Senior Technical Advisor, Data Use and Decision Science

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

The Senior Technical Advisor, Data Use and Decision Science, focuses on bridging the gap between complex epidemiological and contextual data and strategic public health action. This role will accompany in-country counterparts to generate stronger analytics and information products to support decision-making, integrating disease surveillance data with other contextual (e.g., climate, environmental, risk, and vulnerability) data. The role will also contribute to the facilitation of two flagship programs - Epidemic Intelligence training curriculum and a co-design workshop - to build national counterparts' capacity for epidemic intelligence and systems thinking. The Senior Technical Advisor reports to the Principal Advisor, Data Use for Decision Science, Epidemic Intelligence.

Duration: This full-time, remote position is for a fixed term of 24 months.

Core Duties and Responsibilities

The Senior Technical Advisor, Data Use and Decision Science, collaborates with HQ-based staff and in-country embedded teams on data analytics innovations and delivery. Responsibilities include: 

Data Use for Decision Science

• Support the implementation of epidemic intelligence activities that inform decision-making, including developing innovative data use products (e.g., enhanced outbreak situation report, periodic epidemiological bulletins, executive dashboards) and implementation of automated production pipelines.  
• Collaborate closely with in-country counterparts and across teams to map existing systems, data, and decision-making needs, in order to identify implementation priorities for Collaborative Surveillance and support the development of a future surveillance architecture. 
• Provide hands-on technical accompaniment, capacity building, and knowledge transfer, including providing hands-on technical mentorship that develops local talent, and progressively transferring skills and ownership so that analytical and decision-support capabilities are sustained independently of external support. 
• Training in-country embedded teams on the use of digital tools, such as DHIS2, Emergency Management Systems (EMS), R and R markdown for data management, analytics, GIS, and data product generation 

Country Coordination for Collaborative Surveillance 

• Work with a multidisciplinary team to develop a country workplan and budget for Collaborative Surveillance, coordinate implementation, and generate strategic reports for leadership and donors. 
• Collaborate with global (e.g., WHO, US CDC, UNICEF) and country-level partners to streamline and align Collaborative Surveillance initiatives.  
• Provide technical oversight and methodologies to evaluate the impact of the Collaborative Surveillance initiatives. 

Strategic Innovation 

• Lead consultative work to investigate and develop use cases for surveillance innovations, including wastewater surveillance, multiplex sero-surveillance, genomic surveillance, and sample registration systems. 
• Collaborate with a multidisciplinary epidemic intelligence team to pioneer innovations in data use for decision-making, including the application of artificial intelligence, novel contextual data, and advanced analytical methods to forecast risks and outbreaks. 
• Synthesize multi-country operational learnings and technical innovations into strategic dissemination products for the global public health community. 

Qualifcations  

Education:  

• Master’s degree or higher in a relevant field (e.g., public health, epidemiology, informatics, statistics). A PhD in a relevant field is a plus.  

Experience: 

• At least 10 years of experience in infectious disease surveillance and analytics, public health emergency management, or equivalent experience  
• Demonstrated experience designing, producing, and implementing end-to-end public health information products (e.g., epidemiological bulletins, outbreak situation reports) with the ability to translate complex data into decision-ready outputs and ensure sustainable handover through clear documentation and SOPs  
• Demonstrated experience in designing and delivering comprehensive capacity-building training programs for public health professionals, bridging technical skills with actionable, real-world decision-making. 

Skills & abilities: 

• Proven ability to technically accompany and mentor multidisciplinary in-country teams, building their capacity to lead data use projects, applying systems thinking and design thinking approach, with a strong emphasis on progressive knowledge transfer and developing local ownership of analytical workflows. 
• Strong analytical and decision-making capabilities for strategy and execution, including in areas of high complexity and ambiguity. 
• Proficiency in R and R Markdown/Quarto for data management, analysis, and automated information product generation; familiarity with DHIS2 is an advantage 
• Excellent communication, presentation and interpersonal skills for engaging and influencing non-governmental partners, civil society organizations, donors, and multilateral agencies 
• Ability to thrive in a collaborative and highly matrixed environment with experience serving many different internal and external stakeholders and demonstrating inclusiveness and active listening skills 
• Comfort operating in a remote and distributed work environment, with the ability to provide high-quality technical accompaniment through virtual channels  
• Fluency in English is required; Proficiency in French or Portuguese is highly desirable 

Other: 

• Able to work remotely and convene in-person occasionally for team meetings 
• Ability to work in time zones that provide significant overlap with partner countries across Africa (e.g., WAT / CAT / EAT) 
• Ability and willingness to travel up to 20% 

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 range for applicants based in the US is $120,000 to $135,000 annually. The exact offer will be determined by various factors, such as the candidate’s skills and experience relative to the requirements of the role. For applicants based outside the US, salaries are set according to national labor rates for the international NGO sector.

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