Statistician

1M021M02

• FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, background and culture
• Qualified female applicants, qualified nationals of non-and under-represented Members and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply
• Everyone who works for FAO is required to adhere to the highest standards of integrity and professional conduct, and to uphold FAO's values
• FAO, as a Specialized Agency of the United Nations, has a zero-tolerance policy for conduct that is incompatible with its status, objectives and mandate, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination　　
• All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks
• All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality
• FAO staff are subject to the authority of the Director-General, who may assign them to any of the activities or offices of the Organization.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda through FAO Strategic Framework by supporting the transformation to MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems, for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.

Organizational Setting
The Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (REU) is responsible for leading FAO's response to regional priorities for food security, agriculture and rural development through the identification, planning and implementation of FAO's priority activities in the region, in line with the FAO Strategic Framework. It ensures a multidisciplinary approach to programmes, identifies priority areas of action for the Organization in the region and, in collaboration with offices and divisions at headquarters and other UN agencies, and stakeholders including Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the private sector, develops, promotes and oversees FAO's strategic response to regional priorities. REU supports regional policy dialogue on food security, agriculture and rural development issues, facilitates the emergence of regional partnerships, and supports capacity development and resources mobilization for food security, agriculture and rural development in the region.
Based on the priority areas agreed by the Regional Conference for Europe, the Regional Office supports smallholder development and family farming, food systems transformation, natural resource management, food security and nutrition. In collaboration with the Office of the Chief Statistician and statistical units at headquarters, it supports countries in the production and dissemination of high quality statistics in the areas of food security and nutrition, agriculture, rural development and sustainable management of natural resources.
The position is located in the FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (REU), Budapest, Hungary.

Reporting Lines
The Statistician reports to the Regional Programme Leader, REU, and works under the technical guidance of the Chief Statistician.

Technical Focus
The position focuses on improving the availability and quality of food, agricultural and rural statistics in the countries of the Europe and Central Asia region and on increasing the reporting rate of FAO data collections for global monitoring purposes.

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 Corporate Strategies 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
• Assists countries in the implementation of the official methods/guidelines for the production and dissemination of the FAO-relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicators; including strengthening the work on SDG data disaggregation and subnational data availability, in the context of the Leaving No One Behind (LNOB) principle and SDG localization.
• Supports the development of SDG regional progress reports, in close coordination with other relevant UN agencies, as needed.
• Promotes the implementation of the World Programme for the Census of Agriculture (WCA) 2020 and the System of Agricultural Surveys (AGRIS) programme; promotes the development of country capacity to design, conduct and analyse agricultural censuses and surveys.
• Promotes the implementation of the FAO guidelines and handbooks in the countries of Europe and Central Asia for the production of official statistics.
• Responds to ad hoc requests of technical assistance in statistics from Members.
• Identifies, formulates and backstops statistical field projects and contributes to formulation and backstopping of projects with statistical components; participates in the selection, briefing and guidance of FAO field experts/consultants, monitoring and reviewing consultant outputs, organizes fellowships and study tours in the context of capacity building projects implementation and review of technical reports.
• Supervises and monitors the implementation of statistical methodologies and tools in field projects (questionnaires, manuals, tabulation and analysis plans, communication strategy, data processing programmes, cartography, etc.).
• Organizes, coordinates and participates in meetings, seminars and training courses on food and agricultural statistics, and represents REU at regional statistical meetings.
• Participates in, and contributes to, the work of the UN Regional Coordination Group on Data and Statistics under the Regional Collaborative Platform (RCP) in Europe and Central Asia (ECA).
• Promotes cooperation and coordination between countries and facilitates the exchange of information and good practices.
• Cooperates with the FAO Subregional Offices, other agencies and regional institutions and develops partnerships to promote effective and efficient food and agricultural statistics systems.
• Represents REU in the work of the Technical Data Coordination Group (DCG-T) on FAO statistics and data for statistics.
• Performs other related duties as required.
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CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements
• Advanced university degree in statistics, economics, or a related field with training in statistics.
• Seven years of relevant experience in the production and analysis of food and agricultural statistics in national or international organizations, including field experience in statistical surveys and censuses.
• Working knowledge (proficient – level C) of English and limited knowledge (intermediate – 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.
• Extent and relevance of experience in the compilation, validation and analysis of food and agricultural statistics.
• Extent and relevance of experience in the compilation of food and agriculture Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicators.
• Extent and relevance of knowledge and experience in census and survey methodologies.
• Extent and relevance of experience in designing, planning and managing large-scale surveys and/or censuses.
• Extent and relevance of knowledge and experience in software used for processing and analysing census/survey data.
•Extent of experience in formulation and/or implementation of field projects and in providing support to countries for technical assistance in statistics.
• Extent and relevance of knowledge and experience of specificities of statistical systems of the REU region, especially of Post-Soviet countries and countries in transition.
• Ability to mobilize financial resources to support the implementation of field projects.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Quality of writing and reporting skills.