Health Informatics Associate, GMS
Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Additional Location Information: May be based in Lao PDR or Vietnam for local nationals
Overview
Founded in 2002 by President William J. Clinton, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to strengthening integrated health systems around the world and expanding access to care and treatment for HIV/AIDS, malaria and other illnesses.
CHAI’s global malaria program provides direct technical and operational support to countries around the globe to strengthen their malaria programs and reduce the burden of this preventable, treatable disease. We support governments to scale up effective interventions for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and surveillance, with the goals of sustainably reducing the number of malaria-related illnesses and deaths
worldwide in the short-term and accelerating progress towards malaria elimination in the long term.
In the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), malaria elimination efforts are given added urgency by the development of artemisinin resistance. CHAI is supporting malaria programs in Lao PDR, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia to achieve the required level of programmatic capacity to devise targeted, evidence-based plans, identify sufficient resources to enact them, strengthen surveillance systems, scale-up interventions in high risk and hard-to-reach populations, and coordinate activities regionally.
Technology plays a key role in achieving these objectives. Building strong information systems can substantially reduce the time taken to collect and access data, improve data quality, and reduce redundancies in parallel data collection systems. Availability of higher quality information enables programs to target and tailor their programs and use resources more effectively. CHAI supports programs in continuously identifying challenges and potential technological and operational solutions in surveillance systems to improve data-driven decision-making at all levels of the system
Overview of Role
CHAI is seeking a highly motivated individual to work as a Health Informatics Associate and play a critical role in helping governmental programs improve how they collect, analyze, and use data to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their efforts to eliminate and control malaria. S/he will work with CHAI staff to build in-country capacity at the CHAI and government levels on the application of information technology for data collection, management, analysis, and use. This will include strategic and operational support on the thoughtful design, creation, modification, and maintenance of potentially complex and diverse surveillance platforms; leading training sessions related to the deployment and use of technology solutions; assessing performance and data integrity of surveillance systems; monitoring and evaluating the performance of different surveillance systems; and helping staff use and troubleshoot health information technology solutions on an ongoing basis with the end goal of improving data quality, access and use.
The Associate will focus on the Greater Mekong Subregion, providing support to Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. The Associate will work closely with other CHAI technical teams focused on surveillance, and will also work closely with external institutions including technology companies, academic partners, the WHO, and government technical bodies working on malaria control and epidemiological surveillance.
Initial responsibilities will include (i) working with the Vietnam national malaria program to update, scale-up, monitor the performance of, and institutionalize the malaria surveillance system nationwide, (ii) supporting the adoption, governance, and technology implementation of a common geo-registry in Lao PDR, (iii) providing capacity-building support to the Thailand Ministry of Health on maintenance of a geo-spatial planning and intervention management tool and (iv) proactively identifying technical and operational challenges in system uptake and performance across all countries and working on solutions for continuous improvement.
A successful candidate will need to work with team members across CHAI’s Global, Regional and Country Malaria Teams and will therefore need to possess strong communication, organizational, and management skills as well as be able to work independently to drive implementation and have deep personal commitment to producing results.
Responsibilities
Scoping (15%)
- Work with malaria programs, MoH informatics units, and CHAI regional and country teams to understand technological and non-technological requirements for improving malaria surveillance data quality, access, including the monitoring of epidemiology, vectors, data quality, and case management indicators
- Develop and document coherent and technology-appropriate software and hardware specifications for meeting user requirements across countries and regions (including DHIS2-appropriate specifications) for user workflows, data collection forms, dashboards, systems integrations, and other platform components as needed, in line with programmatic objectives and data use needs
- Play a translational role in communicating technical approaches, user requirements and software/hardware specifications to non-technical staff within CHAI and ministries of health
Technical Project Management and Support (35%)
- Work with external developers to communicate requirement needs and priorities; test developer outputs and provide regular feedback on bugs and functionality to ensure solutions are being developed according to specifications; oversee developers and make sure deadlines are met
- Directly configure, update, and thoroughly test system set ups as needed, particularly for DHIS2, Reveal, and common geo-registry systems, including updates to users, locations, data elements, indicators, and dashboards based on country’s requirements and feedback from users.
- Develop testing templates and lead end to end testing processes of information systems, including robust user testing, to ensure systems works smoothly before implementation.
- Lead stress tests, system customizations, and run tests on data integrity and continuous integration of releases.
- Support systems integration as needed
Technology Implementation and Training (35%)
- Assist with capacity building for government staff and system institutionalization by developing manuals, SOPs, training materials; help train global, country and program staff in the use of information technology
- Help cultivate a culture of data-use within malaria programs by monitoring and strengthening the quality of data inputs, refining analytical outputs, and developing context-appropriate strategies to strengthen the usage and analysis of data by the malaria program
- Proactively identify gaps and challenges with system uptake and performance; identify and support execution of both technical and operational solutions improve system institutionalization
- Work actively and closely with CHAI teams and government stakeholders to design and implement M&E plans to routinely assess the performance of digital solutions, as part of broader program M&E plans
Other (15%)
- Provide thought partnership, guidance, and hands-on support to non-malaria CHAI teams in the GMS region working in cross-cutting digital health initiatives
- Knowledge management - manage and develop resources, guidelines, and other material to provide guidance to and share lessons across teams
- Other responsibilities as needed
Preferred Skills and Experience
- At least three years’ working experience as a software engineer, business analyst, product manager, technical project manager, or in a similar role working closely with stakeholders to define and deliver business requirements for technology initiatives.
- Proven experience in planning, designing, and implementing technology-based solutions across the full software delivery lifecycle (scoping, requirements gathering and elaboration, development management, training and implementation support, maintenance phases) with stakeholders and users
- Knowledge of and experience working with DHIS2 strongly preferred
- Experience working with governments or international NGOs strongly preferred
- Experience working on integration of information management systems
- Experience in system administration, server set up and hardware management
- Ability to use one of the following languages: C#, Java, Html, Python
- Experience in data management (including managing, turning databases: Oracle, MS SQL) and data analysis
- Proficiency in Access, Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint;
- Ability to be effective, calm, and flexible in high-pressure situations, to handle multiple tasks simultaneously and to effectively prioritize
- Ability to communicate effectively with people of varied professional and cultural backgrounds
- Ability to travel approximately 25-50% of the year
- Ability to participate in evening/night calls with global team members 1-2 times per week
Advantages
- Knowledge of dashboard development tools (Metabase, PowerBI and/or other relevant software)
- Experience in data management (including managing databases), ETL tools/processes and data analysis
- Any statistical and geospatial analysis experience (R, SAS, STATA, ArcGIS and/or other relevant software);
- Knowledge of malaria or other global infectious diseases; and understanding of disease surveillance (including surveillance platforms) with knowledge of global health issues;
- Experience living or working in resource-limited countries;
- Familiarity with emerging technologies for web or mobile application development for data visualization and analysis
- Working knowledge of Vietnamese, Lao, Khmer, or Burmese
A one-page cover letter should specify the position sought and highlight why the candidate believes they are the right person for the position. A CV detailing professional experience, relevant qualifications and three reference contacts should be provided. Interested candidates should send materials to [email protected] [1]. Indicate position sought in the subject line. Applications will be reviewed as they arrive, but must be received by 22 Oct 2022. Only shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview.
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