Data Management Specialist

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; Islamabad; On-site; PKR 1,400,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Job summary

A global food security organization is seeking a Data Management Specialist in Islamabad to centralize project data and support analysis for reporting. The role requires a bachelor's degree and experience in data management, with a particular focus on budget handling and team collaboration. Candidates should possess practical knowledge of data management tools and the ability to train staff on database use.

Qualifications

• Minimum 1 year experience in data management within the development sector.
• Working knowledge (level C) of English.

Responsibilities

• Gather and centralize project-related data.
• Maintain a searchable database for project staff.
• Prepare budget sheets for stakeholders.
• Analyze data for reporting needs.
• Provide project staff with database training.
• Develop final reports with findings and recommendations.

Skills

Data management tools/software

Data analysis

Budget management

Report writing

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in data science, statistics or data management

Job description

Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda through the FAO Strategic Framework by supporting the transformation to MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems, for better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no one behind.

FAO is a specialized agency of the UN that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. FAO's goal is to achieve food security for all and ensure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. With 195 Members (194 countries and the European Union), FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide.

FAO Country Offices, working under overall corporate guidance and in line with the Strategic Framework, offer policy advice and support to countries in the mandated areas of FAO, facilitated through partnerships, resources and an active country programme to provide technical assistance, develop capacities and deliver core services while fully observing international standards of accountability to establish leadership and strengthen impact at the country level.

The offices deliver on the programmatic priorities of each country as agreed in their respective Country Programming Frameworks (CPFs) aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) and ensure effective and efficient operations with adequate human and financial resources.

Specifically, FAO Country Offices:

• advocate, inform and support policies and investments in the areas of FAO’s mandate;
• provide technical assistance and deliver core services;
• assist and catalyse partnership and resource mobilization activities to support agrifood systems transformation;
• position FAO as the specialized/authoritative technical agency in food and agriculture and agrifood systems transformation;
• ensure risk-smart and accountable operations and management.

At FAO Pakistan Office, FAO, with funding from the Green Climate Fund, is implementing a project called Transforming the Indus Basin with Climate Resilient Agriculture and Water Management in Punjab and Sindh Provinces (GCP /PAK/146/GCF). The project aims to develop the country’s capacity to get and use the information it needs to cope with the impacts of climate change on agriculture and water management. Detailed project activities can be found from the approved funding proposal available on the Green Climate Fund’s website: https://www.greenclimate.fund/document/transforming-indus-basin-climate-resilient-agriculture-and-water-management.

The project will develop the country’s capacity to get and use the information it needs to cope with the impacts of climate change on agriculture and water management by putting in place state‑of‑the‑art technology (Component 1); building farmers resilience to climate change through skills, knowledge and technology (Component 2), and creating a wider enabling environment for continuous adaptation and expanded sustainable uptake of climate‑resilient approaches (Component 3). The project has a large volume of data on budget, expenditure, beneficiaries, contracts, and capacity building, and they are currently fragmented in different computers and files. The data management specialist will work on development of budget‑related Excel sheets, a database of project information and analysis of the data for planning and reporting of the project.

Reporting Lines

Under the supervision and guidance of the Technical Advisor of the project in Pakistan and guidance from Technical Officers of the project, and in close coordination and consultation with international and national experts in water, governmental counterparts, and implementation partners.

Technical Focus

Data management, project management

Tasks and responsibilities

• Gather various data in relation to the project in a central folder/server, including data on budget, expenditures, the project beneficiary and stakeholder, training records and materials, travel records, communication records with partners, links to project developed software/tools, reports to donors, plans developed for various purposes.
• Maintain a database where project staff can search for the data mentioned above.
• During project planning activities, prepare the budget sheets and summary of budgets to be shared with stakeholders.
• Extract relevant data and analyse when the supervisor needs such information for reporting purpose.
• Provide capacity building to project staff on the use of the database, and assist project staff on the use of the database when needed.
• Develop the final report describing the achieved tasks, challenges and recommendations to the project on data management.
• The specialist may also provide support for the other tasks of the project and FAO Pakistan’s projects/programs other than the above‑mentioned project.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in data science, statistics or data management or closely related field
• Minimum 1 year experience in working for a development sector in the area related to data management
• Experience in data management tools/software
• Working knowledge (level C) of English

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Experience in handling project data at the UN organization is strongly desired
• Experience in writing reports collecting, analyzing and presenting project data is strongly desired