Head of Learning Assessment and Policy Data

OVERVIEW

Position Number : 1CAUIS0102PA

Grade :  P-5

Parent Sector : Institute for Statistics (UIS)

Duty Station : Montreal

Job Family : Education

Contract Type :  Project Appointment

Duration of contract : 2 years, renewable

Recruitment open to :  Internal and external candidates

Application deadline (Midnight Paris Time) : 27 / 02 / 2026

UNESCO Core Values : Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) commits the international community to ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. Quality learning stands at the heart of this agenda, and several SDG 4 indicators are dedicated to monitor learning and the policies to achieve relevant learning outcomes. The ability to reliably measure learning outcomes—particularly foundational and functional literacy, numeracy, and job-relevant skills — and their policy determinants, is a core pillar of international monitoring of progress to inform policy action.

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.

As the custodian agency for SDG 4, the UIS has coordinated and implemented several methodological and technical advances that have improved the monitoring of learning globally. And while there has been significant progress made to monitor learning and the policies to achieve it, assessing learning continues to pose persistent technical, institutional, and capacity challenges. Many countries face constraints in implementing sustainable, high-quality assessments aligned with global standards. And, when they exist, data from these assessments are underused in the production of policy-oriented SDG 4 indicators. In response, UIS leads global coordination efforts — most notably through the Global Alliance to Monitor Learning (GAML), while supporting countries in strengthening national learning assessment systems.

OVERVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE POST

The Head of Learning Assessment and Policy Data serves as the Institute’s senior authority and strategic lead on the measurement of learning outcomes and of the policies to achieve them. At the P-5 level, the incumbent provides overall vision, leadership, and technical oversight for UIS’s global portfolio covering learning and its policy determinants, ensuring methodological rigor, international comparability, and strategic relevance to SDG 4.

The position is responsible for setting the strategic direction of UIS work on learning assessment and policy data; overseeing the development, validation, and implementation of global standards and methodologies (including the Global Proficiency Framework, curriculum mapping approaches, and related technical guidance); and ensuring coverage, completeness, and quality of learning data produced by the Institute. This includes supporting the implementation of learning assessment tools, advancing estimation methods, strengthening data linking methodologies, and improving data integration so that learning assessment results and policy evidence are better streamlined into global monitoring and reporting processes.

In addition, the incumbent leads the integration and harmonization of policy data derived from learning assessments and curriculum documents and steers the further development of SDG 4 policy indicators — such as curriculum-based indicators — leveraging advances in text-as-data methods. The Head represents the Institute in global technical and policy fora, builds and manages high-level partnerships, and provides authoritative advice to senior leadership, Member States, and partners to ensure that data produced and reported through UIS meets the highest standards of quality, credibility, and policy usefulness.

KEY ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Strategic Leadership and Programme Direction

• Define and lead the strategic vision, priorities, and work programme 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.
• Oversee planning, budgeting, performance monitoring, and reporting for the learning assessment and policy data portfolio, ensuring effective use of resources and delivery of results.

2. Global Methodological Leadership and SDG Reporting

Long Description

3. Quality Assurance, Validation, and Standard Setting

4. Partnership Management and Global Representation

Long Description

5. Research, Innovation, and Capacity Development

6. Advisory and Institutional Contribution

COMPETENCIES - Core (C) & Managerial (M)

Short Description

For detailed information, please consult the .

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

WORK EXPERIENCE

Proven experience in leading global or multi-country initiatives involving diverse stakeholders.

Long Description

SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES

LANGUAGES

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

WORK EXPERIENCE

Long Description

LANGUAGES

BENEFITS AND ENTITLEMENTS

UNESCO’s salaries consist of a basic salary and other benefits which may include if applicable : 30 days annual leave, family allowance, medical insurance, pension plan etc.

The approximate starting gross annual salary for this post is USD 139,479 .