MICS Consultant

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion and gender parity within its workforce, and encourages all qualified candidates, irrespective of nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, gender identity and sexual orientation, as well as persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. UNICEF’s office is accessible to a certain extent, and employees are entitled to reasonable accommodations that are needed for ensuring equitable working conditions.

The Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) is an international household survey programme developed and supported by UNICEF. MICS is designed to collect estimates of key indicators that are used to assess the situation of children and women. Over the past three decades, MICS has evolved to respond to changing data needs, expanding from 28 indicators in the first round to more than 250 indicators in the current seventh round, and has become a key source of data on child protection, early childhood education, and a major source of data on child health and nutrition.

Under the overall supervision of the Child Rights Monitoring Specialist, the MICS Consultant will support and provide guidance to UNICEF Serbia and the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (SORS) for the preparation, implementation and completion of the seventh round of the MICS survey in Serbia. The MICS Consultant will advise and support SORS, especially the Survey Coordinator and sampling and data processing experts, during survey planning, questionnaire design, sampling, training, fieldwork, data processing, data analysis, reporting, dissemination and archiving, ensuring that MICS protocols and recommendations are being followed at all times. The MICS Consultant will communicate effectively between the UNICEF CO and SORS, responding promptly to MICS-related needs and issues as they arise.

The MICS Consultant will be responsible for coordinating and supporting the work of other resource persons hired by UNICEF to provide technical assistance to the MICS process. The consultant will work in close collaboration with the survey team, the stakeholders, and Steering and Technical Committees and will represent UNICEF in meetings and workshops in relation to the survey as needed. He/she will also work in close collaboration with the Regional MICS Coordinator at the UNICEF Regional Office (RO) and the MICS Team at UNICEF Headquarters (HQ), as well as experts and consultants assigned to support the Serbia MICS (“The UNICEF MICS Team”).

The MICS Consultant will be required to spend time in the field per the survey schedule, up to 50 travel days for the duration of the assignment.

Duration of the assignment: February 2025 – May 2026

Work modality: full-time, hybrid (office-based and field work)

Scope of Work:

1. Provide technical and managerial support to the MICS,
2. Present the MICS methodology, tools and guidelines to partners/stakeholders (e.g., ministries, UN Agencies, etc.),
3. Finalise, in collaboration with national partners and UNICEF CO, the Survey Plan and Budget, including the timetable, and share with the Regional MICS Coordinator,
4. Ensure that the Ethical Protocol and other ethical recommendations are addressed in the survey implementation and process, and that all MICS-related documents are shared with the national/ international Ethical Committee on time for approval,
5. Oversee each stage of the survey process and ensure that the MICS protocols and standards are followed by SORS, more specifically during training and field supervision visits,
6. Communicate regularly with the UNICEF CO and/or the UNICEF MICS Team, responding to all MICS-related issues in a timely manner,
7. Provide monthly updates on MICS activities to the UNICEF CO and Regional MICS Coordinator,
8. Coordinate the work of SORS specialists and the UNICEF MICS Team, and other resource persons assigned by the UNICEF CO and/or the UNICEF MICS Team to support different survey stages,
9. Ensure that external technical reviews by experts (i.e., Sampling, Data Processing, and Household Survey experts and consultants) are carried out at key survey stages and coordinate the feedback and response between the CO, the UNICEF MICS Team and SORS,
10. Ensure that all survey-related documents and deliverables are properly archived throughout the survey process (for example: Memorandum of Understanding, Survey Plan and Budget, questionnaires, manuals, sample design, training/pre-test reports, expert reports, CAPI application, field check tables, output and tabulation plan tables, syntaxes, datasets, cluster geocodes, boundary shapefiles, Survey Findings Report, Statistical Snapshots, dissemination materials, etc.),
11. Participate in all MICS Steering and Technical Committee meetings,
12. Participate in, and contribute to MICS Regional Workshops,
13. Organise, as required, and facilitate the national Data Interpretation and Report Compilation Workshop,
14. Ensure that lessons learned, problems, and good practices are documented throughout the MICS process and rapidly shared with the MICS community (other MICS implementing countries and the UNICEF MICS Team) through all means available,
15. Support planning and customisation of other MICS initiatives (MICS Plus, MICS GIS, MICS Link) in collaboration with the relevant experts of these initiatives from the Global MICS Team.

The MICS Consultant must respect the complete confidentiality of the MICS data, as well as any specific MICS documents that will be produced throughout the MICS process. He/she can use the documents and the datasets only for the tasks related to these Terms of Reference.

For all tasks, the MICS Consultant will produce a monthly progress report of deliverables, describing activities undertaken during the month and highlighting problems met and solutions put in place to mitigate them.

Tasks timeline:

1. Survey planning (Feb – Aug 2025)
2. Listing and Mapping, Training and Fieldwork, and Data Processing (Feb 2025 – May 2026)
3. Data Analysis and Report Writing (Jan – May 2026)
4. Attend all MICS Regional and/or National Workshops (Feb 2025 – May 2026)

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

• Masters degree in Demography, Statistics, Social Sciences, Epidemiology, or any other related technical field is required.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in the coordination and/or management of quantitative household surveys (prior MICS or
• Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) preferred),
• Strong computer skills and strong expertise in statistical analyses (familiarity with data processing and data analysis software, particularly SPSS),
• Experience with CAPI data collection,
• Training experience and ability to organise and facilitate training and presentations,
• Experience in data analysis and survey report writing,
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills,
• Excellent oral and written communication in both Serbian and
• English is required,
• Familiarity and previous experience of working in Serbia and/or in the region are highly desirable,
• Demonstrated ability to work in a multicultural environment and to establish harmonious and effective relationships both within and outside the organisation, more specifically with National Statistical Offices,
• Demonstrated leadership, managerial and supervisory ability,
• Ability and willingness to travel extensively in-country and to attend regional workshops.

How to apply:

The application must include a financial proposal in RSD as a separate document, providing the following information:

1. Daily rate (all costs included, e.g. health insurance, pension contribution, usage of mobile phone, income tax),
2. Daily travel allowance for an overnight stay in Serbia (including accommodation),
3. Transportation costs per km (for travel within Serbia).

*The consultant is expected to make his/her own travel arrangements for all travel within Serbia, up to 50 travel days in total.

**Consultants are responsible for determining and meeting their tax or duty liabilities in accordance with local or other applicable laws. UNICEF does not issue statements of earnings to consultants.

Important notes:

• Please do not forget to specify your name in the financial proposal file while saving (to be uploaded online under the “Financial Proposal” tab).
• Please do not indicate financials anywhere else in the online application form, please mark “n/a” or “00” under the fee-related questions in the online application form.
• Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be notified and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
• Consultants are responsible for determining and meeting their tax or duty liabilities in accordance with local or other applicable laws. UNICEF does not issue statements of earnings to consultants.

For every child, you must demonstrate UNICEF’s core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.