Senior Statistician - Volunteer work, time-use, and labour force surveys

The position is located in the Department of Statistics (STATISTICS). STATISTICS is responsible for compiling and disseminating ILO statistics related to the world of work. It supports the development of international statistical standards in the field of decent work through the International Conference of Labour Statisticians, the UN Statistical Commission and the UN Statistical Division and other international fora. It provides ILO constituents with technical assistance to improve their ability to produce primary data in accordance with agreed standards, classifications and concepts, particularly in developing household and other type of surveys, use adequately international statistical standards. It is also responsible for building capacities of ILO constituents, for collecting harmonised data, and for reporting on the global indicators to monitor Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The position is located in the Labour Force Survey Team (LFST), responsible for the support of the development and implementation of the latest standards in reference to labour force surveys, assisting constituents in developing sound questionnaires, sample techniques and the application of CAPI and PAPI methods.

The position reports to the Director of the Department who leads the LFST at the Department level.

1. Provide technical assistance and capacity building to national statistical offices, ministries of labour, employers’ and workers’ organizations and regional and international partners on the planning, execution and dissemination of labour force and work related statistics through household-based surveys, particularly labour force surveys and population and housing censuses using the latest statistical standards agreed by the International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS). This aspect includes planning of needs, user liaison, survey design, testing, sampling, organization and management of field operations, mode of data collection (CAPI, PAPI, etc.) and validation systems, estimation, analysis and dissemination of results, publications and microdata files.

2. Lead all activities related to measurement of volunteer work as a follow-up to the 19th ICLS resolution on statistics of work and ensure its horizontal integration across the Department’s programme of work. This involves  collaboration with partners at global and regional levels, revision of existing manuals to align them with latest standards, development of practical survey tools and guidance to be integrated in the Department’s LFS resources and toolkit, delivery of technical assistance and training to constituents to promote the measurement and use of volunteer work statistics, and development of procedures to regularly compile and disseminate volunteer work statistics as part of the Department’s ILOSTAT database 

3. Contribute to the design, pilot testing, guidance development, capacity building and provision of technical assistance on modular LFS to incorporate high-priority topics, particularly the measurement of own-use provision of services using light time-use methods, volunteer work, unpaid trainee work, and other labour-related topics, in line with the latest ICLS standards.

4. Support and promote the development and implementation of international statistical standards in the area of labour and decent work, including concepts, classifications, definitions and methodologies, participation and leadership of international expert groups, regional consultative meetings, tripartite meetings of experts and the ICLS. These activities will aim at developing new and revised statistical frameworks for measurement based on good practices, drafting substantive inputs (review of national practices, working papers, reports), and planning and carrying out tests of proposals (cognitive and field tests, microdata analyses) on topics assigned by the Director of STATISTICS.

5. Design development cooperation projects to boost the work area and increase possibilities to support constituents in labour and decent work statistics, particularly in the measurement of unpaid work, by implementing and using the latest tools made available by the ILO in reference to the new framework provided by the 19th and 20th ICLS.

6. Perform other relevant duties, as assigned.

These specific duties are aligned with the relevant ILO generic job description, which includes the following generic duties:

1. Responsible for the development of a work programme in a selected field of labour statistics and other related topics. Initiate, coordinate and ensure the collection, evaluation, processing and dissemination of statistical data. Develop appropriate methods, plan surveys and other statistical inquiries for obtaining the relevant data.
2. Supervise and coordinate establishment of databases.
3. Ensure the quality of collected data for accuracy, consistency and comparability.
4. Develop new or revise existing statistical methods and quantitative models for analyses and estimates.
5. Develop and revise international standards on statistical concepts, definitions, classifications and methods and write manuals to assist countries and other constituents in their statistical development while ensuring international comparability.
6. Provide administrative and technical backstopping, guidance and advice to other ILO technical departments; field experts and constituents of the Organization in the planning, operation and evaluation of statistical programmes.
7. Organize seminars, workshops, training sessions, expert meetings etc. within and outside the Organization. Represent the Organization at various meetings. Prepare relevant reports.
8. Promote cooperation and maintain liaison with other related fields within the organization and with relevant statistical agencies, both national and international.

Advanced university degree in the field of statistics, economics or related disciplines with training in basic and applied statistics or quantitative methods. Good knowledge of statistical software packages such as Stata, SPSS or others.          

Eight years of professional experience at the national level or five years at the international level. Experience working in a national statistical office with proven experience of leading labour force surveys, measuring volunteer work through household surveys and in the design and implementation of time-use surveys to measure unpaid work.     

Excellent command of one official language (English, French, Spanish) of the Organization and a working knowledge of a second official language.

In addition to the ILO core competencies, this position requires:

Technical

Ability to: conceptualize statistical problems and find solutions; negotiate and agree on the transfer/exchange of information and to ensure the relevance and validity of statistical information for dissemination; initiate and execute projects; synthesize research and reach empirically based conclusions on related topics; formulate new concepts and methodologies, training materials, alternative courses of action and project proposals; prepare technical reports and  advice, recommendations and standards; to evaluate and monitor development cooperation activities and projects and supervise the work of junior staff. 

Behavioural
A high standards of integrity, professionalism, personal discipline and impartiality. Client orientation. The ability to work in a multicultural environment and to demonstrate gender-sensitive and non-discriminatory behaviour and attitudes.