Advanced pro imagines what statistician needs (1,4,3,7)

I believe the answer is:

a head for figures

'what statistician needs' is the definition.
(a statistician works with figures)

'advanced pro imagines' is the wordplay.
'advanced' becomes 'ahead' (ahead can mean advanced or in front).
'pro' becomes 'for' (I've seen this before).
'imagines' becomes 'figures' (figuring is a kind of imagining).
'ahead'+'for'+'figures'='A HEAD FOR FIGURES'

I've seen this clue in The Times.

Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app