International Survey Data Management Specialist

ICF is growing, and we are currently hiring a Data Management Specialist to support our international population-based survey work. This is a full-time, hybrid position based in Rockville, Maryland.

The Team:

ICF manages the USAID-funded Surveys for Monitoring in Resilience and Food Security (SMRFS) project as part of Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s flagship initiative to reduce global hunger and improve food security. The SMRFS Team collaborates with local survey implementing organizations to implement population-based surveys in targeted geographical areas where the U.S. Government and its partners invest in agriculture, resilience, and nutrition. The SMRFS Team also works with USAID to update and expand Feed the Future’s publicly available population-based survey guidance materials (https://agrilinks.org/post/feed-future-zoi-survey-methods), conduct additional analyses, and investigate ways to reduce burden and collect data using alternative methods.

The Work:

The Data Management Specialist is an integral part of the SMRFS survey team, responsible for all data processing activities from the initial customization of the data collection programming through to the delivery of complete data sets to the analysis group.  This requires being aware of the overall survey design; the cadence of survey activities; the requirements of other survey team members, in-country partners, and the client; all with regard to the survey data and the data collection system.  Crucially this entails working closely with the project’s programming staff and being more than conversant with the mechanisms of the data collection system.  The overall goal is to ensure that the survey collects timely, high-quality data.  Beyond survey activities the Data Management Specialist will be engaged with data processing development work.

Key Responsibilities:

• Oversee the deployment and support of mobile computer assisted personal interview (CAPI) data capture systems for household population-based surveys in developing countries using data collection software such as the CSPro and Survey Solutions.
• Work with in-country implementing agencies, both governmental and non-governmental, partnering with them in terms of the survey operation, and engaging them in related capacity strengthening activities.
• Prepare training materials and partner with implementing agencies to train local field staff in mobile data collection.
• Supervise fieldwork activities and provide troubleshooting assistance.
• Produce progress reports and contribute to data process related documentation.
• Prepare and review data files for consistency and anonymization prior to their release for analysis.
• Communicate throughout the entire survey process with other team members within ICF, implementing agencies, and key stakeholders in a clear and timely manner.
• Bridge communication between CAPI programmers and ICF team members, implementing agencies, and key stakeholders.
• Represent the data management team at ICF and respond to requests or needs in project-wide meetings within ICF, as well as with implementing agencies and key stakeholders.
• Travel to low- and middle-income countries for 2 – 4 weeks to conduct training, field supervision, or technical assistance. Anticipated travel approximately 30%

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, mathematics, public health, demography, or another related field
• 2+ years providing data management services for large data sets
• 1+ yrs' experience training groups of adults
• 1+ yrs' experience in data management or data editing
• 1+ yrs' experience with data analysis packages such as SAS, Stata, SPSS and/or R

Desired Qualifications:

• Master's degree in a survey methodologies or data collection related field
• Experience and interest in nutrition, public health, demographic research
• Experience training teams in low- and middle-income countries
• Proficiency in French or Spanish
• Experience managing the full life cycle of data processing activities
• Experience managing software development activities
• Experience programming and implementing surveys using CSPro, Survey Solutions and/or Blaise
• Programming experience in a language such as C#, C++, scripting languages such as Python, Ruby, Java, Perl, or the like

Working at ICF

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