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Vacancy Announcement: Consultant
Consultancy Title: Household Survey Data Analyst Consultant
Section/Division/Duty Station: Division of Data, Analytics, Planning and Monitoring (D&A education, – DAPM ), Florence/ NYHQ
Duration: June 2025 – July 31, 2026
Home/ Office Based: REMOTE
About UNICEF
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. 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.
BACKGROUND
Purpose of Activity/Assignment:
The overarching aim of this consultancy is to support the development and implementation of a streamlined, reproducible workflow for the production of MICS-EAGLE factsheets. These factsheets provide countries with accessible, data-driven insights on key education indicators derived from MICS data. The consultant will enhance and automate the existing R-based workflow to generate standardized factsheets across multiple countries, covering eight core topics and producing over 50 charts per country.
In addition to workflow development, the consultant will work with up to six countries to produce customized factsheets, ensuring that estimates are validated against official sources and aligned with national priorities. The consultant will be responsible for writing per-country scripts, maintaining the GitHub repository, and supporting the publication process in collaboration with country offices and ministries of education. All code and documentation will be prepared to ensure long-term scalability and reproducibility of the process.
Scope of Work:
The Consultant will perform the following tasks:
1. Develop a Per-Country Workflow for MICS-EAGLE Factsheet:
o Design and Documentation:
• Work with colleagues to build on the update data prep script to produce MICS-EAGLE factsheet using R
o Workflow Development:
• Create a workflow to automate the production of MICS-EAGLE factsheet (covering 8 topics and with over 50 charts)
• Validate the generated output using sample data and iterate based on feedback
o Reproducibility:
• Ensure that the code is well-annotated and published on a GitHub repository for future reproducibility and scalability
2. Produce factsheet for new MICS-EAGLE countries (6):
o Write per country scripts for factsheet production and maintain github repository
• Run MICS-EAGLE analysis using R and produce a country factsheet with findings
o Validate the estimates
• Cross-check estimates against the MICS Survey Findings Report
o Finalization:
• Publish the updated workflow on GitHub with comprehensive documentation and a user guide for future maintenance and updates
o Support publication of factsheet
• Work with country offices and ministry of education to finalize and publish the factsheet
Terms of Reference / Specific Deliverables
Workplan and proposal
- Document elaborating workplan and proposal for workflow automation
20th Jun 2025
Develop and document workflow for MICS-EAGLE factsheet automation
- Reproducible R script that produces MICS-EAGLE factsheet with charts (8 topics, 50+ charts). GitHub documentation with comments and usage guide
30th Sept 2025
Produce MICS-EAGLE factsheet and R scripts for 2 countries
- Per-country R script, draft factsheet, validated estimates, GitHub update
31st Oct 2025
Produce MICS-EAGLE factsheet and R scripts for additional 2 countries
- Per-country R script, draft factsheet, validated estimates, GitHub update
30th Nov 2025
Produce MICS-EAGLE factsheet and R scripts for additional 2 countries
- Per-country R script, draft factsheet, validated estimates, GitHub update
31st Dec 2025
Support the finalization and publication of 6 factsheets
- PDF version of 3 factsheets published
28th Feb 2026
Develop a dashboard of MICS-EAGLE analysis -covering all MICS6 countries
- Shiny Dashboard
30th April 2026
Finetune and release the dashboard
- Shiny Dashboard on data.unicef.org
30th Jun 2026
Draft Blogpost on impact of MICS-EAGLE initiative
- Blog
31st Jul 2026
Qualifications
(1) Education
• Advance University Degree (Masters) in Economics, Sociology, Statistics, Education, Social Sciences, Computer Sciences, Data Analysis or other related discipline
(2) Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:
• 3 to 5 years of experience working with data and/or supporting governments use data required.
1. Advanced Data Analytic Proficiency:
- Demonstrable expertise in data analysis with a strong command of statistical software, with an emphasis on R programming skills as a significant asset. The candidate must be adept at utilizing these tools for complex data manipulation, analysis, and visualization to support decision-making processes. Skills/familiarity with Stata and/or SPSS is an advantage.
2. Reproducible Research Techniques:
- Proficiency in using GitHub for version control, with a proven track record of developing and maintaining reproducible codes. This skill is critical for ensuring transparency, consistency, and collaborative potential in all analytical work.
3. Sector-Specific Experience with MICS and other household survey data:
- In-depth knowledge and practical experience in handling, interpreting, and analyzing education data from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) household survey program. This experience is crucial for generating actionable insights from large datasets. Experience with producing educational estimates from DHS and other household surveys is an advantage.
4. Project Management in Education Data:
- A history of effectively managing education data projects, demonstrating a capacity to oversee complex tasks from inception through to completion while maintaining high standards and meeting deadlines.
5. Collaborative Work with Educational Authorities:
- A background in working collaboratively with Ministries of Education, aiding in data project delivery. This includes providing technical support, facilitating capacity-building initiatives, and ensuring that data projects align with educational policies and goals.
6. Delivery of Donor-Specific Outputs:
- Experience in creating and delivering high-quality donor products, such as reports and presentations, that align with donor requirements and effectively communicate the outcomes of education data analysis.
Requirements:
Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and
- Upload copy of academic credentials
- Financial proposal that will include/ reflect :
o the costs per each deliverable and the total lump-sum for the whole assignment (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference.
o travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
o Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
o 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.