Statistics & Monitoring Specialist (Climate & Environment Lead), P-4, Fixed Term, DAPM

Contract

This is a P-4 contract. This kind of contract is known as Professional and Director staff. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 7 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 171,387 USD and 220,969 USD.

Please keep in mind that the salary displayed here is an estimation by UN Talent based on the location and the type of contract. It may vary depending on the organization. The recruiter should be able to inform you about the exact salary range. In case the job description contains another salary information, please refer to this one.

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, a future

The Division of Data, Analytics, Planning and Monitoring (DAPM) was established in 2019 to drive decision making and organizational learning, improve effectiveness and achievement of results of UNICEF and its partners to realize the rights and improve the life of every child. DAPM promotes the use of data and monitoring to achieve transformative impact on lives of children.

The Division is responsible for driving, shaping and guiding UNICEF’s evidence-informed analysis, strategic planning, programme monitoring and organizational performance management. As such, DAPM enables the organization to deliver on results in a more coherent manner, based on agile and contextualized programming process, and on data, evidence, and analysis, as well as the application of human-rights based and results-based management approaches.

The Data & Analytics Team (DAT) is located within the Division of Data, Analytics, Planning and Monitoring (DAPM) at UNICEF’s New York headquarters. DAT is the hub of UNICEF’s technical guidance, quality assurance and technical data architecture for programme work on data across the organization. DAT provides leadership, strategic and normative guidance and technical support to UNICEF’s work on generating evidence on the situation of children by supporting the collection, analysis, understanding and use of robust data and statistics, programme data, data science, big data analytics and data literacy.

The Senior Statistics and Monitoring Specialist (WASH) is the UNICEF HQ focal point for WASH data and Chief of the WASH data unit. The incumbent has overall responsibility for developing WASH data standards, maintaining global databases and analyzing data to inform global programmes and to contribute to global reports on the situation of children. The incumbent is also overseeing the development of a new data unit on Climate and Environment within the Data & Analytics Team.

Under the direct supervision of the Senior Statistics and Monitoring Specialist (WASH) and the overall and technical supervision of the Chief Statistician, the Statistics and Monitoring Specialist (Climate and Environment Lead) is responsible for the development of data standards and estimation methods, the integration of data on climate and environmental risks into UNICEF global databases, and the analysis of data on climate and environmental risks facing children at national, regional and global levels. The incumbent works closely with colleagues in country and regional offices and with other teams within UNICEF headquarters and represents UNICEF in inter-agency and expert groups on monitoring climate and environment.

How can you make a difference?

The primary purpose of this post is to serve as UNICEF HQ focal point for data and analyses related to climate and environment. The incumbent is responsible for the development of data standards and estimation methods, the integration of data on climate and environmental risks into UNICEF global databases, and the analysis of data on climate and environmental risks facing children at national, regional and global levels. The incumbent works closely with other members of the Climate and Environment Data Unit, including the P3 Data Science Specialist (Climate and Environment) on the integration of geospatial and other data on climate and environmental risks into UNICEF global databases. As climate and environment are cross-cutting the incumbent also works with other DAT units, including the Frontier Data and Tech Unit.

The incumbent works closely with other teams within UNICEF headquarters including Programme Group team on Climate Environment Energy and Disaster Risk Reduction (PG-CEED) and the Office of Emergency Programmes Risk Analysis and Preparedness Section (EMOPS-RAPS). The incumbent also works closely with country and regional offices to consult with national authorities and to compile reliable data for inclusion in UNICEF’s global databases. The incumbent provides technical support to build the capacity of national stakeholders to collect and analyze data for the purposes of national and global monitoring of climate and environmental risks facing children. The incumbent works closely with other UN agencies, universities, national statistical offices, and other institutions with technical expertise in this area.

1. Lead UNICEF HQ data and analysis on climate and environment

2. Serve as UNICEF HQ focal point for data and analyses related to climate and environment.

3. Lead the dissemination of data, estimates, analyses and other products to maximize the use for advocacy, programming and planning purpose.
4. Carry out in-depth analysis and interpretation of data related to climate and environmental risks facing children, including contributions to UNICEF flagship publications and other major reports and the preparation of technical papers including peer reviewed journal articles.

5. Provide technical advice on the availability and robustness of data relating to specific climate and environmental risks facing children, including responding to ad hoc requests from senior management, Programme Group, EMOPs, Regional Offices, Country Offices, partner organizations and others

6. Undertake methodological work related to climate and environment

7. Provide technical inputs to the methodological development of indicators and standards for measurement and monitoring of adaptation and resilience to climate and environmental risks; play a key role in the methodological development of indicators and estimation methods.

8. Lead the ongoing development and refinement of methods for integrating datasets on child-related risks and vulnerabilities, and for analyzing national, regional and global trends in adaptation and resilience to climate and environmental risks.

9. Play a key role in on-going improvements in availability, quality and accessibility of data for decision making. In collaboration with external partners, modify existing measurement tools and develop new tools where appropriate. Test tools in field situations, develop guidelines for their use and provide support for implementation at country level.

10. Capacity development and country support

11. Provide technical support in data and capacity building of regional and country offices and national stakeholders to systematically monitor climate and environmental risks facing children. The incumbent will oversee the development of training materials and help to deliver training workshops by delivering presentations and providing technical support and advice.

12. Develop capacity within the organization for evidence-based policy, planning, programming and advocacy by supporting the development of new ways to visualize and disseminate WASH and environmental data.

13. Strategic partnerships, external representation and resource mobilization

14. Build and maintain partnerships with other UN agencies or organizations/institutions working in relevant areas.

15. Lead or participate in interagency monitoring groups and partnerships with regard to climate and environmental monitoring and statistics
16. Ensure regular sharing of data and related products with partners at the global, regional, and country levels
17. Represent UNICEF at international meetings and other areas of work as required.
18. Support fundraising activities (including within the broader data team) and reporting to donors.
19. Contribute to coordination and collaboration within the data team and within the division

20. Maintain close coordination with key internal stakeholders, including Programme Group, Emergency Operations, Division of Global Communication & Advocacy. Public Partnerships Division, and Regional Offices.

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in statistics, economics, public policy, public health or another relevant subject with strong quantitative training and experience. PhD is highly desirable.
• A minimum of eight (8) years of relevant professional experience in data analysis, data collection, measurement, methodological development and other areas of applied statistics, data interpretation and use, relevant to climate and environment statistics.
• Experience in the analysis of data from environmental and public health surveillance, meteorological data, climate change data, earth observation data and other relevant sources.
• Experience writing technical reports and/or peer reviewed journal articles.
• Experience delivering presentations and training on data collection and analysis to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong computer skills including Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), statistical analysis software (SPSS, Stata, R).
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

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:

The Division is currently undergoing organizational changes, therefore the exact location of the post is still under consideration. As such, the selected candidate has the option of starting the assignment remotely or should the candidate move to New York, s/he would be expected to relocate to another location as the case may be, during the contractual period.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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.

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