Principal Officer, Migration Statistics at African Union(AU)

Requisition ID: 761
Location: Rabat, Morocco
Reports to: Deputy Director
Directorate / Department: African Migration Observatory/HHS
Number of Direct Reports: 1
Number of Indirect Reports: 5
Job Grade: P4
Contract Type: Regular

Purpose of Job

• Reporting to the Deputy Director, the Principal Officer - Migration Statistics oversees the collection, compilation, analysis, interpretation and presentation of quantitative information.
• S/he provides advice and guidance to senior management on the strategic direction of the data collection functions of the Observatory, and supervises and coordinates the day-to-day activities of staff in the Migration Statistics Unit.
• The incumbent also monitors the unit and resolves issues affecting quality and timelines.

Main Functions

• Provides overall leadership to the collection, compilation, analysis, interpretation and presentation of quantitative information.
• Coordinates the development of strategic and annual activity work-plans of the Migration Statistics Unit in line with the Observatory’s strategic goals, objectives and priorities and AUC vision.
• Presents and defends resource requirements needed to carry out the annual work-plans of Migration Statistics Unit.
• Observatory at relevant regional / continental / international seminars and conferences.

Specific Responsibilities

• Coordinates the development of technical proposals and budgets of the Migration Statistics Unit in accordance with the Observatory’s strategic priorities.
• Assist management in mobilizing resources for the migration statistics activities.
• Monitors performance and prepares progress reports on the migration statistics activities of the Observatory.
• Coordinates the monitoring and evaluation of programmes under the Migration Statistics Unit.
• Establish a technical networking with AU Member States, RECs and any other stakeholders for exchange data, share the good practices and lessons learned.
• Compiles briefing notes, strategy documents, regular regional/continental reports on migration, and advise policymakers on key decisions based on results.
• Ensure the harmonization, comparability, quality and reliability of migration data of the five AU Regions.
• Performs other duties as assigned by the Deputy Director.

Academic Requirements and Relevant Experience

• A Master’s Degree in a numerate discipline such as Statistics, Demography, Mathematics, Computer Science or Survey Methodology or other related disciplines with ten (10) years continuous and combined work experience in the following areas, out of which six (6) and three (3) years need to be at expert and  supervisory level:
• Working with survey data and secondary data.
• Planning and implementing large-scale statistical surveys. 
• Technical expertise and experience in supporting and managing complex statistical surveys.
• Experience with statistical applications and methods for social research. Knowledge and advanced use of at least two of the following tools: R, Sawtooth CBC/HB, Stata, SAS, SPSS, Matlab, Python, XLStat
• Advanced Excel skills and/or VBA experience.
• An understanding of the African migration landscape.
• Proven experience interacting with international and regional public partner agencies.
• Proven track-record of working and liaising with high-level government and donor officials.
• Demonstrable experience in supervising and leading teams and delegating tasks and authority.
• Demonstrable experience in drafting technical documents for executive level consumption and/or peer review.
• An understanding of the African Union way of working and managing associated relationships with Member States/RECs and partners is preferred.

Required Skills:

• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Excellent organisation, interpersonal and communication skills
• Excellent analytical skills to respond to trends in emerging issues, and to develop, apply and adjust programme strategies to further the Observatory’s mission, goals and objectives.
• Excellent skills to conceptualize, plan, develop, implement, monitor and evaluate programmes.
• Excellent diplomatic, representational, inter-personal skills, including experience in interacting with stakeholders and decision-makers in order to build strong collaborative relationships with governments and partners.
• Strong written and oral communication skills, in particular proven ability to write clear and concise reports; 
• Excellent project planning and management skills for organizing, planning and executing projects from conception through implementation.
• Demonstrated ability with regard to computer skills, including excellent word-processing capabilities, proficiency with e-mail and internet applications and experience in using office software applications such as MS Excel, Power Point and Word.
• Ability to motivate staff, work under pressure, stay on track and meet deadlines
• Analytical and problem solving abilities.
• Personal commitment, goal oriented and drive for results, flexibility and respect for diversity.    
• Ability to operate in a multicultural environment.
• High level of autonomy at work, yet with profound team-spirit 
• Adaptive, patient, resourceful, resilient and flexible 
• Pro-active and solutions oriented 
• Proficiency in at least one of the African Union working languages (Arabic, English, French, Portuguese or Spanish). Knowledge of one more or several other working languages would be an added advantage.

Leadership Competencies:

• Strategic Insight
• Developing Others
• Change Management
• Managing Risk.

Core Competencies:

• Building Relationship
• Foster Accountability Culture
• Learning Orientation
• Communicating with Influence.

Functional Competencies:

• Conceptual Thinking
• Job Knowledge and Information Sharing
• Drive for Results
• Continuous Improvement Orientation.

Enure of Appointment

• The appointment will be made on a regular term contract for a period of three (3) years, of which the first twelve months shall be considered as a probationary period.
• Thereafter, the contract will be for a period of two years renewable, subject to satisfactory performance and deliverables.

Gender Mainstreaming:

• The AU Commission is an equal opportunity employer and qualified women are strongly encouraged to apply.

Languages:

• Proficiency in one of the AU working languages (Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish) and fluency in another AU language is an added advantage.

Remuneration

• Indicative basic salary of US$ $42,879.00 (P4 Step1) per annum plus other related entitlements e.g. Post adjustment (46% of basic salary), Housing allowance US$ 26,208.00 (per annum), and education allowance (100% of tuition and other education-related expenses for every eligible dependent up to a maximum of US$ 10,000.00 per child per annum), for internationally recruited staff and a maximum of $3,300 per child per annum for locally recruited staff.