The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) is the official source of internationally comparable data in education, science, culture, and communication. As UNESCO’s statistical agency, UIS leads global efforts to define standards, methodologies, and reporting mechanisms that support evidence-based decision-making at national, regional, and global levels.
Responsibilities:
Define and lead the strategic vision, priorities, and work program for learning assessment and policy data at UIS, aligned with SDG 4, UNESCO priorities, and UIS’s Medium-Term Strategy.
Provide senior technical and managerial leadership to the Learning Assessment and Policy Data team, ensuring coherence across methodological development, country support, research, and global coordination activities.
Ensure the continued relevance, technical robustness, and global acceptance of UIS learning assessment methodologies and reporting tools.
Provide overall governance and oversight of validation and quality assurance mechanisms for learning and policy data, including assessment vetting processes and eligibility criteria for SDG reporting.
Lead high-level engagement with Member States, UN agencies, development partners, donors, assessment organizations, and academic institutions on learning and policy data agendas.
Represent UIS as the global technical authority on learning assessment and policy determinants in international policy, technical, and governance forums, including GAML and the Education Data and Statistics Commission (EDSC).
Set and oversee a strategic research agenda focused on the measurement of policies for learning, psychometric innovation, benchmarking methodologies, and emerging domains of skills, including methodological advances in estimation and data integration.
Advise UIS senior management and UNESCO leadership on trends, risks, and strategic opportunities in learning assessment, policy indicators, and SDG 4 monitoring.
Contribute to broader UIS and UNESCO initiatives related to education data, monitoring, foresight, and innovation.
Requirements:
A minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible professional experience in learning assessment, education measurement, or related fields, including leadership of complex international programs.
Extensive experience across the full learning assessment cycle, including framework development, standard setting, psychometric analysis, reporting, and policy use. Proven experience in leading global or multi-country initiatives involving diverse stakeholders.
Demonstrated ability to translate advanced technical concepts into strategic guidance, policy-relevant outputs, and operational tools.
Demonstrated ability to engage with text-as-data statistical methods.
Experience in resource mobilization, donor engagement, and program governance.
