Information Management / Data Specialist, Polio at United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF)

United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Information Management / Data Specialist, Polio

Job no: 580874
Location: Abuja (FCT)
Contract type: Temporary Appointment
Duty Station: Abuja
Level: NO-3
Categories: Health

Purpose Of the Assignment

• The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) seeks to ensure that future generations of children will be free from the threat of polio paralysis. Achieving this goal depends on ensuring rapid and effective responses to poliovirus outbreaks in polio-free countries. Polio eradication continues to be an organizational priority and, like COVID-19, is a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). The number of outbreaks of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV2) has far exceeded global expectations in recent years.
• To provide continued support to the Nigeria outbreak response and preparedness, UNICEF is seeking to recruit a Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) -Data Specialist to ensure UNICEF’s accountability during any polio outbreak is best managed as a critical component of the global outbreak Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). With increasing outbreaks and the need to implement a timely response in multiple contexts,
• The staff will provide high-quality technical assistance to the country, National EOC and state teams to implement data-based campaign assessments, rapid social data assessments, gender assessments, and documentation of best practices to prevent and facilitate the timely response to misinformation and rumours. This will be done by developing data collection and analysis tools and guidance documents, building capacity for social data management, and facilitating the integration of online and offline tools and mechanisms within national response frameworks. Digital engagement and misinformation management is a fast-growing and emerging challenge that requires specific skills and knowledge to address. At present, there is a limited capacity at the country levels to be deployed rapidly to develop strategies, establish operational mechanisms, and collect and analyze data as part of the polio outbreak response.

Major Responsibilities
Under the supervision of the Polio team lead, the staff will perform the following duties and responsibilities:

• Build the capacity of the national and state teams on data collection, analysis, and interpretation for polio SBC, gender, and misinformation management impacting outbreak response. This includes the development/update of tools and guidance, technical assistance, in-country training.
• Analyze available pre-campaign, campaign, and post-campaign data for consequential geographies and other states in alignment with the global templates and including vaccine management data.
• Design tools and guidance for gender assessments in outbreak and build the capacity of the national and state on gender assessment.
• Compile and coordinate key performance indicators for SBC.
• Design and implement integrated digital data collection tools to optimize and improve on-ground reporting activities on outbreak and parallel epidemic responses, specifically focusing on social data misinformation, rumors, and campaign performance, including vaccine management data. Assess existing mechanisms on the ground to monitor and address misinformation and vaccine perceptions, assess mainstream media monitoring sources and partners in the country, and integrate polio program-relevant reporting into new activities.
• Create and implement a misinformation monitoring platform automatically aggregating reported data on misinformation and rumors along with real-time Web Listening data flows and providing real-time analysis and custom reports based on several criteria (district, source, channels, epidemic response segment).
• Provide data management support to NEOC data management working group and ACSM working group focusing on social data
• Assist state in the design and analysis of rapid qualitative assessments.
• Design training sessions and materials to support the training of trainers (TOT) on social data management for polio outbreaks
• Provide ongoing maintenance and support to program managers on improving and updating the relevant SBC dashboards.
• Document key activities, lessons learned, and best practices from outbreak response activities.
• Support the organization of relevant outbreak response assessments, tracking recommendations, and following up on implementation.

Expected Output:

• A systematic process, guidance document, and tools developed to analyze social data from consequential geographies (Kano, Kebbi, Sokoto, Katsina and Zamfara) and other priority states.
• Tools and guidance developed for gender assessments during polio outbreaks.
• Training package developed for analyzing social data in polio outbreaks.
• Polio SBC surge support in the country (focusing on consequential geographies) is trained on social data management for SBC.
• VCM engaged in the OB response have capacities to timely report, prevent, and eventually address critical misinformation, rumors, and information gaps to ensure higher quality communication interventions before, during, and after the polio outbreak response.
• Management and analysis of VCM data.
• Data analysis reports for SIAs.

Expected results:

• Updated tools and guidance developed for the analysis of social data related to outbreak response.
• Gender assessment tools and guidance developed available to country office.
• SIA analysis reports available for campaigns conducted.
• One comprehensive training module for data management for polio outbreak response focuses on analysing social data from various sources.
• SBC Dashboards set up.

Requirements
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have:

• An advanced university degree (master’s or higher) in Computer science, Statistics, public health or social sciences.
• A minimum of five years progressively working in Information management, analytics, data visualization, Statistics or M&E preferably in a public health setting.
• Experience working with Open Data Kit (ODK).
• Advance knowledge of Excel and PowerPoint.
• Familiarity with SQL, ArcGIS/QGIS/Open Street mapping.

Technical Skills:

• Knowledge of Python and a front-end development framework.
• Familiarity with Kibana, Power BI or Tableau.
• Working experience in UN or other international development organizations
• Familiarity with emergency responses is considered as a strong asset.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

Application Closing Date
15th April, 2025 West Central Africa Standard Time.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online