Technical Advisor, Surveillance, Data Use and Decision Science (Remote - Kinshasa, DRC)

The posting

Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL) is a global health organization that partners locally and globally to create and scale solutions to the world’s deadliest health threats. Millions of people die from preventable health threats. We collaborate to close the gap between proven, life-saving solutions and the people who need them. Since 2017, we’ve worked with governments and other partners in more than 60 countries to save millions of lives. We work toward a future where people live longer, healthier lives, communities flourish, and economies thrive. This is an ambitious vision, and it inspires us and our partners to make progress every day.

Resolve to Save Lives' Prevent Epidemics program works closely with Ministries of Health and national public health institutes in Africa to strengthen epidemic preparedness capacity, accelerate disease detection and response, and effectively use data to inform action. In addition to direct partnerships with governments, we also work with implementing partners, including the US CDC, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and the Global Health Advocacy Incubator, to implement programs, prototype innovations, and ensure sustainability through increased national ownership, including domestic budget allocations.

Position Purpose:

RTSL is seeking a Technical Advisor for Surveillance, Data Use and Decision Science. This position aims to strengthen collaboration, governance, and the use of public health data to improve disease surveillance at the national and subnational levels. The advisor will provide technical support to the structures responsible for surveillance in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including the National Public Health Institute (INSP), its Public Health Emergency Operations Center (COUSP), the Directorate of Epidemiological Surveillance (DSE), disease control programs, and the National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB), in order to use data to detect threats, track alerts, analyze 7-1-7 timelines, and guide public health decisions. They will develop simple, useful information products, train teams, and help identify delays in detection, notification, investigation, confirmation, and early response.

The position will be a part of the RTSL DRC team and will support national institutions, without substituting for their mandates. The Technical Advisor will work with national technical teams and contribute to the development of simple, useful, and prioritized information products. They will train teams and help identify delays in detection, notification, investigation, confirmation, and early response — particularly weekly epidemiological reports, situation reports or investigated events, as well as 7-1-7 analyses, epidemiological bulletins, and risk information products — in order to support decision-making that strengthens preparedness, response, and health security in the DRC. They will benefit from RTSL's technical support.

This is a one-year, renewable fixed-term contract with a 3-month probationary period.

Core Duties and Responsibilities:

Responsibilities will cover the full data lifecycle, including but not limited to:

Technical Support & Mentorship:

• Collaborate with directors and decision-makers responsible for public health emergency management to identify data needs for decision-making

• Provide direct coaching and technical assistance to relevant INSP staff responsible for developing priority information products, including 7-1-7 dashboards, based on consensus and approval from relevant managers

• Identify bottlenecks related to the sharing, governance, and use of data relevant to public health emergency preparedness and response, and collaborate with relevant departments to address and resolve these challenges

• Provide guidance, technical mentoring, and capacity-building support to INSP staff and other stakeholders in data management, analysis, visualization, and interpretation, particularly the 7-1-7 detection, notification, investigation, confirmation, and early response timelines

• Strengthen capacities in data analysis and visualization, including statistical modeling and real-time dashboards, aiming to improve surveillance reporting and outbreak response through mentoring and structured training

• Support the prioritization and design of information products among various stakeholders, both within INSP and with other national surveillance structures

• Collaborate with INSP teams, surveillance structures, and RTSL teams working on data architecture to support initiatives aimed at improving data governance and coordination of public health emergency management

• Support the translation and implementation of data structures to promote data use and automation of data processing pipelines

• Provide technical support for the development of strategic documents and guidelines aimed at improving the national surveillance architecture and data governance

Development of Information Products:

• Support staff at surveillance structures, including INSP, and relevant stakeholders in developing or improving key data products, particularly weekly epidemiological reports, epidemiological bulletins, situation reports, and risk information products

• Contribute to improving data visualization dashboards, predictive analysis models, and automated reporting systems to strengthen disease surveillance and risk assessment

• Ensure alignment of data products with the One Health approach

Data-Driven Decision-Making & Capacity Building:

• Analyze 7-1-7 data related to detection, notification, investigation, confirmation, and early response initiation. Produce useful insights to guide decisions, identify bottlenecks, and prioritize activation of the rapid response fund

• Support INSP in transforming surveillance data, epidemiological data, and 7-1-7 data into actionable insights for public health decision-making

• Identify capacity-building needs for data use, including staff training in basic epidemiology, R, data science, and data analysis

• Organize training workshops, seminars, and hands-on sessions for staff at surveillance structures including INSP, DSE, INRB, disease control programs, provincial teams, and health zone epidemiologists to strengthen their analytical skills

• Facilitate the development and implementation of a data use strategy to improve the quality, accessibility, and usefulness of health data for better decision-making

Stakeholder Engagement & Collaboration:

• Support activities to strengthen regular sharing of data useful for epidemic and pandemic preparedness and response, among surveillance structures including INSP, DSE, INRB, disease control programs, provincial teams, other sectors, ministries, departments, and agencies

• Identify opportunities for collaboration and support among surveillance structures including INSP, DSE, INRB, disease control programs, provincial teams, and other ministries, departments, and agencies to improve data sharing and use, as well as synergies in preparedness, epidemic response, and implementation of the 7-1-7 approach

• Provide technical support and facilitate stakeholder engagement for new or existing initiatives aimed at improving data governance and coordination

• Facilitate support for processes and workflows, including support for regular meetings of routine surveillance and emergency preparedness teams, such as EIR, EMU, and technical working groups

• Support meetings focused on data sharing and data product innovations, as well as multisectoral workshops focused on joint data projects and data-sharing agreements

• Carry out any other related tasks assigned by RTSL

Required Qualifications:

Education:

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

• Proficiency in English is a strong asset

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

• Demonstrated experience in capacity-building, training, and mentorship of public health professionals

Skills & competencies:

• Strong 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

• Advanced R skills, including data preparation, descriptive statistics, data visualization, geospatial mapping

• Intermediate proficiency in R Shiny and Quarto or Markdown for creating interactive applications and automated reports

• Good understanding of programming principles to organize and execute complex data pipelines and information product generation 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

Compensation and Benefits

Resolve to Save Lives prides itself on cultivating a supportive, connected remote team doing work that matters. We do everything possible to ensure our employees are connected and set up for success.

The salary for this role is competitive and set according to national labor rates for the international NGO sector in DRC. The exact offer will be determined by various factors, such as the candidate’s skills and experience relative to the requirements of the role.

In addition to a competitive salary, Resolve to Save Lives provides a generous package of benefits, including:

• Health insurance for you and your dependents
• Contributions toward retirement
• Paid annual leave and sick leave, in addition to public holidays
• Two paid, week-long organization-wide breaks at mid-year and end-of-year
• Professional development and home office setup benefits
• Up-to-date computer equipment

RTSL believes its programs are strengthened when they are developed and supported by individuals with diverse life experiences whose understanding of social and cultural issues can help make our work and workforce more inclusive. We encourage applications from and provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, ancestry, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, marital status, organ donor status, or status as a veteran. Resolve to Save Lives complies with all applicable US EEO laws.