance and solutions to Regional, Subregional and Country Offices including technical backstopping of field projects.
• Coordinates and provides capacity development services, including the planning and organization of training workshops and seminars and the preparation of related information, materials, on-line tools and information kits.
• Coordinates the organization, conduct and follow-up of meetings, consultations and conferences, the development/production of required materials and the provision of information and assistance to partners.
• Participates in resource mobilization activities in accordance with Strategic Framework and Divisional plans.
• Promotes international cooperation and collaboration, advocates best practices, knowledge sharing, increased policy dialogue, and provides technical expertise at international meetings and conferences.

Specific Functions

• Coordinates the formulation, planning, implementation, monitoring and quality assurance of multiple projects and statistical programmes on food security and nutrition statistics, ensuring methodological consistency, compliance with international standards and alignment with project and FAO strategic objectives.
• Coordinates the preparation, review and endorsement of project workplans, budgets and progress reports, and supports project closure, documentation and knowledge management activities.
• Provides technical leadership on statistical methodologies and indicators related to food security and nutrition, supporting the production of policy-relevant and internationally comparable statistics.
• Coordinates project-related procurement and contractual processes, including the management and oversight of Long-Term Agreements and Letters of Agreement, in close collaboration with administrative and procurement units.
• Coordinates and delivers capacity development activities for national and regional institutions, strengthening institutional capacity for food security and nutrition data production, analysis and reporting.
• Coordinates technical teams, consultants and implementing partners across projects, facilitating collaboration, information sharing and efficient use of resources.
• Facilitates technical collaboration, communication and coherence across FAO units at headquarters regional and national level, and with external partners, ensuring synergies among projects and alignment with global monitoring and classification initiatives.
• Supports the preparation of technical articles, working papers, books and training materials and document best practices in the area of food security and nutrition statistics.
• Acts as Leading Technical Officer or technical focal point for assigned projects, supporting effective project governance, timely delivery of outputs and adherence to technical, administrative and reporting requirements.
• Supports the mobilization of extra-budgetary resources for projects aiming at providing statistical capacity development to countries in the areas of food security and nutrition statistics.
• Performs other duties as required.

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CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in statistics, mathematics, economics, agricultural economics or a related field.
• Seven years of relevant experience in food security and nutrition statistics, including the design, implementation and quality assurance of statistical programmes and projects, methodological development, indicator production, capacity development and coordination with national, regional and international partners.
• Working knowledge (proficiency - level C) of English and intermediate knowledge (intermediate proficiency - level B) 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.
• Strong command of statistical methods including: data presentation, analysis and descriptive statistics; main continuous and discrete random variables (binomial, normal, standard normal, log-normal) and their properties; probability distributions; conditional probability, probabilities of intersections of events, Bayes' theorem; correlation and rank correlation; sampling and sample size: simple, stratified, and multistage random sampling; Inference, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing and significance; linear regression (single and multiple) comparison of population means and variances, ANOVA; Chi-square and goodness of fit tests; nonlinear models: maximum likelihood estimation; elements of survey and questionnaire design.
• Extent and relevance of experience in the compilation, validation and analysis of statistics.
• Extent and relevance of knowledge and experience in survey methodology.
• Extent and relevance of knowledge of the main data sources used for the compilation of food and agricultural statistics.
• Extent and relevance of knowledge and experience in software used for processing and analysing data.
• Extent and relevance of knowledge and experience in managing statistical programmes of work in food security and nutrition statistics.
• Extent and relevance of experience in the formulation of technical assistance projects as well as the planning and the provision of capacity development programmes and technical support at the country level of agricultural censuses and surveys.
• Demonstrated ability to mobilize resources.

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Potential interview questions

Added 5 hours ago - Updated 5 hours ago - Source: fao.org