Senior Statistics Specialist (Health and HIV), P-5, New York Headquarters, USA, #99845

Under the supervision of the Chief of Data Analysis Unit, the Senior Statistics Specialist, Health and HIV supervises and leads the staff responsible for maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) and HIV monitoring and statistics. The Senior Statistics Specialist, Health and HIV represents the monitoring work in these areas in a number of internal and external fora and thus Works in close collaboration with other staff in the section and the division, as well as other UN agencies and organizations. The primary function of this post is to lead improvement in the quality, availability and use of data on children and women throughout UNICEF. The work focuses on the areas highlighted by the Strategic Plan, mainly maternal, newborn and child health and HIV. This post supervises and guides the core areas of MNCH and HIV -- development of measurement methodologies, Compilation of data for global reporting, data analysis, and capacity development/technical support to countries. This function is carried out in collaboration with main institutional partners, national governments, and other organizations with expertise in this area.

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.

For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

Purpose of the Position

Under the supervision of the Chief of Data Analysis Unit, the Senior Statistics Specialist, Health and HIV supervises and leads the staff responsible for maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) and HIV monitoring and statistics. The incumbent of the post represents the monitoring work in these areas in a number of internal and external fora and thus Works in close collaboration with other staff in the section and the division, as well as other UN agencies and organizations.

The primary function of this post is to lead improvement in the quality, availability and use of data on children and women throughout UNICEF. The work focuses on the areas highlighted by the Strategic Plan, mainly maternal, newborn and child health and HIV. This post supervises and guides the core areas of MNCH and HIV development of measurement methodologies, compilation of data for global reporting, data analysis, and capacity development/technical support to countries. This function is carried out in collaboration with main institutional partners, national governments, and other organizations with expertise in this area.

Key Accountabilities and Duties & Tasks

1. Overall leadership and oversight of MNCH and HIV monitoring work

• Lead overall strategic thinking and direction of MNCH and HIV monitoring and support to the organization,
• Lead overall development and establishment of MNCH and HIV monitoring work plan and reporting,
• Monitor deliverables against Work plan, and provide support and guidance to ensure objectives are met.

2. Technical leadership, advice and quality assurance of health and HIV monitoring work

• Provide technical leadership on MNCH and HIV Core monitoring activities (methodological work, data Collection and Compilation, analysis, capacity development etc.)
• Provide technical input and review all major MNCH and HIV monitoring deliverables for quality assurance, with special attention to publications and country support work,
• Lead in developing monitoring guidelines, tools, processes, and approaches to support Country, regional and global monitoring of MNCH and HIV programmes,
• Lead the generation of MNCH and HIV evidence for use in country, regional and global advocacy and programmes,  
• Provide technical guidance/input in response to questions from senior management, external partners and the media.

3. Strategic partnerships and representation in health and HIV monitoring collaborations

• Represent UNICEF and provide its perspective in high level national, regional, global, UN, and other initiatives and events,
• Leading and promoting inter-agency monitoring and consultative processes,
• Initiating opportunities for South to South Collaboration, especially for MNCH and HIV monitoring and evaluation and technical support to countries. 

4. Manage the staff, budgets, and coordinate health and HIV monitoring activities

• Overall accountability for the management of MNCH and HIV monitoring work, financial allocations and efficient and effective use of resources,
• Oversee staff accountability, learning and career management,
• Supervise, manage, and direct technical staff, including appraisal of staff performance,
• Brief the Senior management adequately on current activities and issues,
• Communicate standards of performance, and assign responsibilities for achieving results according to the defined tasks,
• Ensure Cordial staff relations, motivation, and team-building.

Qualifications of Successful Candidate

• An advanced university degree (Master's or higher) in epidemiology, public health, demography, statistics, Social sciences or a directly-related technical field(s) is required.
• A minimum of twelve (12) years of professional experience at the national and international levels in MNCH and HIV analysis, data collection, measurement methodological development and other areas of applied statistics and data interpretation is required.
• Previous work experience in technical cooperation work with lower and middle income countries in these areas is required.
• Prior experience in supervisory capacity is required.
• Previous work experience with large-scale household Surveys, particularly MCS and DHS is highly desirable.
• Previous work experience writing technical reports and/or peer reviewed journal articles is highly desirable.
• Fluency in English (written & verbal) is required. Knowledge of an additional UN Language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) is considered an asset.

Competencies of Successful Candidate

Core Values 

• Commitment
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Integrity

Core competencies

• Communication - Level III
• Working with People - Level III
• Drive for Results - Level III

Functional Competencies

• Leading and Supervising - Level III
• Formulating Strategies and Concepts - Level III
• Analyzing - Level III
• Relating and Networking - Level III
• Applying Technical Expertise - Level III

To view our competency framework, please click here. 

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organisation.