Description
The Pacific Community(SPC) is the principal scientific and technical organisation in the Pacific region, supporting development since 1947. We are an international development organisation owned and governed by our 27 country and territory members. In pursuit of sustainable development to benefit Pacific people, our unique organisation works across more than 25 sectors. We are known for our knowledge and innovation in such areas as fisheries science, public health surveillance, geoscience, and conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.
The Statistics for Development Division (SDD) is based in SPC’s headquarters in Noumea, New Caledonia. The division employs approximately 30-45 staff, all of whom are all based in Noumea. SDD’s goal is to help the Pacific Island Countries and Territories achieve “highly competent and sustainable national statistics systems that meet national and international statistics needs for evidence-based policy, planning and monitoring.” SDD has a regional statistical system leadership and coordination role; and also supports the region directly in data infrastructure, collection, statistical methodology, analysis and dissemination.
The role – the Statistics Officer /Adviser (Economics) will support Pacific Island Countries and Territories in best practice estimation and reporting of living standards and poverty through analysis of household survey and census data. This appointment will be made at either the Statistics Officer or Statistics Adviser level, depending on the skills and experience of the successful candidate.
The key responsibilities of the role include the following:
Ways of working
- Contribute as an individual and team-member to the organisational or ‘ways of working’ objectives in the division business plan.
- Coordinate support for analysis of living standards and poverty with the rest of the team and division’s activities and ways of working as well as regional frameworks and priorities.
- Actively engage other divisional staff in this role’s activities through peer review, shared projects and code, coordinated missions and tasks, and joint authorshipmissions and tasks, and joint authorship.
Playing a lead role in the development and improvement of statistical processes, methods and systems pertaining to measuring living standards and poverty
- Ensure methods in the Pacific for measuring living standards and poverty – such as calculation of national poverty lines, measurements of inequality, food security, imputation of non-observed factors etc. – improve materially over time.
- Ensure SPC is recognised as a successful leader promoting good practice in the Pacific with regards to measuring poverty and living standards.
- Document and disseminate improved methods through commissioned works, guidance notes and other publications that are well researched and founded in evidence and duly consulted on, quality assured and approved e.g. by the Pacific Statistics Methods Board.
Analysis of household level data relating to living standards and poverty
- Ensure SPC produces, analyses and disseminates national poverty and living standards statistics to relevant international standards (e.g. the indicators for Sustainable Development Goal 1).
Technical assistance, training and support
- Train staff from SPC, national statistics offices and relevant staff in line ministries in analysis of household survey data relating to poverty and living standards analysis.
- Ensure relationships with key stakeholders – in member countries, donors, implementation partners and universities – are positive.
- Contribute to progress in the countries and territories SPC is working with towards strengthened capacity to analyse poverty and living standards.
For a more detailed account of the key responsibilities, please refer to the online job description.
Key selection criteria
Qualifications
- Master’s degree development economics, statistics or other academic discipline related to the role.
Technical expertise
- Relevant experience in official statistics or related areas. Consideration of appointment at the Statistics Adviser or Statistics Officer levels will be based on, but not limited to, the extent of experience in a relevant field. 10 years’ experience is desirable for the Statistics Adviser level and 5 years’ experience is desirable for the Statistics Officer level.
- Extensive knowledge and experience of processing and analysing complex household surveys.
- additionally, for appointment at the Statistics Adviser level, experience in designing and delivering training for professionals and a good understanding of the challenges developing countries (particularly small island states) face, in the collection, production and use of official statistics will be highly valued.
Language skills
- Excellent oral and written English language communication.
Interpersonal skills and cultural awareness
- Demonstrated ability to work with people from different national and cultural backgrounds.
Salary, terms and conditions
Contract Duration – This vacant position is budgeted for 3 years and is subject to renewal depending on performance and funding.
Remuneration – Appointment will be made at either the Statistics Adviser (Economics) level band 11 position in SPC’s 2024 salary scale, with a starting salary range of SDR (special drawing rights) 4,206-5,161 per month, which converts to approximately XPF 622,159-763,470 (USD 5,594-6,865; EUR 5,214-6,398); or the Statistics Officer (Economics) level band 9 position in SPC’s 2024 salary scale, with a starting salary range of SDR (special drawing rights) 3,209 – 3,915 per month, which converts to approximately XPF 474,675 – 579,141 (USD 4,268-5,207; EUR 3,978-4,853) . An offer of appointment for an initial contract will be made in the lower half of this range, with due consideration being given to experience and qualifications. Progression within the salary scale will be based on annual performance reviews. SPC salaries are not presently subject to income tax in New Caledonia.
Benefits for international staff employees based in New Caledonia – SPC provides subsidised housing in Noumea. Establishment and repatriation grant, removal expenses, airfares, home leave travel, health and life and disability insurances and education allowances are available for eligible employees and their eligible dependents. Employees are entitled to 25 working days of annual leave per annum and other types of leave, and access to SPC’s Provident Fund (contributing 8% of salary, to which SPC adds a matching contribution).
Languages – SPC’s working languages are English and French.
Recruitment principles – SPC’s recruitment is based on merit and fairness, and candidates are competing in a selection process that is fair, transparent and non-discriminatory. SPC is an equal-opportunity employer, and is committed to cultural and gender diversity, including bilinguism, and will seek to attract and appoint candidates who respect these values. Due attention is given to gender equity and the maintenance of strong representation from Pacific Island professionals. If two interviewed candidates are ranked equal by the selection panel, preference will begiven to the Pacific Islander. Applicants will be assured of complete confidentiality in line with SPC’s private policy.
How to apply
Application procedure
Closing date: 18 February 2024 – 11:00 pm (Noumea time)
Job Reference: CR000191
Applicants must apply online at http://careers.spc.int/
Hard copies of applications will not be accepted.
For your application to be considered, you must provide us with:
- an updated resume with contact details for three professional referees
- a cover letter detailing your skills, experience and interest in this position
- responses to all screening questions
Your application will be considered incomplete and will not be reviewed at shortlisting stage if all the above documents are not provided. Applicants should not attach copies of qualifications or letters of reference.
Please ensure your documents are in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format.
SPC does not charge a fee to consider your application and will never ask for your banking or financial information during the recruitment process.
Screening questions (maximum of 2,000 characters per question):
- Briefly describe your experience working with household surveys for economic analysis
- What are some key recent developments in measurement of poverty and living standards world-wide that are likely to be of relevance for the Pacific?
- Within the “total survey error” paradigm, what are some of the risks to understanding poverty and living standards in the Pacific from survey data?