The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is the lead UN agency working to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. UNFPA also supports censuses, population data collection and analysis to strengthen evidence-based development planning and humanitarian response.
The Population Data Officer will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, within UNFPA’s Data and Analytics Branch, Programme Division. The role will support the production of Common Operational Datasets on Population Statistics (COD-PS), providing subnational population estimates for humanitarian preparedness and response, while contributing to technical guidance on COD-PS production, quality assurance and dissemination.
Key Responsibilities
- Produce subnational population estimates for selected countries using UNFPA guidance and preferred data sources.
- Process, clean and adjust population datasets using the R statistical programming language and produce outputs in the standard COD-PS format.
- Prepare and maintain supporting documentation on methodologies and comparisons with other population estimates.
- Maintain technical documentation using GitHub and UNFPA’s standard tools and templates.
- Support the development and revision of technical guidance on COD-PS production, quality assurance and dissemination.
- Generate and refine population datasets to support humanitarian response planning and disaster preparedness.
- Coordinate technically with OCHA, the Humanitarian Data Exchange, and UNFPA Country and Regional Offices.
- Upload approved COD-PS updates to the UNFPA Population Data Portal and OCHA Humanitarian Data Exchange.
- Contribute to strengthening technical guidance and resources for UNFPA and OCHA field teams.
Profile Required
Experience:
Minimum of 3 years of relevant professional experience, with demonstrated interest and/or experience in:
- Applied statistics, public health, epidemiology or demography.
- Descriptive statistical and multivariate regression analysis.
- Cohort-component population projections and demographic forecasting.
- Statistical programming, particularly R, or related languages such as Stata or SPSS.
- GitHub or other version-control systems.
- Data analysis, population statistics and information management.
Strong interpersonal, networking, communication and teamwork skills are also required.
Education:
- Bachelor’s degree in Demography, Public Health, Epidemiology, Statistics, Sociology, Economics, or a related discipline such as Computer Science.
- A Master’s degree is preferred.
Languages
- Fluent English – required
- Working knowledge of French, Arabic and/or Spanish is an advantage.