Country: Lesotho
Closing date: 27 Jul 2018
POSITION SUMMARY
Reporting to the Chief of Party (CoP), the Strategic Information Advisor will support ICAP’s proposed project, Support of Strategic Information Activities in the Kingdom of Lesotho under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) – CDC-RFA-GH19-1925. S/he will provide technical assistance and capacity building to the Lesotho MOH and its stakeholders in the development of and implementation of data analysis, use, and dissemination strategy. S/he will additionally design strategy and activities to improve capacity on triangulating data from multiple data sources to inform policy and decision-making. Under the supervision of the CoP, s/he will contribute to the design of robust, user-friendly, high-quality interfaces for data visualization and data dissemination to enhance district-led and nationally supported evidence-based programming for improved understanding of HIV burden across interventions (95-95-95 cascade). S/he will additionally provide technical assistance to MOH to design and implement strategy to build capacity of M&E systems to oversee data quality and data use for decision making (including capacity building of M&E staff).
This position is contingent upon receiving grant funding.
MAJOR ACCOUNTABILITIES
- Provides technical support for the collection, analysis, triangulation and interpretation of data and the calculation of programmatic, surveillance, demographic and epidemiological indicators;
- Contributes to the analysis of correlations between coverage rates and disease incidence rates;
- Contributes to the identification and analysis of data from multiple sources in order to identify national and sub national trends and risk factors by population group;
- Reviews and enhances systems for the analysis, triangulation, interpretation, dissemination and utilization of data from multiple sources (routine, survey, surveillance and vital statistics among others) for policy making;
- Engages in discussions with health informatics staff to design robust, user-friendly, high-quality interfaces within the integrated Health Information Systems for data dissemination and data utilization;
- Provides technical assistance to the Ministry of Health (MOH) in the development of a data quality strategy;
- Supports and facilitates training/workshops related to data quality assessment;
- Facilitates training/workshops related to data analysis, dissemination and use of information;
- Identifies and strengthens regular national- and district-level platforms for evidence-based programing, including the establishment of a program performance review meeting;
- Participates in the organization and facilitation of national and district performance review meetings;
- Transfers knowledge and skills through the ongoing hands-on training of MOH and its partners;
- Participates in the organization and facilitation of seminars, brainstorming workshops and workshops within their field of competence, whenever this is required;
- Prepares periodic reports of activities; and
- Performs other duties as assigned.
EDUCATION
- Master’s degree (preferably PhD) in Epidemiology, strategic information, international development or other related field.
MINIMUM REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE, AND SKILLS
- At least 8 years of experience working in epidemiology;
- At least 5 years of work experience in developing countries;
- Experience in the collection, analysis and interpretation of HIV program data (client and clinic level data) as well as sentinel cohort and population based survey data and in the calculation of demographic and epidemiological indicators;
- Proficient in SAS, STATA, R or equivalent statistical package to conduct descriptive and model based analyses with HIVprogram data;
- Experience in analyzing and in presenting data from multiple sources for identifying national- and sub-national trends and risk factors by population group;
- A proven track record of successful knowledge and skills transfer to local institutions through basic and ongoing hands-on skill trainings, seminars, brainstorms and workshops;
- Ability to work with and learn from a team of technical experts with varied background (health information system developer, health care service providers, etc.);
- Ability to work with a wide range of stakeholders, including leaders, technical professionals, government and non-government representatives;
- Ability to work with minimal supervision and maximum accountability and attention to detail;
- Experience in word processing, use of spreadsheets (including graphing), database use, e-mail communication and internet research;
- Skills and abilities in the practical use of Epi-Info, SPSS, Excel, and Access; and
- Fluency in English, both spoken and written.
How to apply:
Please send cover letter and CV by email with subject title “Lesotho SI Advisor” to icap-jobs@cumc.columbia.edu.