Data Management Specialist

UN-Water is the United Nations (UN) inter-agency coordination mechanism for all freshwater related issues. It was formally established in 2003 building on a long history of collaboration in the UN family. It currently counts 32 UN agencies and organizations as Members and 41 international Partners. UN-Water complements and adds value to existing UN initiatives by facilitating synergies and joint efforts among the implementing agencies. In doing so, UN-Water seeks to: (a) improve the coherence in UN system actions at all levels, and in particular at the country level; (b) contribute to the global policy debate on water-related issues through active participation in global policy fora and events and the production of assessments and policy briefs; (c) contribute to increased knowledge on water-related issues through relevant monitoring and reporting mechanisms and by serving as an entry point for water-related indicators, data and information; and (d) identify emerging issues related to global water challenges and provide a platform for UN system strategic discussions on how to prepare for and cope with them more effectively. For further information: www.unwater.org.

In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, countries have committed to engage in systematic follow-up and review of progress towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which calls for robust and credible monitoring and reporting systems. To track progress towards SDG 6 on water and sanitation, there are several existing data portals that focus on the different components of the water cycle, but no one that include data on all of them. To enable a comprehensive assessment and analysis of the state of water resources and possible development paths, it is essential to collate all available information from across stakeholders, in support of an integrated management approach that helps reduce institutional fragmentation. For this reason, the SDG 6 Data Portal was developed (from here on also referred to as the “portal”). The portal brings together data on all the SDG 6 global indicators, as well as other key social, economic and environmental data, and offers a range of analytical and visualization tools. It presents the latest snapshot status of water and sanitation issues, by indicator, by country and by region, while also allowing the users to explore data on their own through interactive maps, charts and tables. By doing so, the portal complements existing indicator-specific data portal, which remains the main choice for more detailed datasets and functionality.

A key component of the implementation of global monitoring and reporting on SDG 6 is the establishment of a country focal point system, bringing together overall and indicator-specific focal points within a country. In order to manage this system, a Focal Point Database is being developed (from here on also referred to as the “database”), which will be used by the Integrated Monitoring Initiative including all the UN custodian agencies as well as country focal points themselves.

The assignment has three overarching objectives:

1. Maintain and continuously update and improve the SDG 6 Data Portal
2. Support the development of a well-functioning and user-friendly Focal Point Database for managing monitoring focal points
3. Maintain and continuously update and improve the Focal Point Database

The incumbent will work in the UN-Water Management Team and independently implement these objectives, in close collaboration with the UN-Water Web Developer.

In the below list of accountabilities (and elsewhere in this document), the term “products” refers to both the SDG 6 Data Portal and the Focal Point Database.

Particular responsibilities for the incumbent include:

• Maintain, update and enhance products, maintain ongoing development of products, revising existing functionality and adding new functionality where needed;
• Ensure that data are continuously fed into the products from multiple agencies and sources and resolve any issues with; add new data from new data sources as necessary (manually or via APIs);
• Liaise with the company developing the portal, including technical and contractual follow-up as necessary;
• Support the development of the focal point database;
• Maintain a high-level security; manage all aspects of website security, preventing hacks, defacing, etc.
• Support outreach activities and drive initiatives to increase traffic; advise on and implement optimal user experience; analyse audience’s needs based on web analytics and adapt response to enhance the user experience;
• Be the technical focal point for the products and ensure their daily operation;
• Continuously develop frontend and backend to align with strategic needs and operational requests;
• Keep abreast with new technologies and suggest ways to integrate them into the products; advise on suitable solutions and new technologies and add new material and features as needed;
• Ensure efficiency of Internet deployment by integrating several third party applications to the Internet;
• Ensure the implementation of the Knowledge Management and documentation management solutions;
• Advise users of the systems based on their day-to-day needs and ad hoc; provide user support and training to third parties;
• Manage backups – data backups weekly, code backups as needed;
• Perform other related duties as required.

Expected Results

• The SDG 6 Data Portal is well functioning, easy to use, continuously updated with the latest data available, and efficiently communicated to its different target audiences, making it the natural entry point for water- and sanitation-related data within the UN.
• The Focal Point Database is well functioning, easy to use and continuously updated with the latest data available, making it the natural choice for managing overall and indicator-specific focal points, both for custodian agencies as well as for national intersectoral monitoring teams. 

Education

Advanced university degree in computer engineering or computer sciences or related field. A bachelor’s degree with a combination of two (2) additional years of relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of the master’s degree.

Work Experience

A minimum of five years of relevant progressively responsible professional experience in data management is required. 

• Strong organizational and detail-oriented skills
• Strong skills in HTML, CSS, MySQL, XHTML 
• Solid knowledge and experience with web application frameworks and scripting languages (PHP, JavaScript, ASP) and WordPress 
• Solid knowledge and experience with data management and data collection across sources (manual and through API) 
• Creation of clean, logical, well-documented and re-usable code 
• Experience with development and use of maps, charts (including Highcharts) and tables for the display of data 
• Ability to integrate Google Analytics 
• Knowledge and experience of web accessibility 
• Good understanding of cross-platform and cross-browser issues 
• Visual design sensibility that is clean, simple, and sharp, with ability to edit as needed 
• Systematic, disciplined and analytical approach to problem solving – paying close attention to detail 
• Absorbing, rapidly, new technical information 
• Takes ownership of the products and the work 
• Competently plan, schedule and monitor own work 
• Ability to deliver under tight deadlines 
• Ability to work as part of a team 
• Knowledge and experience with statistical standards and SDMX 
• Knowledge and experience with GIS 
• Working experience in the UN system 

• Contract type: International Contractor Agreement
• Contract level: International Specialist Level 2
• Contract duration: Retainer up to 100 working days in 12 months

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns.
Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development.

UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources.

Working with us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.