Associate Data Specialist
Organizational Context
The UN Resident Coordinator Office (RCO) in Asuncion, Paraguay, operates within the framework of the UN's global reform to enhance the effectiveness of the UN Development System in achieving the 2030 Agenda and SDGs. The RCO supports country-level development priorities under the leadership of an empowered UN Resident Coordinator. This role contributes to the UN 2.0 shift, focusing on data, digital innovation, and strategic foresight.
Job Purpose
The Associate Data Specialist is responsible for enabling evidence-based decision-making within the UN RCO in Asuncion. This involves managing and improving data, monitoring, and reporting systems, ensuring the quality and interoperability of results and SDG data, and producing regular data and visualization products. The role collaborates with internal and external counterparts, including data specialists, subject matter experts, UN agencies, and NGOs, to develop and implement data solutions. The position supports thematic officers by providing validated evidence and initial interpretations, while policy recommendations remain with portfolio leads. The role is crucial for optimizing statistical efficiency and quality, supporting the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, and enhancing the utilization of SDG data.
Responsibilities
Develop, maintain, and improve data systems, analytical processes, and visualization products to support evidence-based decision-making and organizational performance. Implement databases, data collection systems, and analytics to optimize statistical efficiency and quality. Acquire, clean, and manage data, contributing to data preparation and preliminary analysis. Assist in monitoring, evaluation, and learning activities, reinforcing national statistical processes. Develop reports, dashboards, and data visualization outputs for management and communication. Support the design, implementation, and reporting of the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) by contributing to MEL products and outcome-level analysis. Facilitate the integration and utilization of SDG data, collaborating with UN entities and national partners. Contribute to capacity development and training on data analytics for staff and government partners.
Work Experience
A minimum of two years of progressive experience in the data lifecycle (collection, wrangling, analysis, visualization, deployment, monitoring, reporting) is required. Demonstrated knowledge of data manipulation, analysis concepts, statistical methods, and database management is necessary. Experience in coordinating monitoring and reporting data is essential. Experience with data visualization tools and data validation is desirable.
Skills
Project management, Strategic thinking, Analytical thinking, Resource management, Collaboration, Data quality assurance, Translating business requirements to technical solutions, Communication of complex matters, Independent research and analysis, Data manipulation, Statistical methods, Database management, Data storytelling, Data visualization (e.g., Tableau, Power BI, Qlik, R), Data validation, UN interagency coordination.