Regional Opportunity
JOB DESCRIPTION ONE (1): HEAD OF STATISTICS AND RESEARCH
Job Title : Head of Statistics and Research
Grade : P4
Division : Statistics and Research
Duty Station : Lusaka
Basic Salary Scale : COM$ 63,135. 29 – COM$ 75,952.73 per annum.
Report to : Assistant Secretary General (Programmes)
A. JOB PURPOSE
To provide leadership, direction and management for all Statistics and Research activities in COMESA in order to advise Executive Management on regional statistical development and evidence-based policy decision options in COMESA programmes, in line with the COMESA Statistics Strategy, COMESA Medium Term Strategic Plan (MTSP) and Treaty
B. MAIN DUTIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES
Under the direct supervision of the Assistant Secretary General (Programmes) and the overall supervision of the Secretary General, the incumbent of the post will perform the following duties:
- Provides input into long-range conceptual strategy development and management of implementation of overall COMESA Regional Strategy for Development of Statistics (RSDS) and Research Agenda, in line with the COMESA Treaty and MTSP objectives;
- Consolidates Annual Unit work plans and budget inputs in order to gain management’s approval and funding of work plans required to execute Unit mandate;
- Monitors the implementation of the Unit’s work programmes and budgets to ensure that the Unit’s mandate is executed in line with COMESA Regional Strategy for Development of Statistics, the MTSP and within approved budget limits;
- Develops capacity building interventions for Member States in order to strengthen national experts’ capacity to develop conceptual and practical methodologies on economic and sectoral statistics systems;
- Guides Member States on the development of national statistical strategies on new and emerging issues in various areas of statistics and technological innovations, to ensure adopted strategies are aligned to achieve COMESA region Statistics Strategy’s objectives;
- Serve as the COMESA regional coordinator of the Strategy for the Harmonization of Statistics in Africa (SHASA II), ensuring development and implementation alignment between the COMESA Regional Strategy for Development of Statistics and SHASA Il and its successor continental strategies;
- Designs innovative statistical processes for implementation in Member States in order to adopt new initiatives and standards of production, analysis, transmission and dissemination of official statistical information using emerging technologies;
- Promotes the production of harmonized quality economic and sectoral statistics within the COMESA region in order to ensure that applied standards conform to international statistical standards;
- Develops evidence-based approach to policy making framework to ensure that policy decisions and evaluations in COMESA programs are based on researched evidence;
- Designs and conducts evidence-based policy research on Council decisions and emerging policy issues to ensure adopted policies on regional integration are in line with COMESA Treaty and MTSP Objectives;
- Collaborates with the Human Resources and Administration Division in the recruitment, training and development of Unit staff to ensure staff establishment is aligned to achieving key mandates;
- Manages the performance management process in the Unit to ensure achievement of Unit objectives in support of the COMESA Regional Strategy for Development of Statistics and MTSP; and
- Performs any other duties as assigned by Executive Management from time to time.
C. MINIMUM ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS
- Master’s degree in statistics, economics, data science, demography or related field;
- A Ph.D. in any of the above fields would be an added advantage.
D. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
A minimum of (10) years’ experience in managing statistical programs in the national statistical system or in a regional or international organization, of which at least 5 years in undertaking any policy or analytical work in any area related to regional integration.
E. PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS/QUALIFICATIONS
Certification in Data Collection and Analysis (both Qualitative and Quantitative Methods), Statistical methodology, Statistical Data Analysis Tools such as STATA, SPSS, R, Python, SAS. etc. is desirable.
F. SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE
- Specialized knowledge in any of the following areas; National Accounts Statistics and Satellite Accounts, International Merchandise Trade Statistics, Statistics of International Trade in Services, Other Balance of Payments Statistics, Price Statistics(including International Comparison Program), Labour and Migration Statistics, Industry and business statistics, Energy and Infrastructure Statistics, Social Statistics, Gender
Statistics, Agriculture and Food Security Statistics, Environment Statistics, Monetary Statistics - Research and analysis experience in any area of regional integration.