Statistician

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The length of appointment for internal FAO candidates will be established in accordance with applicable policies pertaining to the extension of appointments.

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• 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 the Near East and North Africa (RNE) leads FAO’s support to countries in the region in transforming their agrifood systems to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It identifies regional priorities for food security, agriculture and rural development and ensures the planning and implementation of FAO’s strategic response in the region through a multidisciplinary approach. It implements approved programmes and projects, monitors programme implementation and ensures that they contribute to addressing regional priorities. RNE also advises on the incorporation of regional priorities into the FAO Strategic Framework and Programme of Work and Budget.

RNE supports regional policy dialogues, facilitates the emergence of regional partnerships, and supports knowledge exchange, capacity development and resource mobilization for food security, agriculture and rural development in the region. It develops and maintains relations with region-wide institutions including the Regional Economic Integration Organizations (REIOs).
The post is located in the Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa (RNE) in Cairo, Egypt.

Reporting Lines
The Statistician reports to the Senior Economist/Head of Strategy and Policy and works under technical guidance of the Director/Chief Statistician in the Statistics Division.

Technical Focus
The position focuses on improving the availability and quality of food, agricultural and rural statistics in the countries of the Near East and North Africa.

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 multi-disciplinary 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, Sub-regional 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
• Identifies, formulates and backstops statistical field projects and contributes to formulation and backstopping of projects with statistical components; participates in the selection, briefing, guidance and monitoring of FAO field experts/consultants, and review of technical reports.
• Advises on the design and conduct of agricultural censuses, farm surveys and household surveys related to food and agriculture, including the use of appropriate methodologies and technologies for monitoring the 21 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicators for which FAO is custodian agency; organizes and conducts training of national personnel.
• Assists countries in the implementation of the official methods/guidelines for the production and dissemination of the FAO-relevant SDG indicators.
• Promotes the implementation of the FAO guidelines and handbooks in the countries for the production of official statistics.• Organizes, coordinates and participates in meetings, seminars and training courses on food and agricultural statistics, and represents RNE at regional statistical meetings.
• Supports country reporting to FAO databases with the objective of improving response rates and data quality.
Represents RNE in the meetings of the Data Coordination Group at technical level (DCG-T).
• Supports the preparation of the UN Common Country Analysis and the FAO Country Programming Frameworks (CPFs), particularly to ensure adequate prioritization of statistical capacity building, and supports the implementation of country-level actions in order to transform FAO’s knowledge products into country-level results and impacts.
• Provides other units in the Regional Office with relevant inputs for region-wide planning and programming exercises and other report requirements, including gender analysis.
• Provides support to the preparation of the Regional Overview on Food Security and Nutrition of the Region.
• Cooperates and develops partnerships with other agencies and regional organizations to promote effective and efficient food and agricultural statistics systems.

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CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements
• Advanced university degree in statistics, mathematics, economics, agricultural economics or a related field.
• Seven years of relevant experience in the compilation and analysis of food and agricultural statistics in national or international organizations and in the coordination of high-level statistical publications and management of statistical dissemination platform.
• 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.
• 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 food and agricultural statistics.
• Extent and relevance of knowledge and experience in the design, planning and implementation of census and survey methodology.
• 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 countries in the RNE region.
• 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 analyzing data.
• Demonstrated ability to mobilize resources to support the implementation of field projects.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Quality of writing and reporting skills.

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FAO staff are expected to adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency.

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• Extension of fixed term appointments is based on certification of performance and availability of funds
• FAO reserves the right not to make an appointment.
• Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, accreditation, any residency or visa requirements, and security clearances.

CONDITIONS OF SERVICE

• To apply, visit the recruitment website at Jobs at FAO and complete your online profile. We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, and language skills
• Candidates are requested to attach a letter of motivation to the online profile
• Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application
• Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/
• Candidates may be requested to provide performance assessments and authorization to conduct verification checks of past and present work, character, education, military and police records to ascertain any and all information which may be pertinent to the employment qualifications
• Incomplete applications will not be considered
• Personal information provided on your application may be shared within FAO and with other companies acting on FAO’s behalf to provide employment support services such as pre-screening of applications, assessment tests, background checks and other related services. You will be asked to provide your consent before submitting your application. You may withdraw consent at any time, by withdrawing your application, in such case FAO will no longer be able to consider your application
• Only applications received through the FAO recruitment portal will be considered
• Your application will be screened based on the information provided in your online profile
• We encourage applicants to submit the application well before the deadline date.

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