National Consultant – Migration Data Systems Specialist to Support UMAS

Location: Tbilisi, Georgia

Introduction

Established in 1951, IOM is a Related Organization of the United Nations and the leading UN agency in the field of migration. Working closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners, IOM promotes humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all. It saves lives and protects people on the move, drives solutions to displacement, and facilitates pathways for regular migration, while providing services and advice to governments and migrants. 

IOM is committed to fostering a respectful, inclusive and supportive workplace where all employees can thrive professionally and feel valued. By creating such an environment, IOM aims to better harness the full potential of migration and strengthen its support to people on the move.

IOM invites candidates from diverse backgrounds to apply and provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process when required. Learn more about IOM’s workplace culture at IOM workplace culture | International Organization for Migration

Duty Station of the Consultancy: Tbilisi, Georgia

Duration of Consultancy: 25 working days (1 October 2026 – 30 April 2027)

Nature of the consultancy: Support the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Mission in Georgia in conducting a focused current-state, effectiveness and trust assessment of the Unified Migration Analytical System (UMAS), in consultation with the Public Service Development Agency (PSDA/SCMI), data-owning institutions and users of UMAS outputs; identify which recommendations and priority use cases from the standardized EMD migration data methodology are technically and institutionally applicable to UMAS; and prepare technical requirements and recommendations as inputs to the implementation and assurance roadmap led by the International Consultant. Priority attention will be given to foreign-student analytics and foreign-migrant-worker data integration.
 

Project Context and Scope

In recent years, Georgia has made notable progress in strengthening its migration data system. However, there remains a need for increased standardization of data and enhanced methodologies and institutional coordination for the development of evidence-based policies and ensuring effective migration governance. This project aims to contribute to improved migration governance in Georgia through the establishment of a cohesive and efficient migration data ecosystem which ensures that high-quality data is consistently used to drive effective policy and programming decisions (Objective).

The project aims to achieve the objective through the following outcome: The Government of Georgia’s institutions apply standardized methodologies and integrate coordination frameworks for enhanced migration data collection and management. Relevant outputs include: a comprehensive and standardized methodology for disaggregated (including sex, age, nationality) migration data is available (Output 1.1); relevant stakeholders have improved capacities on migration data collection and management, including gender analysis (Output 1.2); a roadmap for the Public Services Development Agency (PSDA) to integrate the methodology into the Unified Migration Analytical System (UMAS) is available (Output 1.3); recommendations are available to Geostat for mainstreaming migration data-related aspects into the Population Registry (Output 1.4); and a coordination framework for migration data exchange, led by Geostat, is available for integration into the Statistical Working Programme (Output 1.5). 

Under Output 1.3, "A roadmap for the Public Services Development Agency (PSDA) to integrate the standardized methodology into the Unified Migration Analytical System (UMAS) is available," IOM Georgia seeks to engage a Local Consultant to provide technical and coordination support for the development of the roadmap.

Working under the overall supervision of IOM and the direct supervision of the EMD-Georgia Project Manager, and in close coordination with the International Consultant, the Local Consultant will lead the detailed current-state technical and operational assessment of UMAS, support consultations with PSDA/SCMI and relevant source-data owners and users, and prepare evidence-based technical inputs for the roadmap. The Local Consultant will ensure that findings reflect the national legal, institutional and operational context, distinguish UMAS functions from those of source systems, Geostat and the planned Population Register, and identify practical conditions for improving confidence in and use of UMAS outputs.

The Local Consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

1. Review the standardized methodology developed under the EMD-Georgia project (Output 1.1), the final indicator portfolio and implementation matrix, relevant UMAS legal/methodological/technical documentation, and available information on current UMAS functionality. Confirm, through PSDA/SCMI, the current purpose and population scope of UMAS, its current source inventory and report catalogue, and the extent to which it operates as an analytical integration environment and/or performs person-level record linkage and reconciliation.

2. Support preparation of and participate in an early inception and diagnostic mission, including technical sessions and supervised system/data-flow demonstrations with PSDA/SCMI and selected source institutions. Contribute to the Inception Report and Evidence and Access Matrix by documenting available and outstanding technical evidence, current source and analytical-product coverage, identified users, and constraints requiring follow-up.

3. Following the inception mission, conduct a focused UMAS current-state, effectiveness and trust assessment through follow-up consultations and available technical evidence. The assessment should cover, proportionate to the available days: data-source ingestion and transformation; source-specific business rules and data passports; data-quality controls and check/reconciliation reports; person-identification/linkage methodology and handling of unmatched or ambiguous records; report generation and metadata/versioning; access and user workflows; current analytical-product use; institutional validation/sign-off; staffing, maintenance and external-expert dependency; and relevant sustainability constraints.

4. Under the guidance of the International Consultant, prepare an EMD-to-UMAS Applicability and Requirements Matrix identifying which EMD recommendations/use cases should: (a) remain source-system or Geostat products; (b) provide aggregate/statistical inputs to UMAS; (c) be supported through UMAS multi-source analytical processing; (d) require new or modified UMAS data integration; or (e) be deferred pending the Population Register or other system development. For applicable items, specify technical, metadata, quality, governance and institutional requirements.

5. Assess the prospective interface between UMAS and the planned Population Register, including which resident-population, migration-flow and demographic-accounting functions should remain outside UMAS; which foreigner-related administrative data may be analytically relevant to both environments; and which identifiers, classifications, metadata and governance arrangements should be harmonized to support future interoperability without creating competing master population datasets.

6. Conduct or facilitate, with PSDA/SCMI and source institutions, at least one source-to-UMAS reconciliation walkthrough using foreign-student data as the primary existing integration case, documenting source definitions, transfer/extract, transformation rules, matching/linkage, UMAS output, discrepancies and validation steps. Subject to feasibility, include a second representative existing source. Separately, map the technical and governance requirements for future integration or analytical use of foreign-migrant-worker/work-permit data, without assuming that all labour-migration production should occur in UMAS.

7. Undertake a limited utilization and duplication mapping for a small number of recurring migration information products/processes (for example Migration Profiles/analytical reporting, migration risk analysis, Migration Strategy monitoring and, where accessible, EMN reporting). Trace the information requested, source institution, whether equivalent information is already available in UMAS, whether UMAS is used, and, where it is bypassed, the reason. Treat informal feedback concerning duplicated requests as a hypothesis to be validated rather than an established finding.

8. Work closely with the International Consultant throughout the assignment to develop the implementation and assurance roadmap, review draft versions, provide technical evidence and feasibility assessments, and ensure that the roadmap reflects the national context, verified UMAS constraints and stakeholder feedback.

9. Support the organization and implementation of the roadmap validation workshop, including coordinating with national stakeholders, preparing background materials, documenting the discussions, consolidating comments and recommendations, and preparing the workshop report.

10. Contribute to the revision and finalization of the roadmap by addressing stakeholder feedback, updating the technical assessment and requirements where necessary, and providing a concise technical annex documenting any agreed changes to source integration, reconciliation, quality assurance, access or governance arrangements.

11. Prepare and submit a Final Consultancy Report summarizing the activities undertaken, consultations conducted, key findings, technical inputs provided, and contributions to the finalized roadmap.