Assistant Chief Statistician - Ghana Statistical Service

The purpose of the Assistant Chief Statistician at Ghana Statistical Service is to provide technical, operational and leadership direction for the implementation of programmes and activities related to Data Science. The successful applicant will lead and work with multi-disciplinary teams and collaborate with others in government-industry, academia and non-governmental organisations to design, build and improve new and existing digital products and platforms that automate analytical processes for the handling of large, non-traditional and unstructured datasets.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

In line with the mission and objectives of the Service, the successful applicant will be responsible for supporting activities in the area of Data Science, with specific focus on key responsibilities, including, but not limited, to the following

TECHNICAL

• Oversee projects using a variety of different data sources and data science techniques, including analysis of large, granular, unstructured datasets from other government departments, interactive visualisations to improve dissemination of GSS data, and automation to improve the efficiency of the operations of the National Statistical System (NSS).
• Design data modelling processes to create algorithms and predictive models and perform custom analysis, manipulate large datasets and use them to identify trends and reach meaningful conclusions to inform strategic decision-making.
• Provide technical oversight and quality assurance of GSS data science projects to ensure that they meet customers’ expectations and are delivered in line with technical and analytical standards from across the data science community.

QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE

• A minimum of a master’s degree from an accredited tertiary institution in Statistics, Economics, Data Science and other relevant quantitative fields.
• Must have a relevant advanced professional level qualification or industry skill-based certification(s). A minimum of 5 years post qualification relevant work experience, 4 years, of which must be in a management position in a reputable statistical or research institution.

COMPETENCIES AND SKILLS

• Experience in data mining and understanding of machine learning and operational research.
• Knowledge of STATA, R, SQL and Python; familiarity with Scala, Java or C++ and experience in using business intelligence tools (e.g. Tableau) and data frameworks (e.g. Hadoop).
• Must be effective at working in a team, communicating, seeking and giving advice, sharing knowledge and building collective capability.

TERMS OF APPOINTMENT

The appointment is for an initial four (4) years, renewable upon satisfactory performance. Applicants must be eligible and capable of serving a full term of four (4) years before attaining the compulsory retiring age of 60 years.