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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 fordeveloping 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. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

Consultancy: MICS Data Harmonization Enhancement and Support for Tabulator Development Consultant

Duty Station: Data Collection Unit, Data and Analytics Section, DATA Team; DAPM, NYHQ

Duration: 15 Dec 2025 – 10 Nov 2026

Home/ Office Based: Remote

 

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/ Assignment:

UNICEF, as mandated by the United Nations General Assembly, is dedicated to advocating for the rights of every child, meeting their basic needs, and creating opportunities for their full development. A cornerstone of this mission is the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) program — the largest source of internationally comparable data on children and women worldwide. MICS provides vital evidence for policymaking, program design, and progress monitoring toward global development commitments, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Covering a wide range of thematic areas, MICS remains a key instrument for evidence-based decision-making at both national and international levels.

While MICS data is publicly accessible, effective use of it often requires advanced statistical tools and expertise, which can limit its reach among policymakers and practitioners. To address this, UNICEF is developing the MICS Tabulator — an online platform designed to make MICS data easier to access, analyze, and visualize. The Tabulator will enable users to generate customized tabulations, pivot views, indicators, and visualizations directly online, without needing to download microdata or use specialized statistical software. By enhancing accessibility, the platform will empower policymakers, researchers, and development partners to leverage MICS data more effectively for informed action.

The MICS Tabulator will play a pivotal role in broadening data use and dissemination. It will ensure that key insights on the well-being of children and women are accessible to a wider audience while maintaining international comparability and rigorous quality standards. In parallel, it will strengthen national capacity by enabling National Statistical Offices (NSOs) to conduct child-focused surveys with increasing autonomy, requiring only limited technical support. Ultimately, this initiative supports UNICEF’s overarching goal of advancing evidence-based policymaking and improving outcomes for children and families worldwide.

MICS surveys generate extensive datasets covering health, education, nutrition, child protection, and gender equality. Over time, adjustments to survey instruments and country-specific adaptations have led to structural variations across datasets, making cross-country and trend analyses more complex. To address these challenges, UNICEF has partnered with IPUMS at the University of Minnesota to harmonize MICS datasets across multiple rounds. This collaboration ensures consistency and comparability across countries and time, forming the backbone of the MICS Tabulator’s harmonized database.

Through this partnership, IPUMS has successfully harmonized 1,207 MICS datasets, utilizing translation tables, programming files, and SPSS codebooks to map variables into a unified framework. While highly effective, the current process relies heavily on external expertise. To ensure long-term sustainability and institutional capacity within UNICEF, a consultant will be engaged to review the existing harmonization workflows, documentation, and outputs. The consultant will help define a sustainable harmonization strategy for future MICS rounds — including standardized procedures, tools, and guidance for the MICS team — and support technical collaboration with the MICS Tabulator vendor by reviewing selected parts of the codebase and providing recommendations for improvement.

Scope of Work:

The consultant will build on the harmonization work already completed by IPUMS and support UNICEF in establishing a sustainable, in-house capacity to manage and extend data harmonization for future MICS survey rounds. IPUMS has developed a comprehensive library of translation tables and scripts used to convert raw MICS data into harmonized 

datasets. Maintaining and adapting these tools requires specialized knowledge. The consultant will review existing processes, document them clearly, and design a streamlined and future-proof approach for continued harmonization.

The assignment requires a solid understanding of household survey methodologies, MICS-specific data processing workflows, and statistical programming tools. Working in close collaboration with UNICEF’s technical teams, the consultant will ensure that the MICS Tabulator is built upon well-structured, standardized, and high-quality data — enhancing accessibility and usability for all stakeholders.

 

Specific Roles and Responsibilities

1. Develop Templates and Guidance for Amendments

• Create templates and workflows for incorporating new variables or updates in translation tables.
• Produce detailed guidance for mapping new survey-specific variables to harmonized variable names and structures.
• Document illustrative examples of common amendments (e.g., new household characteristics, revised education categories).
• Provide training materials or recorded walkthroughs to facilitate internal capacity building.

2. Establish Processes and Tools for Future Harmonization

• Review IPUMS-produced code, translation tables, and harmonized outputs.
• Develop an efficient methodology and/or software scripts for processing new datasets and aligning them with the harmonized structure.
• Integrate automated validation and quality control checks into the harmonization workflow.
• Deliver comprehensive technical documentation and user manuals for UNICEF staff.
• Conduct training sessions or provide recorded materials to ensure sustainable knowledge transfer.

3. Support Vendor Code Review

• Provide technical support to the MICS Tabulator development vendor (Nagarro) by reviewing code related to dataset integration and harmonization.
• Identify and recommend improvements to enhance efficiency, maintainability, and alignment with UNICEF data standards.
• Collaborate with the vendor’s development team to ensure smooth integration of harmonized datasets, contributing to selected code modules where necessary.

4. MICS Standard CAPI Listing and Mapping Application

• Develop a CSPro-based application for preparing MICS standard CAPI listings and mapping.
• Ensure the application automates key steps such as extracting data from survey inputs, mapping variables to the standardized structure, and performing basic validation checks to reduce manual work and errors

Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables:

Work Assignment Overview/Deliverables and Outputs/Delivery deadline

1. Amendment Templates, Guidance, and Training Materials 

- Standardized template with a detailed, step-by-step workflow for incorporating new variables or updating existing entries in translation tables for harmonized datasets 

including instructions, example entries, and a validation checklist.

- Documented template with illustrative examples of workflows for adding new variables or updating translation tables for harmonized datasets.

- Prepared training materials and/or recorded walkthroughs to facilitate internal capacity building of the MICS team

30 Apr 2026

2.  Harmonization Process Package

- Review report of IPUMS-produced code, translation tables, and harmonized outputs to ensure alignment with UNICEF standards.

- Methodology documentation and 3–5 software scripts for processing new datasets and harmonizing them with the established structure.

- Automated validation and quality control checks integrated into the harmonization workflow.

- Documented technical guidance and user manuals for UNICEF staff.

- At least 3 training sessions and/or recorded materials to ensure sustainable knowledge transfer.

30 Sept 2026

3.  MICS Tabulator Vendor Code Review

- Code review report for MICS Tabulator modules related to dataset integration and harmonization.

- Written document with recommendations to enhance efficiency, 

maintainability, and alignment with UNICEF data standards.

- Final report and supporting documentation of contributions and collaboration with the vendor’s development team for the integration of harmonized datasets

10 Nov 2026

4. MICS Standard CAPI Listing and Mapping Application

-  Standard MICS CAPI listings and mapping application developed in CSPro

30 May 2026

Travel: One trip may be undertaken to meet with the MICS Tabulator vendor for coordination or progress review, if required and approved in advance by UNICEF 

Qualifications

Education: 

Information Technologies, Statistics, Demography, or any other related technical field with expertise in data management

Language Proficiency:

Good communication skills in English

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required *:

• At least a Master’s Degree or equivalent in Information Technologies, Statistics, Demography, or any other related technical field with expertise in data management.
• Minimum  ten years' working experience in data processing in household surveys, preferably with prior MICS or DHS data processing experience.
• Expertise in programming with CSPro.
• Expertise in programming with SPSS and R.
• Strong IT and software development skills, including experience in reviewing and understanding vendor code for project development and integration.
• Excellent interpersonal skills

Requirements:

Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and

- Upload copy of academic credentials

- Financial proposal that will include/ reflect :

• • the costs per each deliverable and the total lump-sum for the whole assignment (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference.
  • travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
  • Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
  • Indicate your availability

- Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.

- At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.

- Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

U.S. Visa information:

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.  

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. View our competency framework at: Here

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment. 

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check. 

Remarks:  

Individuals engaged under a consultancy will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants. Consultants are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws. 

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.