UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built. We offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture., coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, the right to Future 

How can you make a difference? 

The consultant will support UNICEF in developing a new composite indicator of schooling and learning deprivation using data from the MICS Foundational Learning Skills (MICS-FLS) module across 44 countries and territories. The work involves reviewing country-level implementation conditions and writing reproducible R syntax to compute reading and numeracy indicators that account for differences in administration protocols across countries. All analytical outputs will be managed through a structured Git repository to ensure transparency, version control, and reproducibility. The new indicator will be validated against the ECDI and SDG 4.1.1 indicators (a, b and c) to confirm its predictive validity and alignment with established global frameworks. 

In addition to the analytical work, the consultant will develop an interactive visualization product featuring 15 or more data visualizations that communicate findings on the new indicator with a focus on equity and learning gaps. This public-facing output will draw on the full 44-country dataset and present results in an accessible, visually compelling format for a broad audience. The assignment concludes with the preparation of comprehensive documentation supporting reproducibility and an operational workflow for annual updates, to be stored on GitHub and SharePoint for institutional use by UNICEF.

If you would like to know more about this consultancy, please review the complete Terms of reference here:  TOR FLS Data Analyst.pdf

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have… 

Minimum requirements:

• Education: Master's degree in psychometrics for educational assessment or similar
• Work Experience: At least 2 years of experience in analysis for educational assessment or similar, preferably reading and math assessments
• Skills: Experience with large-scale assessment instruments;
• Experience working with household survey data or large-scale national/international assessment datasets, e.g. MICS, DHS;
• Proficiency in psychometric analysis software.
• Language Requirements: English
• Desirables: Prior experience working with UNICEF MICS or other UNICEF/UN data collection systems.
• Familiarity with foundational learning assessments in low- and middle-income country contexts

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

Qualified candidates are invited to submit the following documents via the online recruitment portal, TMS (Talent Management System):

• An up-to-date TMS profile and curriculum vitae (CV)
• Cover letter
• A separate financial proposal (only acceptable in the format of the linked template)  Financial proposal xxx3834.xlsx

Remarks:   If the TOR or financial proposal documents are not visible on certain recruitment platforms, please visit our official page Vacancies | UNICEF Careers

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.