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DFID Chief Statistician

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Reference: DFIDJOB-0259

Closing date: 08 October 2012

Interview date: Not Specified

Number of vacancies: 1

Salary: - c. £69,000 per annum

Location: East Kilbride, near Glasgow or central London

Appointment Terms: Permanent

Working Arrangements: Full-time

Specific requirements:

Brief description: The role of the Chief Statistician is to provide professional leadership of the statistical cadre, building statistical capacity across the Department, engaging with international partners, and assuring DFID’s official statistics.

The Role of Statistics in DFID’s Mission

Michael Anderson
Director General, Policy and Global Programmes

Never before have Statistics Advisers been so central to the delivery of DFID’s core mission. Strong statistical analysis is increasingly seen as a necessary component of aid programmes that can deliver real change to the lives of poor and vulnerable people. At the same time, the Secretary of State has promised UK citizens that he intends to secure ‘100 pence of value from every pound of aid’ spent on behalf of taxpayers -- strong statistical advice is indispensible for achieving that goal.

Since May 2010 Ministers and the Management Board have emphasised changes in four key areas:

  • First, a stronger focus on measurement, results, and value for money, which will entail more intensive use of figures and statistics both for managing programmes and communicating with the UK public.
  • Second, a new Aid Transparency Guarantee making most key DFID documents publicly available on a proactive basis. We should expect an unprecedented level of scrutiny of the statistics we use in analysis, reporting, and programme documents.
  • Third, a new commitment to assessing aid though embedded impact evaluation and the work of the Independent Commission on Aid Impact. Both will increase the demand for high quality statistical advice.
  • Fourth, a new commitment to evidence-based programming, with new systematic reviews to collate existing evidence and a requirement to build assessments of evidence into business cases. DFID staff will need help in interpreting statistical analyses, particularly arising from longitudinal studies, controlled trials, and academic papers.

These changes reflect broader changes in the UK and internationally. Within the UK, there is political consensus that official government statistics should not only be accurate, but should be produced in accordance with HMG protocols designed to ensure their quality, credibility, and timely release. In the international development community, there is a rapidly growing appetite for using stronger results measures, including impact evaluation, to determine which interventions will deliver the best value for money. More than ever before, policy makers and managers in development agencies appreciate the critical contribution that strong statistics can bring to their mission.

What does this mean for statistics advisers in DFID? It will mean more advisers in the cadre – we are recruiting and deploying new advisers in most parts of the organisation. It will mean a higher profile in the organisation, and more opportunity to contribute to strategic decision-making. It will also mean spending a larger proportion of time doing core statistical work for DFID, and slightly less time working on capacity-building in developing countries.

Looking forward, I can see nine top priorities for statistics advisers.

Providing statistics and analysis:

  1. To ensure that DFID strategy and policy is underpinned by a credible evidence base. This evidence base will consist of a common currency of regular routine figures, e.g. primary school age children and their attendance rate but also ad hoc data and analysis as required, e.g. evidence base for a DFID policy area.
  2. Building on the data above to strengthen the results framework and inform individual business cases. This includes supporting the Management Board in monitoring DFID’s achievement of development results. This will affect both multilateral and bilateral programmes. We will need to build a shared system within DFID to aggregate figures on a comparable basis from across programmes.
  3. Ensuring that all DFID’s public statistics (from national statistics to those in business cases and speeches) are accurate, appropriate, and produced in accordance with the highest professional standards.

    4. Advising by using statistics and analysis

  4. Contribute to strong programme design across the organisation by supplying figures and statistics where needed, and by providing advice on socio-economic analysis (including demography). Statistical advice can play a key role in appropriate design, maximising results, and achieving value for money.
  5. Assist in the evaluation of evidence at the departmental level, for example in providing critical appraisal of all the data/evidence available a policy area, e.g. governance.
  6. In conjunction with Evaluation Advisers, contributing to programme monitoring and evaluation by helping to identify appropriate indicators and evaluation frameworks.

    7. Shaping the availability and use of statistics and analysis

  7. Aiding the wider transparency, evidence and VFM agendas by working with the wider GSS and international partners to drive up the quality and availability of national and international statistics.
  8. Contributing to the design and management of capacity building programmes in developing countries, including in work following up the Busan High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness.
  9. Driving up evidence and data literacy in DFID by helping non-technical experts in DFID access and carry out some basic data collation and analyses for themselves.

This is not an exhaustive list, but it does represent the highest priorities of Ministers and the Management Board.

To achieve these objectives, Statistics Advisers will need to be able to demonstrate the highest standards of professionalism, including in technical skills and in effective team-working. Since Ministers and managers are not technical experts, they are highly dependent on Statistics Advisers, and have the right to expect accurate information. DFID will make significant investments in Continuing Professional Development training to ensure that Statistics Advisers are equipped with the skills and knowledge to meet business delivery needs.

Ministers and the Management Board value the work of Statistics Advisers. Through a combination of strategic working, high professional skills, and pulling together as a mutually supportive cadre, the Statistics Advisers can look forward to more rewarding and influential jobs in the next three years.

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