Research Consultant (Managing Exits from Armed Conflict)

The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) is a voluntarily funded, autonomous institution within the United Nations. One of the few policy institutes worldwide focusing on disarmament, UNIDIR generates knowledge and promotes dialogue and action on disarmament and security. Based in Geneva, UNIDIR assists the international community to develop the practical, innovative ideas needed to find solutions to critical security problems.

UNIDIR’s Managing Exits from Armed Conflict Project seeks to understand how and why people enter and exit armed groups, disarm and transition fully and sustainably into civilian life. The project generates evidence to inform policies and interventions that prevent recruitment, support reintegration and promote micro-disarmament.

The objective of this position is to support the project’s lead Data Scientist with data monitoring, organization, cleaning, analysis and visualization.

Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the project’s lead Data Scientist and in close collaboration with the rest of the team, the Research Consultant will be responsible for the following duties:

Data analysis

• Conduct survey data cleaning, de-identification and integration as necessary and note steps taken.

• Support the development of statistical analyses of the data and write up results in an accessible way for outputs for lay audiences.

• Contribute to co-authored publications on the study’s findings, including in policy-oriented formats and academic journals.

Data visualization and reporting

• Support the presentation and visualizations of data in different outputs: creating charts and infographics for reports, briefings and other types of output as required.

• If relevant, participate in events to present data and findings to support UN policy processes.

Data quality monitoring and organization (if relevant)

• Support the monitoring and quality verification of incoming data during survey rollout periods.

• Support the management and storage of project data in compliance with data protection measures as required.

• Contribute to effective workflow processes, such as documenting changes across surveys and lessons learned, and mainstreaming the steps for data cleaning and reporting (e.g. by contributing to codebooks and libraries).

Expected duration, remuneration and payment terms of assignment 

The Research Consultant will:

• Be engaged as soon as possible for six months.

• Receive remuneration at an hourly rate for a total amount not exceeding USD 9,000, payable upon satisfactory completion of the agreed deliverables.

The payments are subject to certification of timesheets and satisfactory delivery of service by the Head of Project. The consultant is also required to submit invoices indicating (1) exact title or description of work and (2) number of hours worked to UNIDIR’s Finance, Budget and Administration section.

Competencies

The Research Consultant is required to demonstrate the core values of the United Nations: Professionalism, Integrity and Respect for Diversity. In addition, s/he will demonstrate the following competences:

• Planning and organizing: Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; identifies priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required; allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; uses time efficiently.

• Accountability: Takes ownership of all responsibilities and honours commitments; delivers outputs for which one has responsibility within prescribed time, cost and quality standards; operates in compliance with organizational regulations and rules; supports subordinates, provides oversight and takes responsibility for delegated assignments; takes personal responsibility for his/her own shortcomings and those of the work unit, where applicable.

• Teamwork: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.

• Communication: Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; tailors language, tone, style and format to match audience; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.

Qualifications and experience

Education

• Advanced university qualification (master’s degree or equivalent) in international relations, political science, economics, statistics or any other social science discipline with a focus on quantitative techniques or statistics is required. A bachelor’s degree, in addition to two years of relevant work experience, is considered in lieu of a master’s degree.

Experience

• At least five years’ experience in applied research, statistics or data analysis for public policy is desirable.

• Proficiency with R (data cleaning, statistical analysis and visualization packages) is required.

• Understanding of statistical methods of analysis, including multivariate regression, is required.

• A background in conflict prevention or resolution, peacebuilding, development or a related area is desirable.

• Command of Power BI, STATA, SPSS or other statistical and data analysis software is beneficial.

• Experience working on and analysing data from large-scale surveys through programs such as SurveyCTO is beneficial.

• Ability to quickly learn SurveyCTO and become proficient in the project’s surveys is essential.

• Experience with data management and data protection is a bonus.

• Strong analytical and data visualization skills.

• Ability to be detail oriented.

• Ability to work within a dynamic team and with local research partners.

• Ability to generate digestible reports of large datasets.

• Ability to write and present findings clearly, concisely and in a manner that translates complex ideas into accessible language for practitioners and policymakers.

• Ability to multitask and define priorities in a dynamic, fast-paced work environment.

• Experience researching or working in Nigeria, Niger, Chad or Cameroon is beneficial.

• Excellent written and oral communication in English.

Language

For this assignment, fluency in English (both written and oral) is required. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is desirable.

Travel

No travel is foreseen as required as part of this role.

Copyright

UNIDIR retains copyright of all documents and the ownership of the intellectual property resulting from all work carried out under this contract. The Research Consultant warrants that the paper will be original works or that where s/he incorporates copyright material from another source, copyright permission for its use will be obtained. Written output(s) may be attributed to the Research Consultant.