COVID-19 Health Informatics Specialist at Palladium Group

Project Overview and Role

• Data.FI is a five-year global project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to support the HIV and COVID-19 response.
• Data.FI partners with programs to accelerate and sustain access to high-quality data to expedite HIV and COVID-19 epidemic control and maintenance. By improving global, regional, national, and community/local in-depth analyses of HIV and COVID-19 epidemiologic and programmatic data, Data.FI expedites program achievements to improve client services and attain and sustain control of the epidemics.
• Data.FI supports host country governments to enhance existing health information systems (HIS), informing management responses to gaps in programming and sustaining impact by supporting local partner transition.

Purpose of Position

• In support of Nigeria’s national response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Data.FI is currently seeking to employ the services of a National COVID-19 Health Informatics (HI) specialist who will work in close collaboration with  the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH)and other relevant partners to support the design, enhance, and implement relevant digital technologies and solutions to ensure effective implementation of data use strategies in support of the COVID-19 response.
• The HI Specialist will provide technical support in planning, developing, and implementing digital tools that enhance availability and access to COVID-19 data at the Federal and State levels, while improving the efficiency of COVID-19 intervention programs in Nigeria. (S)he will participate in engagements with technology teams from relevant stakeholders such as the FMOH, NPHCDA, NACA, and other partners.
• The COVID-19 HI Specialist will be responsible for ensuring that the final product(s) meet the objectives and user expectations of the programs.
• These will be achieved through the ideation and creation of new software programs, review, and assessment of existing applications towards the establishment of a robust ecosystem that enhances the COVID 19 data value chain to support data analytics and decision making.
• The HI Specialist will report to the Data.FI Nigeria Deputy Country Director.

 Primary Duties and Responsibilities

• Evaluate existing systems and maintain detailed technical documentation for all products developed, including system design documents, data dictionaries, and database design.
• Ensure sufficient technology support is provided to COVID-19 response reporting systems i.e., NCDC’s Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System (SORMAS) and paper-based systems. 
• Evaluate business processes, anticipate requirements, uncover areas for improvement, and support the development and implementation of solutions.
• Design and development of high-capacity web-based information systems, and mobile applications for the cloud and local environments.
• Develop test plans and procedures and make sure that requirements are met. 
• Architecting overall, comprehensive, and efficient practices. 
• Participate in and support the entire software development life cycle (SDLC) processes in supporting the development of digital solutions to enable the FMOH’s tracking of Oxygen supplies and commodities.
• Coordinate and participate in relevant stakeholder technical working groups. 
• Any other duties assigned as per the dynamic programming environment. 

Required Qualifications

• Masters' Degree in Computer Science or other relevant fields. 
• At least five (3) years of professional experience directly supporting the development, operations, maintenance, and/or security of mission-critical systems.  
• Adequate experience in systems development using relevant programming languages like Java and Python, and database scripting (SQL, NoSQL, and distributed databases). 
• Excellent knowledge of software development and software testing methodologies.  
• Hands-on experience and working knowledge of DHIS2 and SORMAS will be an added advantage.
• Sound knowledge of cloud-based environments. 
• Work well under pressure, skilled in crisis management, and problem-solving.
• Good written and verbal skills in English; ability to communicate technical information to audiences with varying levels of technical expertise.