Policy Research, Editorial and Knowledge Products Consultant

The consultant supports the Computational Economics Team in transforming analytical and computational work into high-quality knowledge products for policymakers and practitioners. Responsibilities include policy research, evidence collection, analytical writing, editorial strategy, and knowledge-product development to enhance accessibility and usefulness of the team's outputs.

Responsibilities

• Conduct desk research and collect relevant evidence on economic, social and public policy issues related to the work of the Computational Economics Team and ISPAR.
• Prepare and conduct interviews, surveys and other qualitative evidence-gathering activities with Member States, practitioners and other stakeholders to document country experiences, collect user feedback, identify emerging needs and generate evidence for analytical and product-development purposes.
• Organize, synthesize and document evidence collected through research and country engagement in formats that can be reused across country pages, reports, briefs, digital products and other knowledge outputs.
• Draft clear, concise and evidence-based policy and analytical content that translates complex economic, statistical and computational material for policymakers, practitioners and non-specialist audiences.
• Prepare country stories, case studies, short briefs, web content and other written products based on the team's analysis, country engagements and research.
• Edit and strengthen draft material for clarity, structure, consistency, accuracy and accessibility while preserving the underlying analytical meaning.
• Support literature and evidence reviews, background research, fact-checking, source verification and the preparation of structured inputs for reports, working papers, conference papers and other analytical publications.
• Prepare and revise draft sections and supporting material under the substantive and methodological guidance of the Computational Economics Team, ensuring appropriate sourcing and adherence to ESCWA publication standards.
• Contribute to the development of editorial series, digital content and knowledge products that make the team's work more accessible, engaging, useful and visible to relevant audiences.
• Proactively identify and propose new editorial formats, stories, digital products and knowledge products based on the team's analytical work and interactions with Member States; independently develop agreed products from concept and research through to a high-quality draft; and recommend approaches for engaging relevant professional communities and improving the accessibility and usefulness of ISPAR and related products.

Requirements

• Master's degree in Journalism, Communications, Public policy, Economics, International relations, or a related field is required.
• A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in policy research, journalism, analytical writing, editorial work, knowledge products, or a closely related field is required.
• Demonstrated experience independently researching complex topics and developing high-quality policy, analytical or editorial products from concept through final draft is required.
• Demonstrated experience designing and conducting interviews, surveys or other qualitative evidence-gathering activities with senior stakeholders, practitioners or public-sector counterparts is required.
• Strong ability to translate technical, economic, statistical or policy material into accurate and compelling content for different audiences is required.
• Demonstrated ability to identify and propose editorial angles, knowledge products, digital formats or other approaches for disseminating analytical work is required.
• Experience supporting analytical publications through literature research, evidence synthesis, fact-checking, structuring, drafting and substantive editing is required.
• A strong portfolio or samples demonstrating excellent English-language writing across more than one format will be required.
• Experience working on development issues, with international organizations, governments or public-sector stakeholders is desirable.

Skills

• Policy Research
• Analytical Writing
• Editorial Work
• Knowledge Product Development
• Qualitative Research
• Interview Design
• Survey Design
• Evidence Synthesis
• Fact-Checking
• Policy Analysis
• Economic Analysis
• Statistical Analysis
• Content Translation
• Digital Content Dissemination
• Literature Research
• Substantive Editing
• English Writing
• Stakeholder Engagement

Languages

English, Arabic, French