Result of Service
The objective of this consultancy is to support the development of data engineering skills in national statistical offices and provide practical guides and other reference materials to enable the sustainable modernization of their data and IT architecture. The consultant will: • Work closely with IT and statistical focal points of national statistical offices to gather information on existing IT systems and draft requirements and provide technical advice to modernize them. • Develop a report with a summary of requirements and technical recommendations for the modernization of IT architecture in at least 2 Data for Now project and DATAS countries. • Delivery of technical assistance and advice (through remote sessions and potentially country missions) to facilitate the implementation of the technical recommendations for the modernization of IT architecture. • Provide trainings and knowledge sharing of the platforms and technology stack deployment and use on data lake architecture to internal and external stakeholders. • Support development of country case studies around the modernization of IT architecture that facilitates the integration and use of innovative and administrative data sources into the production of official statistics. • Support development of general guidance on IT architecture and infrastructure related to the use of non-traditional data sources, initially for administrative data, but potentially also expanded to other innovative sources. Expected outputs and delivery dates By 31 March 2026: • Detailed plan of activities, specifying key outputs and timelines, based on documents, online consultation, and coordination meeting with the national statistical offices IT team to gather information on existing IT system implementation. • Progress report of activities and work supported, in accordance with detailed plan of activities and work assignments as outlined above, also providing links or attaching concrete results of the work By 30 April 2026: • Progress report of activities and work supported, in accordance with detailed plan of activities and work assignments as outlined above, also providing links or attaching concrete results of the work By 30 May 2026: • Final report of activities and work supported, in accordance with detailed plan of activities and work assignments as outlined above. Performance indicators • Timely delivery of all outputs. • Quality of the materials and documentation provided with every output. • Effectiveness of proposed data integration architecture provided
Work Location
The consultant will work remotely, except for potential technical assistance missions depending on specific country needs and requests, as well as on the availability of funds. Communications will mainly take place through remote web conference meetings. Travel or commute time, as well as related expenses, are not part of the consultancy.
Expected duration
The consultant will perform the activities specified in this Terms of Reference in the period between 15 February 2026 and 30 May 2026.
Duties and Responsibilities
There is an urgent need to strengthen the capacity of national statistical systems to leverage the use of innovative and administrative data for statistical purposes, to fill gaps in the data that is available to policy and decision makers to monitor progress and implement the 2030 Agenda and to address emerging challenges. Many countries are still struggling with the lack of modern IT infrastructure and technical skills, along with adequate institutional arrangements, for the efficient integration and processing of data and metadata from administrative and other innovative sources, to produce official statistics. The UN Statistics Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) is engaged in capacity development efforts aimed to address some of these challenges, including through the “Data for Now” initiative, including through the “Data for SIDS” DATAS project. These initiatives support various countries in their work to improve and increase the use of innovative and administrative data sources for statistical purposes, with a different area of focus in each country. The learnings and experiences from participating countries will be further shared with other countries to create synergies and multiplicative effects, including through cross-cutting guidance materials that will supplement existing thematically focused materials and tools.
Qualifications/special skills
Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in computer science, data science, data engineering, or related field with five (5) years of experience. A bachelor’s degree in combination with additional two (2) years of experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced degree. A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in enterprise data management systems, data warehousing infrastructure, big data technologies, GIS analytics, and/or cloud-based data storage and data access solutions. Experience working with National Statistical Offices, particularly within developing country settings, is desirable. Demonstrated experience in planning and implementing IT architecture solutions for complex statistical data production systems or data science projects. Demonstrated experience in agile project management and facilitation of IT trainings and workshops. Experience in coordination with various stakeholders is desirable.
Languages
Full command of spoken and written English is required. Knowledge of French is desirable. Knowledge of other UN languages is an advantage.
Additional Information
Not available.
No Fee
THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.
