Technical Advisor, Data Use and Decision Science at Resolve to Save Lives

Position Purpose

• RTSL is seeking a Technical Advisor, Data Use and Decision Science to be embedded within the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC). This role will focus on fostering collaboration, strengthening governance, and improving understanding of public health data for effective disease surveillance at the national and sub-national levels. Additionally, the Technical Advisor will provide strategic mentorship and technical support to enhance NCDC's capacity to use data for decision-making. The Technical Advisor will play a pivotal role in advancing development of high-priority data products—including the Weekly Epidemiology Reports (WER), enhanced Situation Reports (SitReps), Epidemiological Bulletins, and Enhanced Situational Awareness (ESA) risk information products—to strengthen epidemic preparedness, response, and health security in Nigeria.
• This position is embedded within the Public Health Informatics Division, Department of Surveillance and Epidemiology, NCDC. The role will have a matrix reporting structure, reporting to both the Divisional Head of the Public Health Informatics Division and the Senior Technical Advisor for Health Security and Event-Based Surveillance at RTSL. The incumbent will also collaborate on outputs and receive technical support from other members of the global RTSL team.

Length of Engagement: This is a fixed-term appointment through December 2026 with the possibility of extension.

Core Duties And Responsibilities

• The Technical Advisor, Data Use and Decision Science will provide mentorship and technical support to the NCDC to enhance the use of data for decision-making, including the development of information products, training and capacity building of NCDC staff, and integration of surveillance data and information systems, as part of the overall success of Collaborative Surveillance in Nigeria.

Responsibilities will span across the data lifecycle but are not limited to the following:

Technical Support & Mentorship

• Engage with the directors and decision makers in public health emergency management to identify data needs for decision-making
• Provide direct mentorship and technical assistance to relevant NCDC staff responsible for developing priority information products, based on the consensus and approval of relevant NCDC directors and decision-makers
• Identify bottlenecks for data sharing, data governance, and data use relevant to public health emergency preparedness and response and collaborate with relevant departments to address and resolve challenges
• Provide strategic guidance, technical mentorship and capacity building support to NCDC staff and other stakeholders on data management, analysis, visualization, and interpretation
• Strengthen internal capacities in data analytics and visualization, including advanced statistical modelling for forecasting and real-time dashboard implementation, to improve surveillance reporting and outbreak response through mentorship and structured trainings as needed
• Support prioritization and design of information products across diverse stakeholders, both within and external to NCDC
• Collaborate with NCDC and RTSL team members working on data architecture solutions to provide technical support for new or existing initiatives to improve data governance and coordination for public health emergency management
• Support translation and implementation of data structures towards data use and automation of data pipelines
• Provide technical support for the development of strategic documents and guidelines in relation to improving national surveillance architecture and data governance

Development of Information Products
 

• Support NCDC staff and relevant stakeholders to develop and/or enhance key NCDC data products, including the Weekly Epidemiological Reports (WERs), Epidemiological Bulletin, Enhanced Situation Reports (SitReps), and ESA risk information products
• Enhance data visualization dashboards, predictive analytics models, and automated reporting systems to strengthen disease surveillance and risk assessment
• Ensure alignment of data products with One Health approach

Data-Driven Decision-Making & Capacity Building

• Provide technical advisory for data collation on national health security priorities from various sources and generate information products which can inform efficient and impactful programming for institutional planning and budgeting, including development of multisectoral workplans and effective prioritization of multi-lateral funds.
• Support NCDC in translating surveillance and epidemiological data into actionable insights for public health decision-making.
• Identify required data use capacity needs (workforce training – intro to epi, R, data science/analysis)
• Conduct training workshops, seminars, and hands-on sessions for NCDC staff and state-level epidemiologists to strengthen their analytical skills
• Facilitate the development and implementation of a data use strategy to improve the quality, accessibility, and utility of health data for better decision-making

Stakeholder Engagement & Collaboration

• Support activities to strengthen routine sharing of data relevant for epidemic and pandemic preparedness and response within the NCDC and across the other sectors and MDAs
• Identify opportunities for collaboration and support between NCDC and other MDAs to improve data sharing, use, and improve synergy on data utilization for epidemic preparedness and response
• Provide technical support and facilitate stakeholder engagement for new or existing initiatives to improve data governance and coordination.
• Facilitate process and workflow support, including support for routine surveillance and emergency preparedness team meetings (such as NaSORM, TWGs etc.)
• Support focused meetings on data sharing and data product innovations, and additional support for multisectoral workshops focused on joint data projects and data sharing agreements
• Perform other related duties as assigned by NCDC and RTSL.

Required Qualifications
Education

• Master’s or PhD in Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Data Science, Public Health, Health Informatics, or a related field

Experience

• Minimum of 8 years of experience in public health or related discipline in health data analytics, disease surveillance, or decision science, preferably within a public health or government agency
• Experience developing predictive and forecasting models for public health
• Demonstrated experience in capacity-building, training, and mentorship of public health professionals

Skills & Abilities

• A good understanding of public health, data compilation, management, and analysis, including understanding of public health informatics and the importance of data in supporting health surveillance and emergency management
• Strong expertise in data visualization tools (Power BI, Tableau, R, etc.), statistical programming (R, Python, Stata, or SAS), and GIS mapping
• Advanced R skills, including data preparation, descriptive statistics, data visualization, geospatial mapping
• Advanced knowledge of statistical modeling with familiarity with specific models suitable for a given pathogen/disease; demonstrated ability to understand academic manuscripts that detail these methods is highly desirable.
• Intermediate proficiency in R Shiny and Markdown for creating interactive applications and automated reports.
• Advanced programming skill to organize the scripts to execute complex modeling/visualization tools into replicable and comprehensible structure.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement skills, with experience working with government agencies, development partners, and global health organizations
• Strong understanding of International Health Regulations (IHR 2005), Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR), and One Health approaches
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, analytical, report writing, presentation and interpersonal skills for engaging and influencing non-governmental partners, donors, and multilateral agencies, with the ability to present complex information to non-technical audiences in an effective manner
• Results and impact-oriented, with a problem-solving attitude and attention to detail
• Ability to work effectively both independently and as part of a team, with a collaborative mindset

Other

• Fluency in English is required