REACH Database Specialist at Reach International

Details:

Position to start 4th quarter 2018

Contract duration 6 months

Location Maiduguri, with up to 50% travel

Context / Country
The crisis in North-East Nigeria is now in its 9th year, with 1.88 million people displaced across the three states of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa. Borno state hosts the largest proportion of these (1.4 million people). Major operations by NAF and counter offensives by AOGs have increased through the 2nd quarter of 2018, leading to the displacement of 59,567 individuals between DTM rounds 22 and 23 (April – June 2018). In Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States, Kukawa, Monguno, Mafa, Dikwa, Bama, Gwoza, Damboa, Gujba, Tarmwa, Maiha, Nusman, Song, Yola South and Fufore LGAs have all seen significant increases in the number of IDPs in accessible areas who are primarily originating from Hard to Reach (H2R) areas. While there is a considerable amount of information related to the needs and conditions of IDPs (as well as returnees and non-displaced populations, thanks in part to the ongoing efforts of REACH) in these accessible areas, despite the availability of information sources – the recently displaced populations themselves – there is an evident lack of information on populations remaining in H2R areas.

UN OCHA estimates that 820,000 individuals remain isolated in areas inaccessible to the humanitarian response and with limited access to basic services such as health care and education. Specific conditions and needs of the population in hard to reach settlements remain unknown, and population figures, well as demographic composition and status (non-displaced, IDP, returnee), are formulated with little actual knowledge of the situation.

In recognition of the urgent need for data in further areas of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, REACH intends to expand data collection in secure locations of Maiduguri, Monguno, Kukawa, Pulka, Mafa, Bama, Dikwa, Ngala, Damasak, Rann, Banki, Gwoza, Mubi and Gujuba in 2018. Through an H2R assessment approach, REACH will provide regular, reliable indicative tracking of humanitarian needs over time, to support in prioritization and identification of “hot-spot” areas witnessing a deterioration of humanitarian needs. To ensure this data is directly informing humanitarian response planning, data will be shared through formal coordination structures, such as OCHA, the OISWG, and relevant clusters, with feedback from partners used for both triangulations of gathered data as well as to inform research design and geographical targeting.

Chain of Command

Under the authority of:

• In country: ACTED Country Director
• In country: REACH Regional Representative
• In country: REACH (Senior) GIS Officers

Responsible for:

• Their own activities
• National staff (data management activities)
• Working Relations

Internal Relations:

• REACH Regional Representative
• REACH (Senior) GIS/Assessment Officers
• REACH Field Manager
• REACH (Senior) Field Officers
• REACH Field Assistants

Functions

Summary

The REACH Database Specialist shall be responsible for:

• Data management
• Tool design and creation
• Data trainings
• Data analysis
• Any other tasks need to ensure the success of the REACH mission in Nigeria

Data management

The REACH Database Specialist will manage all data collected by the REACH field team. They will coordinate with field teams to ensure quantitative datasets are properly cleaned, are in the same file formats, and are stored together onto the Dropbox server. They will similarly coordinate to ensure all qualitative data collected is properly transcribed and stored onto the Dropbox server from all field bases.

Tool design and creation

The REACH Database Specialist will manage the Open Data Kit (ODK) tool design and management using XLSForm, ensuring that the forms are error free and updated each month according to the feedback from Assessment/GIS Officers, Field Manager, and field teams. They will deploy tools to Kobo and liaise with field teams to ensure they are downloaded onto phones prior to each month’s data collection cycle onset. They will support Assessment/GIS Officers and field teams with ad-hoc tool requests and error fixing.

Data trainings

The REACH Database Specialist will periodically hold trainings for REACH field staff, ensuring that they have the skills needed to clean and manage data collected in their field bases. These will occur at minimum on a quarterly basis when field teams convene for a workshop. When the REACH Database Specialist feels that the data coming from certain field bases is below par, they can deploy to those bases to provide oversight and training on the data cleaning and management in coordination with the Assessment/GIS Officers and Field Manager. They will also be expected to deploy for this purpose if requested by the Assessment/GIS Officers and/or Field Manager.

Data analysis

The REACH Database Specialist will be responsible for providing support upon request to the quantitative data analysis activities of the Assessment/GIS Officers. They will also oversee and validate any quantitative analysis conducted by Senior Field Officers or Field Managers prior to its delivery to Assessment/GIS Officers.

Other tasks

• The REACH Database Specialist will participate in other, undefined tasks that are necessary to support the REACH mission in Nigeria.
• Accountability to Communities and Beneficiaries
• The staff member is responsible for ensuring that all relations with the communities we work are conducted in a respectful and consultative manner.
• Due attention must be paid to ensuring that communities are adequately consulted and informed about ACTED programme objectives, activities, beneficiary selection criteria, and methodologies. 
• They will also be responsible with printing and delivering REACH products directly to those providing REACH with the data. This is the responsibility of every ACTED staff member.

Qualifications and Experience

• Minimum of 4 years of progressively more responsible experience in humanitarian data management and/or analysis
• Willingness and ability to work in a dynamic and fast-paced field environment for extended periods of the time required
• Bachelor’s degree in relevant discipline (social science, development, economics, statistics) required
• Strong skills with the Microsoft Office Suite, with skills in Excel required
• Excellent experience using ODK for quantitative data collection
• Excellent experience creating ODK questionnaires using XLSForm
• Excellent experience cleaning and managing data
• Considerable experience guiding and training staff on data collection, or ability to learn rapidly
• Considerable experience in data analysis, or ability to learn rapidly
• Experience with data management and/or analysis in Stata, R, or SPSS highly desired
• Positive attitude and a willingness to learn
• Excellent communication skills
• Excellent time management skills
• Ability to operate in a cross-cultural environment requiring flexibility
• Prior experience working in IDP settlements an asset.
• Written and spoken fluency in English and Hausa required
• Ability to work independently