Statistician (Statistical Working System)

Organizational Setting

The Statistics Division (ESS) develops and advocates for the implementation of methodologies and standards for data collection, validation, processing and analysis, in the food and agriculture statistics domains. In these statistical domains, it also plays a key role in the compilation, processing and dissemination of internationally comparable data, and provides essential capacity building in support of member countries. The Division also disseminates publications, working papers and statistical yearbooks, that cover agriculture and food security statistics, including prices, investments, production, trade and agri-environmental statistical data. Finally, as the ESS Director also plays the role of FAO Chief Statistician, the Division supports the various functions of the Chief Statistician, that is to ensure stronger governance of FAO's data and statistical system, foster consistency of FAO's Data and Statistical programme within the Strategic Framework, ensure statistical excellence through the implementation of statistical standards and quality assurance mechanisms, and position FAO's presence in data and statistical discussions at global level.

The incumbent will work for the Methodological Innovation Team within the Statistics Division, which aims to ensure that the Organization produces and disseminates high-quality data and statistics related to its mandate. The team leads the development, testing and maintenance of statistical methods and standards across the whole statistical production cycle (from data acquisition and editing to estimation, validation, compilation and preparation for dissemination) in the corporate Statistical Working System (SWS). It designs and pilots methodological innovations such as model-based estimation, statistical learning, and integration of big data and other non-conventional sources establishing reproducible workflows, metadata and quality assurance procedures to close data gaps and produce timely, policy-relevant indicators. In this light, the team continuously reviews and strengthens FAO's core statistical processes within the corporate Statistical Working System and contributes to the implementation of FAO's statistical standards, including the dissemination of statistical classifications in a Link Open Data environment. The SWS is a corporate system that supports data collection, processing and validation, metadata management, and quality assessment of FAO's main statistical domains in line with the Generic Statistical Business Process Model.

The position is located in the Statistics Division (ESS) at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Reporting Lines

The Statistician (Statistical Working System) reports to the Senior Statistician, leader of the ESS Methodological Innovation Team, under the overall guidance of the Director of ESS.

Technical Focus

The incumbent supports the Statistics Division and other statistical units in improving the production of FAO Statistics with focus on the modernization of statistical processes. The incumbent provides technical and analytical support on methodological and/or operational improvements across the entire statistical production cycle, on the application of corporate statistical and metadata standards including classifications, and on the development of innovative approaches within the corporate Statistical Working System.

Key Results

Research and analysis of information, data and statistics, statistical methods, statistical and econometric modelling. Development and maintenance of specialized tools, methodologies, systems and/or databases and the technical assistance services to support the implementation/delivery and monitoring of the programme of work and related products, projects, publications and services.

Key Functions

•       Collects, reviews, processes and/or analyses key social/economic/environmental/indicators, based on both traditional statistical methods/sources or on unstructured sources and data science methods, to support the delivery of economic and social development programmes of work, which can be focused on products, projects, publications or services.

•       Develops improved/updated technical, statistical and/or analytical tools, systems, databases.

•       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.

•       Produces a variety of technical reports and provides input in technical documents, divisional publications and/or web pages.

•       Provides response to requests and provides technical and/or policy advice, assistance and solutions to Regional, Subregional and Country Offices, including technical backstopping to field projects.

•       Participates in multidisciplinary teams, collaborates with other Divisions/Offices/Centres on work groups and committees and promotes best practices.

•       Provides capacity development services, including the planning and organization of training workshops and seminars and preparation of related information, materials, on-line tools and information kits.

•       Participates in divisional teams, Organization-wide committees, project teams and working groups and provides specialized expertise on international technical networks and or technical policy and standard setting bodies.

•       Supports 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 the Strategic Framework 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

·          Contributes to the development and supports the implementation of statistical methodologies, standards, norms modules and tools embedded in the SWS, strengthening automation, harmonization, reproducibility and quality across the entire statistical production cycle.

·          Designs and enhances statistical workflows, including onboarding of new statistical domains in the SWS, configuration of automated validation rules and controls, missing data imputation and flagging, and integration of multiple data sources, in close coordination with domain experts, and IT developers.

·          Contributes to the interoperability with the Statistical Data Warehouse and dissemination readiness by implementing SDMX structures and metadata/flags, and by improving traceability (e.g. lineage, process logs and versioning).

·          Ensures alignment of SWS reference data with the corporate Master Data Management (MDM) system, including synchronization, governance and maintenance of reference lists, code lists and international statistical classifications used in FAO statistical production.

·          Supports the coordination of SWS development activities within the broader IT statistical infrastructure and data production cycle in close collaboration with relevant teams and divisions, including planning and tracking technical deliverables, facilitating regular technical meetings, managing risks/issues, and supporting data owner activities (e.g. requirements, user stories and acceptance criteria).

·          Contributes to develop internal statistical capacity within data teams in the use of the statistical corporate systems.

·          Produces and maintains statistical documentation, supports project documentation (work plans, meeting minutes, technical notes and progress reports), and ensures that technical documentation, configuration and code artifacts are versioned, up to date and stored in the appropriate corporate repositories.

·          Performs other related duties to contribute to the work of ESS as required.

 

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CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•       Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in statistics, mathematics, economics, agricultural economics, or a related field.

•       Five years of relevant experience in food and agricultural statistics within national or international organizations, including at least two years focused on statistical methodological development and modernization of statistical production processes (e.g. process design, automated validation/imputation, metadata management, and quality assurance), preferably for official statistical production.

•       Working knowledge (proficiency - level C) of English and intermediate knowledge (intermediate proficiency - 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, is desirable.

·             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; 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; time series analysis; maximum likelihood estimation; Bayesian modelling; elements of survey and questionnaire design.  

·             Ability to analyse complex statistical-related issues.

·             Proficiency in R programming, including development of Shiny applications, and experience working in a git-based version control environment (e.g. GitHub) for collaborative, traceable coding and documentation management.  

·             Extent and relevance of experience in conducting quantitative analyses and methodological research in food and agricultural statistics using appropriate statistical software and reproducible analytical workflows.  

·             Extent and relevance of experience in the compilation, validation, and analysis of food and agricultural data.  

·             Extent and relevance of experience in the use and management of statistical production systems supporting the collection, processing, validation, dissemination, metadata management, and quality assessment of statistical data.  

·             Extent and relevance of experience and knowledge of the main data sources used for the compilation of food and agricultural statistics, their underlying quality limitations and how to address them.  

·             Extent and relevance of experience in the planning and implementation of statistical processes and data quality controls in line with recognized statistical standards such as the Generic Statistical Business Process Model (GSBPM), Statistical Quality Assurance Frameworks and international classifications.  

·             Demonstrated experience in drafting technical reports/documents in English.