Environment & Health Data Scientist, Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (US Posting)

Duties and Responsibilities

• Data Integration and Analysis
• Work closely with epidemiologists and country teams to develop global and country-specific indicators and indices related to lead exposure risks.
• Provide technical support and guidance for the country team to access, align, and integrate health, environmental, social, economic, and demographic data from Ministries of Health, Ministries of the Environment, and other governmental and nongovernmental agencies.
• Develop a model metadata tool for national data systems.
• Support the design and maintenance of analytical datasets, reports, health panels, dashboards, and visualization tools (e.g., Power BI, Excel, R Markdown, or Tableau) for internal and external use.
• Define database structures, relationships, and workflows to ensure efficient integration, storage, and retrieval of blood lead level (BLL) and related epidemiological, demographic, and environmental data.
• Provide guidance to country teams to evaluate data quality, completeness, and consistency; perform data cleaning and validation.
• Collaborate with Ministries of Health, Ministries of the Environment, and other governmental and non-governmental agencies to align architecture standards with existing health information systems and environmental systems (e.g., SINAN, SIASUS, SISOLO, SISAGUA).
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Work in collaboration with other international NGOs that are part of the Lead Poisoning Prevention Initiative that work with institutions that may hold relevant data.
• Work with appropriate authorities and stakeholders across sectors to build and maintain awareness of broader lead-related initiatives.
• Cook up with all key stakeholders to ensure regular and timely communication and progress of program activities.
• Coordinate with all key stakeholders to ensure regular and timely communication and progress of program activities.
• Participate in technical discussions and working groups to contribute and inform program progress.
• Communicate results effectively to technical and non-technical audiences, including health officials, laboratory teams, health workers, and policymakers.
• Technical Support
• Provide analytical and methodological guidance to country teams related to data system development and maintenance.
• Aid in the formulation of national strategies and action plans on data integration.
• Support training sessions and workshops related to data integration and surveillance.
• Contribute to capacity strengthening efforts to enhance local analytical competencies.
• Program Implementation and Coordination
• Collaborate with global teams to monitor and report the progress of the implementation of data integration.
• Support the planning and coordination of data collection, data flow, and information management processes.
• Contribute to the dissemination of findings through technical presentations, meetings, and publications.
• Ensure timely delivery of analytical outputs aligned with project milestones and government reporting needs.
• Assist with other duties assigned by the supervisor.

Qualifications

• Education - Master’s degree in computer science, data science, information technology, statistics, public health, or related field.
• Skills And Abilities - Proficiency in defining database structures, relational schemas, and workflows for complex multi-sectoral datasets (health, environmental, demographic). Ability to align data architecture standards across disparate governmental information systems (e.g., SINAN, SIASUS). Strong quantitative and analytical skills with attention to detail and accuracy; Excellent communication and visualization skills to present complex data clearly; Ability to collaborate with epidemiologists to translate health risks (e.g., lead exposure) into measurable global and country-specific indices. Ability to navigate relationships with diverse stakeholders, including Ministries of Health, Ministries of the Environment, NGOs, and laboratory teams. Ability to communicate analytical results to technical experts and non-technical policymakers. Ability to provide analytical guidance to field teams regarding data system maintenance and strategy. Experience in facilitating training sessions and workshops to enhance local technical competencies. Skill in contributing to the formulation of national-level action plans and implementation strategies for data integration. High level of initiative, organization, and problem-solving ability; Professional proficiency in English (oral and written). Ability to work collaboratively in multidisciplinary and multi-cultural teams and experience working in government environments is a plus; Experience - Minimum 6 to 7 years of professional experience in computer science, data science, information technology, data analysis and/or health surveillance applied to public health or environmental health; Experience in managing and analyzing large data sets or health surveillance datasets; Experience working with government health or environmental departments; Experience in using software to warehouse data and create data visualization and dashboards (e.g., Microsoft Azure or Fabric, SQL-Server, Power BI, Tableau, Shiny); Experience working with statistical software such as R, SAS, SPSS, Stata. Preferred - Experience working with global, regional, and large-scale national; Health information systems (e.g., DHIS2) and with cross-sectoral datasets; Experience in systematic toolkit development and capacity building; Familiarity with geospatial data and spatial analysis tools (QGIS, ArcGIS); Advanced proficiency in R, Python, and/or SQL; Experience in applying AI tools to quantitative data; Experience working in partnership with governmental institutions and international organizations.