Associate Data Specialist
Organizational Context
The UN Resident Coordinator Offices (UN RCO) support countries in achieving development priorities and the SDGs, operating under the UN Secretariat's Development Operations Coordination Office (DCO). This role is within the UN RCO in Panama City, Panama, reporting to the Head of the RCO. The position supports the UN 2.0 shift, focusing on data, digital, innovation, and strategic foresight.
Job Purpose
The Associate Data Specialist is responsible for developing and implementing databases, data collection systems, and data analytics to optimize statistical efficiency and quality. This role contributes to identifying trends, analyzing patterns, and improving data analytics processes. The specialist will acquire and clean data, maintain databases, and support the development of monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) products for UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks. Additionally, the role involves creating reports, dashboards, and visualizations to communicate findings, tracking data initiatives, and gathering business requirements. The position also supports UNCT statistical capacity-building and contributes to training staff on data analytics, ensuring data-driven decision-making and effective communication of insights.
Responsibilities
Implement and maintain databases, data collection systems, and data analytics strategies to enhance statistical efficiency and quality. Analyze and interpret trends and patterns using statistical methods, identifying key features and variables in data. Acquire, clean, and manage data from various sources, implementing process improvements for data analytics tasks. Develop and contribute to monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) products, reports, and dashboards for UN frameworks. Create basic data visualizations to support decision-making and communication. Track progress on data initiatives, gather business requirements, and contribute to integrating data into common pipelines. Assist in building UNCT statistical capacity and provide support for stakeholder communications. Stay updated on data analytics best practices and technologies. Contribute to data preparation, preliminary analysis, and verification for model assessments. Support capacity-building activities and training on data analytics. Assist with project execution, data verification, routine reporting, and administrative tasks.
Work Experience
A minimum of two years of progressive experience in research and data analysis, knowledge management, or project management within development cooperation is required. Experience with relational databases (SQL) and programming languages (Python, R), and knowledge of the data life cycle are essential. Experience in data quality assurance, validation, data storytelling, and visualization tools (e.g., Tableau, Power BI) is desirable.
Skills
Data Analysis, Database Management, Data Collection, Data Visualization, Statistical Methods, SQL, Python, R, Project Management, Strategic Thinking, Analytical Thinking, Communication, Teamwork, Client Orientation.