Data Scientist Consultant

The Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health (MNCAH) portfolio of the Health and HIV Unit, Data and Analytics Section of UNICEF New York Headquarters has been providing data analytics support to country offices and regional offices. The UNICEF Actionable Health Analytics for Decision-making (AHEAD) initiative aims to revolutionize how health data is utilized for impactful decision-making. By leveraging rapid cycle analytics, AHEAD seeks to provide real-time insights that save lives, improve health outcomes, and foster a future where every child thrives. This initiative is crucial in ensuring that health systems are agile, responsive, and equipped with the power of data-driven decision-making.  

In response to urgent needs from countries, we seek a Data Scientist Consultant to finalize the data pipeline and produce analytics focusing on primary healthcare performance measurement. This role will involve working closely with UNICEF teams and country offices to harness local data for timely, granular insights and support data-driven policy and program interventions. The consultant will provide technical expertise needed to navigate this process successfully under the guidance and supervision of the Statistics and Monitoring Adviser (MNCAH). 

Scope of Work:

The Data Scientist Consultant will design and implement data pipelines, integrate, and analyze health data, develop machine learning models, and create visualizations to facilitate data-driven decision-making. Additionally, the consultant will provide training and capacity building for UNICEF teams and partners, explore data science approaches, and support the dissemination of results.  

Data Engineering:  

• Design and implement data processing pipelines for timely and efficient data collection and integration.
• Set up a relational database for data storage and processing on the cloud.
• Optimize internal data engineering processes for the MNCAH global database.
• Configure and manage Git/GitHub repositories and CI/CD pipelines to ensure the codebases are tested, working, and deployed on time.
• Implement and disseminate best practices for data science project management and provide training to team members.

Data Integration and Analysis:  

• Develop an AHEAD Analytics R package to consolidate routine and survey data.
• Design methods for a holistic and timely view of health data across multiple system levels.
• Integrate global and local health data for actionable insights.
• Develop and apply analytical tools to triangulate data across routine data systems and global datasets.

Subnational Analytics:  

• Collaborate with country offices to leverage local data for subnational analytics.
• Enhance decision-making capabilities at local health facilities.

Model Implementation:  

• Design and train machine learning models to contextualize data and suggest actionable metrics.
• Streamline data interpretation and increase usability for policymakers and health workers.

Data Visualization:  

• Develop intuitive data visualizations and dashboards to communicate key insights. 
• Develop dashboards and reports that provide real-time updates on health system performance.

Qualifications:

Education:

• A master’s degree in computer science, Data Science, Big Data, Applied Statistics, Bioinformatics, or a closely related computational field.
• A first level university degree in combination with qualifying and relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of the education requirement.
• The individual should be highly proficient in a range of PC/web applications, including but not limited to: MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, MS Outlook.

Work experience:

• At least 4 years of experience in data science and analytics, preferably in the health sector.   Proven experience in designing infographics, data figures/charts, publications, PowerPoint presentations, country profiles, maps, web content and other data-driven products.
• Documented proficiency in both R and Python as well as data visualization tools (Shiny, Plotly, Streamlit, Tableau, Infogram).
• Experience conducting statistical analysis including interrupted time series (ITS) design and regression analysis.
• Proven experience in data engineering, including the design and implementation of data processing pipelines and cloud infrastructure.
• Experience with Git/GitHub for version control and CI/CD for collaborative development.
• Hands on experience with cloud services for data storage and processing, including but not limited to Databricks, Azure SQL Database, Google Cloud Spanner and BigQuery.
• Proven knowledge of automated data acquisition via APIs and web-scraping.
• Experience with machine learning models for supervised and unsupervised learning.
• Experience working in or with low- and middle-income countries is highly desirable.
• Industry certifications related to cloud services and/or data visualization are highly desirable.
• Ability to work in Adobe Creative Suite products (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator) and Microsoft Office products (PowerPoint, Word, Excel).

Requirements:

• Completed profile in UNICEF’s e-Recruitment system.
• Upload copy of academic credentials
• Financial proposal that will include:
• the costs per each deliverable and the total all-inclusive (lump-sum) fees for the whole assignment (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference.
• travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
• Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, as applicable.
• Indicate your availability.
• Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.
• At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.
• Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

Source: https://jobs.unicef.org/cw/en-us/job/574491