Data Management Advisor, Decision Support , FEWS NET, East and Southern Africa (ESAF)

Chemonics’ East and Southern Africa Regional Business Unit is seeking a Data Management Advisor. 

Data management is a key component of FEWS NET’s work, given the range of data and information that the DS Team uses to conduct its analyses. The DS Team relies where possible on partner food security stakeholders for secondary data, and, where necessary, the DS Team has been increasingly engaged in managing data and ensuring up-to-date data streams are available. Since 2015, FEWS NET has contributed data to the FEWS NET Data Warehouse (FDW). The FDW currently includes the following data domains: commodity prices, remittances, exchange rate, secondary price index, cross-border trade, agricultural production, definition of “seasons,” nutrition, Historical Food Insecurity Classification (HFIC), Food Insecure Population Estimates (FIPE), shapefiles, and others. Additional data domains may be created in the future. 

 

The data management advisor (DMA) is expected to set the technical direction for this sector’s work and advise the FEWS NET DS Senior Management Team (SMT) on associated technical and administrative priorities. The DMA has three main domains of responsibility. First, the DMA is responsible for developing, maintaining and implementing policies, strategies, and management protocols, in accordance with USAID regulations and in alignment with FEWS NET Data, Knowledge, and Learning Hub (Hub) guidance, for data created or collected by FEWS NET DS. Second, the DMA is responsible for management and oversight of the DS team’s work on data systems managed within the greater FEWS NET project, including advising on technical design specifications and data collection, processing, cleaning, and validation protocols and implementation. Finally, DMA is responsible for strategic engagement on data management and data systems across the FEWS NET DS technical team, with other mechanisms within the broader FEWS NET team, and with external audiences. 

 

The data management advisor is a full-time position and is preferred to be based in the Home Office in Washington, D.C. though remote options may be considered for well-qualified candidates and works under the supervision of the deputy chief of party-innovation (DCOP-I) or their designee. The data management advisor will collaborate with the Washington-based technical team, regional technical experts, and other technical staff in the field. Occasional international and domestic travel may be required, security permitting. 

Responsibilities:

 

The main responsibilities of the data management advisor include, but are not limited to: 

DS data management  

• Overseeing and leading data management, processing, and strategy for FEWS NET DS, and providing guidance and input to SMT on data-related issues, including on best practices and USAID and USG regulations 
• Developing, maintaining, and managing the overall strategy and implementation of ingestion, cleaning, storage, protection, transfer, and documentation of FEWS NET DS data and information in accordance with USAID and USG regulations.  
• Working with the FEWS NET Hub, developing, maintaining, and managing the overall strategy for, and implementation of FDW data management processes for the DS Team, including, but not limited to: 
• Engagement with the Hub to ensure FDW management, oversight, and strategy implementation for DS domains 
• Managing and overseeing the collection, processing, and submission of georeferenced agricultural, nutrition, FIPE, HFIC and cross-border trade data for FEWS NET coverage countries for the FDW 
• Identifying gaps and quality issues in newly submitted and existing data in the DS FDW domains, liaising with staff to resolve data quality issues and locate missing data sets in a timely manner 
• Coordinating DS staff contributions to and engagement with the FDW  
• Developing, documenting, communicating and enforcing database management best practices and policies, such as role-based access control policies, data storage, and encryption 
• Identifying opportunities and gaps within the project’s s