JOB DESCRIPTION

H (no hardship)

Family

Family

PR4

Professional

Reason

Regular > Regular Assignment

2025-10-01

August 8, 2025

Senior Business Intelligence Specialist

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

The Senior Business Intelligence Specialist is a leading Business Intelligence professional who is expected to deliver new insight and lasting value by turning data and information into useful business tools by interfacing with relevant data in current Business Intelligence solutions (principally Microsoft Power BI).

The incumbent provides support on management reporting and analytics within the Area of Responsibility (AoR). In addition, s/he provides regular and ad-hoc reporting needs, such as metrics incorporating detailed statistics, related analysis, dashboard, key performance indicators, balanced scorecards and regular reports to inform senior management.

The Senior Business Intelligence Specialist supports the analysis of primary and secondary data for interpretation and evidence-informed decision-making, S/he identifies risks and opportunities based on insights derived from data and performs data profiling and other analyses to identify patterns and understand anomalies.

The incumbent liaises with HQ divisions/regional bureaux/country operations, external partners, national and/or regional institutions to stay abreast of best practices within the AoR.

The Senior Business Intelligence Specialist may lead and manage a diverse team, ensuring timely delivery of BI solutions. The incumbent normally reports to a more senior staff member.

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties

• Collect and analyse disaggregated statistics within the AoR to develop and refine the Organisation’s relevant policy. Review and validate organisational data. Build intuitive and compelling visualizations using reporting tools.
• Monitor, assess and validate consistency and quality of data within the AoR to ensure suitability to generate country, regional and global analysis, metrics and results.
• Oversee the design of the data and technical architecture for the data warehouse and the deployment of data to the data warehouse.
• Oversee the analysis and design of new modules in UNHCR’s ERP software, introducing innovative models to enhance efficiency.
• Evaluate and select various data warehousing tools and components.
• Coordinate functional activities in the development of reports and dashboards using reporting tools.
• Coordinate with internal and external stakeholders for timely and accurate provision of analytical and statistical reports.
• Develop policies and procedures for the consolidation and analysis of data.
• Coordinate with other stakeholders to develop big data use cases.
• Oversee the results of analytics and metrics.
• Develop and implement new data analysis methodologies.
• Support consolidation and interoperability of data systems.
• Establish a regular review process to ensure that self-service reporting continues to meet the Organization’s ongoing needs, and commission new reporting as appropriate.
• Act as the primary point of contact to shape and deliver any ad-hoc reporting and analysis needs.
• Perform data profiling to identify and understand anomalies.
• Communicate the status, value, and importance of data and information.
• Provide support to development and compliance with standards, norms, and policies related to BI tools.
• Contribute to assessments and situational analysis process with analytical frameworks, data collection, and analysis (standards, methodologies).
• Support planning process (standards, methodologies) quality assurance and technical advice on Theories of Change and indicators, as well as with data management and analysis methods.
• Take the lead in the creation of forecasting methods and models, scenario planning, resource modelling, capability forward load, and other similar “what if” type analyses.
• Analyse needs and capacities for data management activities and provide recommendations for bridging gaps.
• Improve data quality through field support, capacity building, monitoring and feedback.
• Provide training and support to divisions, regional bureaux, and country operations on BI and reporting.
• Implement data protection policies as recommended by external parties following the Data Policy Impact Assessment (DPIA) in coordination with other team members.
• Act as a cybersecurity focal point and perform cybersecurity-related tasks.
• Lead risk assessments and discussions with team(s) to proactively manage risks and seize opportunities impacting objectives. Ensure that risk management principles are integrated in decision-making both at strategic and operational levels. Allocate resources for planned treatments with resource requirements in Strategic Plans. Ensure that risks are managed to acceptable levels and escalate, as needed. If a Risk Owner, designate the Risk Focal Point and certify that the annual risk review is completed and ensure that the risk register is updated during the year, as needed.
• Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Years of Experience / Degree Level

For P4/NOD – 9 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 8 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 7 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education

Statistics;                                            Data Science;                                     Engineering;         

Social Sciences;                                 Information Management;              Finance;

Information Technology                     or other relevant field.

Certificates and/or Licenses

Not specified.

Relevant Job Experience

Essential

Work experience leading a team in areas of Data Science, Finance, Programme, Information Management, or other relevant fields. Demonstrated ability to lead the creation of insightful data and evidence-based BI reporting, and to manage a data/BI capability. Ability to conceptualise ambiguous problems quickly and use data to explore these problems in a way that guides thinking towards evidence-based conclusions. Involvement in change management initiatives in an international or multinational environment. Experience in data warehouse, data modelling, business intelligence, data visualization, and analysis. Experience in modern data manipulation, transformation, and scripting languages. Familiarity with Microsoft Power BI or another leading BI toolset. Proven ability to complete projects and achieve results.

Desirable

Experience in working with UNHCR business functions.

Functional Skills

IM-Statistics Analysis

DM-Data Collection and Analysis

DM-Data Management

DM-Database Design & Development

CO-Data Visualisation Techniques/Software

DM-Data governance, quality assurance and preservation

DM-Data Interoperability

(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements

For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.

For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.

For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.

Competency Requirements

All jobs at UNHCR require six core competencies and may also require managerial competencies and/or cross-functional competencies. The six core competencies are listed below.

Core Competencies

Accountability

Communication

Organizational Awareness

Teamwork & Collaboration

Commitment to Continuous Learning

Client & Result Orientation

Managerial Competencies

Empowering and Building Trust

Judgement and Decision Making

Leadership

Managing Performance

Managing Resources

Strategic Planning and Vision

Cross-Functional Competencies

Change Capability and Adaptability

Planning and Organizing

Technological Awareness

All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination, and abuse of power.

As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.

1. Skills
• Results-based management advanced skills
Statutory and corporate financial reporting
• Resource Management and Analytical methodologies
• Strong financial-accounting knowledge
• Deep ERP functional-technical knowledge
• Budgetary and programmatic performance analysis
• UNHCR internal processes and platforms knowledge

2. Behaviour
• Transparent, clear communicator
• Interpersonal skills and negotiation
• Accuracy and attention to detail
• Innovative mindset
• Client orientation

3. Talents
• Delivers under pressure
• Deals well with complexity
• Handles multiple assignments
• Adapts to change

4. Core values
• Professionalism
• Curious, a learner
• Open-minded, looking for new solutions
• Discreet, able to handle confidential, sensitive information
• Organizational awareness
• Communicates well

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Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations: N/A

To view occupational safety and health considerations for this duty station, please visit this link:

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel

Nature of Position:

The Annual Review and Budget Analysis Service (ARBAS), is tasked to guide the processes of annual review, detailed planning and prioritization, budgeting and resource allocation across the Organization. Advising Senior management, the Service undertakes detailed descriptive and diagnostic analysis on plans, budgets, expenditures, priorities, new and ongoing needs as well as gaps, sectors and operations where more resources are sought to meet the increasing need. The Service is responsible for preparing the UNHCR global annual programme budget and the portion of the United Nations regular budget that contributes to funding UNHCR. Additionally, ARBAS undertakes performance reporting including the development of business intelligence tools and corporate-level reporting including the revenue allocation to its governance bodies, larger UN system and to external stakeholders. ARBAS develops business intelligence tools using the internal data warehouse to facilitate the financial, budgetary, and programmatic analysis. In close cooperation with the DER, the Service manages the revenue allocations.
Data Analytics and Process Optimization Unit is a highly specialized technical team and provides advice and support to the systems development for the information management systems, functional to the work of the Division and other clients. DAPO performs impact analysis and systems development enabling UNHCR to analyze the implementation of programmes and projects from financial and performance perspectives.
The Incumbent will serve as the lead for the newly established DAPO team under the Deputy Director of ARBAS, DRM, ensuring that the team’s outputs align with UNHCR’s requirements on resource management and donor reporting.
The Incumbent will provide in-depth analysis, scenario building and modelling of data for senior of funding projection to support senior leadership in the organization to decide on resource allocation and management. Additionally, the incumbent will provide oversight and technical guidance to the specialized team in ARBAS. This position is uniquely critical as it combines technical expertise in system development and data engineering, knowledge on financial standards and processes in the UN and UNHCR, results chain framework and donor reporting, serving as the cornerstone for building UNHCR’s capability for complex, cross-system data analysis and reporting. The incumbent will play a vital role in knowledge transfer and skill development within the team, ensuring sustainability and continuous improvement in these critical functions.
The Incumbent will play a key role in advising senior leadership in UNHCR on resource allocation and management given limited funding and closer scrutiny of the use of resources by the donors. It provides necessary seniority in terms of technical knowledge and skills, ability to manage increasingly complex data operations across multiple corporate systems and reporting requirements. This function ensures that the organization can deliver high-quality, validated (i.e. reconciled) reporting and analytics in line with the established results framework, meeting the expectations of donors and stakeholders for accountability, transparency, and operational efficiency. Furthermore, the position is critical for establishing and maintaining a robust funding allocation and projections framework that responds to donor requirements and predicts donor behavior, thus supporting evidence-based decision-making, resource optimization, and effective responses to humanitarian challenges.

Living and Working Conditions: HQ

Additional Qualifications

Skills

CO-Data Visualisation Techniques/Software, DM-Database Design & Development, DM-Data Collection and Analysis, DM-Data governance, quality assurance and preservation, DM-Data Interoperability, DM-Data Management, IM-Statistics Analysis

Bachelor of Arts: Data Science, Bachelor of Arts: Engineering, Bachelor of Arts: Finance, Bachelor of Arts: Information Management, Bachelor of Arts: Information Technology, Bachelor of Arts: Social Science, Bachelor of Arts: Statistics

Certifications

Competencies

Accountability, Change capability & adaptability, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Empowering & building trust, Judgement & decision making, Leadership, Managing performance, Managing resource, Organizational awareness, Planning & organizing, Strategic planning & visions, Teamwork & collaboration, Technological awareness

https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales

Compendium

Add. 2 to the Bi-Annual 2025 Compendium – Part B

Additional Information

This position doesn”t require a functional clearance