Data Manager & Analyst at Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA)

The Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA) is an independent humanitarian medical NGO that was created in 2009 by professionals of humanitarian medicine. ALIMA’s mission is to provide medical care in emergency situations or medical catastrophes.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Data Manager & Analyst

Location: Abuja
Project: Abuja Coordination
Line Manager: Medical Coordinator
Line Management: Data Entry Clerks, Data Operators

ALIMA in Nigeria

• The humanitarian crisis in Nigeria’s northeast and the Lake Chad region is one of the most severe ongoing crises in the world, now entering in its ninth year and shows no sign of abating.
• In 2021, at least 8.7 million people are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance in the worst affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe. Up to 5.1 million people risk being critically food insecure during the next lean season (June - August 2021), a level similar to 2016-2017 when famine was looming over Borno State
• Nigeria is now facing a second wave of COVID-19 infections. Borno, Adamawa, Yobe states have recorded new cases. Aid actors are intensifying actions and prevention measures
• Despite challenges including humanitarian space reduction, aid workers had already provided around 5 million people with life-saving assistance in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states in 2020.
• Conflict, explosive remnants of war and insecurity have cut people off from their main means of livelihoods-farming and fishing. This causes major food insecurity in north-east Nigeria, which COVID-19’s effects on incomes have exacerbated: despite good crop yields, food insecurity is rising.
• Findings of the October 2020 Cadre Harmonize (CH) analysis projected that about 5.1 million people in the three states will be food-insecure in the lean season between June and August 2021 – a 19% and 34% increase on the 2020 (after COVID-19 June CH Update) and 2019 figures respectively. According to the Nutrition and Food Security Surveillance Round 9, conducted in October 2020, the level of acute malnutrition increased in all the three states compared to 2019. Global acute malnutrition (GAM) rates of 10.7% were recorded in Borno, 7.5% in Adamawa and 13.6% in Yobe.
• According to the survey, several LGAs had high pockets of global acute malnutrition of above the 15% threshold (emergency phase), including Gubio, Magumeri, Mobbar and Bayo in Borno State and all LGAs in northern Yobe.
• Movement restrictions and insecurity continue to hamper the ability of IDPs, returnees and the host communities to access basic services, livelihoods, and land for farming and grazing. This means that more people will rely on humanitarian aid to survive in 2021.
• In 2017, ALIMA continued to implement projects in Muna Garage in Jere LGA, where ALIMA performs general consultations for children under 5 and provides Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) to pregnant and lactating women (antenatal and postnatal consultations).
• An Outpatient Therapeutic Feeding Program (OTP) is also available for children under 5 suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in the clinic, where women and caretakers are trained to screen their children for malnutrition using the MUAC tape.
• In Maiduguri MC, where ALIMA is working in partnership with the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), the Inpatient Therapeutic Feeding Center (ITFC) manages children under 5 suffering from SAM with medical complications in a 50-bed capacity building.
• In December 2020, ALIMA conducted a needs assessment survey in the north of Yobe where a high level of acute malnutrition was recorded by nutrition sector. The results of this survey prompted ALIMA to open a nutrition and health project covering the Kasasuwa LGA, one of the most affected LGAs and where there was a gap.
• This project started in May 2021 and fund by ECHO aim to support Karasuwa health facilities and improve access to nutrition and health services including pediatrics healthcare and reproductive health.
• ALIMA also support COVID-19 vaccination in Borno and Yobe with focus on most vulnerable. In parallel, ALIMA is opening an emergency nutrition project in Katsina state and is present is Owo state since 2018 for Lassa fever response and research.

Mission and Main Activities

• Responsible for coordinating and monitoring all data related activities including: collection, compilation, verification, encoding, data entry, analysis, reporting under the Medical Coordinator.
• Also responsible for the supervision, training and support to field data collectors, as well as coordination of medical data reporting for internal and external use in conjunction with the Medical Coordinator.

Function & Responsibilities

• Collect the medical data of the projects (epidemiological data, statistics, project data), and elaborate regular reporting to the medical coordinator, in order to have updated and reliable information about the day-to-day activities of the projects.
• More specifically, the Data manager and analyst will be under the supervision of the medical coordinator:
• Set up various databases for all project sites and emergency interventions; Update databases used in the projects as required.
• Work with Data collectors/Encoders in all projects to ensure patient files are properly stored in an accessible manner.
• Monitor the quality of data collection:  ensure the data collectors have the right source of documents within the projects; ensure the quality of the data contained in the compilation tools and ensure respect for the principles of confidentiality of patient data.
• Supervise and train data collectors in the projects:  Supervise the project data entry operators and identify the difficulties they face in terms of the use of tools and send them or notify them to the project activities manager and the medical coordinator; Provide support and on the job-training to data collectors; Organize training for data operators on identified needs.
• Train new staff e.g. MedRefs and other staff involved in data collection on how the data tools work.
• Inform the MedRefs and MedCo of communicable diseases with epidemic potential: Hold a database or a history of alerts and emergencies according to the scenarios (Measles, Cholera, and Meningitis) and other situations (population movement or IDP, inflow of wounds). Also, in case of emergency intervention ensure that projects or databases / line list updated if necessary and uses it. Monitor, compile and analyze the database on a weekly basis;
• Data analysis: Conduct analysis on databases collected with MedRefs and the Medical coordinator of the mission and give a short weekly/ monthly summary: and advise the projects and medical coordination on the situation in terms of the achievement of indicators, targets, alert situation for epidemiological diseases and errors identified in the projects databases in terms of collection or encoding.
• Carry out data analysis of various orders according to the request by informing the Medco of the needs expressed in advance.
• Reports: Compile monthly data from project locations into a monthly data report and maintain a reporting system for monthly and quarterly reports for all medical activities for the projects, internal and external partners such as different donors, nutritional sector, health sector, SGBV sector, UNICEF and WHO, etc. While ensuring that the requests are in agreement with the organization.
• Participate in cluster and HIS meetings organized by the MoH of the Borno region.
• Troubleshoot problems that may arise with the databases.
• Liaise with the IT staff in Dakar regarding DHSI2;
• In the event of assessment, research, surveys he/she will have to contribute to the preparation of the plan and analysis of the data (recommendation of the software best adapted for high quality analysis).
• Perform all other tasks as requested by the mission.

Requirements
You meet the following qualifications:
Education:

• Degree in Statistics or a master's degree in Epidemiology or Public Health with strong knowledge in Epidemiology and Statistics.
• Degree in Health Sciences (Medicine, Nursing) with strong knowledge in Epidemiology and Statistics.

Skills and Experience:

• Computer skills (Word, Excel, Access, Outlook, PowerPoint)
• Perfect mastery of data processing and analysis software (DHSI2 / National Data Collection System, STATA, Epi Info, Epi Data, others)
• Ability to cope with transfers of data and complicated epidemiological reporting.
• Experience in designing and developing databases for collection of medical data.
• Strong ability to coordinate, priorities and organize workload, work under pressure with minimal supervision.

Other Qualities:

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, good judgment and a high level of respect for confidentiality.
• Highly effective organizational and multitasking skills.
• Team management and good mastery of teamwork
• Adherence to the ALIMA Principles and Charter
• Flexibility
• Flawless motivation and result oriented
• Creativity
• Can work under stress & available on request.
• Autonomous.

Application Closing Date
30th January, 2022.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their Cover Letter, CV with a coloured picture, qualifications with contact details all in the same file to: [email protected] using the Job Title as the subject of the mail.

Note

• Applications are processed in the order of arrival and we reserve the right to close the offer before the term initially indicated if a good application is successful.
• Only full applications will be taken into account.
• Only accepted applications will be contacted.
• Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Only successful applicants will be called for interview.
• No monetary transactions, neither demands of favours in kind, nor other types of favouritism will be tolerated in the recruitment process.