BACKGROUND ON IMPACT AND REACH
REACH was born in 2010 as a joint initiative of two International NGOs (IMPACT Initiatives and ACTED) and the United Nations Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT). REACH works to promote and facilitate the development of information products that enhance the humanitarian community’s decision making and planning capacity for emergency, reconstruction and development contexts. REACH facilitates information management for aid actors through three complementary services: (a) need and situation assessments facilitated by REACH teams; (b) situation analysis using satellite imagery; (c) provision of related database and (web)-mapping facilities and expertise.
IMPACT Initiatives is a humanitarian NGO, based in Geneva, Switzerland. The organisation manages several initiatives, including the REACH Initiative. The IMPACT team comprises specialists in data collection, management and analysis and GIS. IMPACT was launched at the initiative of ACTED, an international NGO whose headquarter is based in Paris and is present in thirty countries. The two organizations have a strong complementarity formalized in a global partnership, enabling IMPACT to benefit from ACTED’s operational support on its fields of intervention.
We are currently looking for a Data Specialist to support our team in the Global Humanitarian Planning & Prioritization Unit in our Geneva Headquarters office.
Department: REACH Global Programmes
Position: Data Specialist
Contract duration:12 months with possibility of extension
Location: Geneva, Switzerland (with possibility of up to 20% travel)
Starting Date: ASAP
Deadline to apply: 4 February 2025
POSITION PROFILE
The Data Specialist will be part of the REACH Humanitarian Planning & Prioritization Unit based in IMPACT HQ, supporting the Multi-Sector Needs Assessment (MSNA) Workstream under the supervision of the unit Manager. Specifically, the Data Specialist will work in close collaboration with the HPPU Research and Development (R&D) team and Training, Learning and Country (TLC) Team to (1) develop dashboards for the cross-crisis and MSNA findings, (2) provide dedicated quantitative analysis support, guidance, and capacity building to REACH country teams implementing MSNAs, and (3) develop packages to increase efficiency in key parts of the MSNA research cycle. This is a high visibility research programme including multiple projects and many of the process are currently manual or not interoperable. There will be the potential to support with further automation and efficiency in collaboration with IT and automation specialists as the organisational automation work and policies progresses.
FUNCTIONS
The REACH Data Specialist will fulfil the following functions:
Develop dashboards for better visualisation and dissemination of MSNA findings
- Develop a dashboard for the 2024 cross-crisis analysis
- Develop packages and guidance to support country teams in building their own dashboards for MSNA results
Country support (up to 30%) – dedicated data support to REACH country teams
- Provided dedicated data cleaning, processing, and analysis surge support to REACH country teams implementing inter-sectoral research programs.
- This support will be ad hoc in nature but anticipated to focus primarily around supporting with MSNA quantitative analysis during the peak analysis period (1-2 months) each year, to ensure critical in-country milestones are met.
- This support may be provided remotely and/or through a field deployment, depending on the extent of support required and the specific needs of the country team.
Internal Knowledge sharing, Learning and Capacity Building
- Contribute to generating and documenting robust lessons learned at the end of relevant Research Cycle.
- Ensure knowledge and learning processes are shared across country missions.
- Continuously seek to innovate around efficiency for IMPACT assessments, information products and processes.
- More generally, contributes to creating a culture of rigour, innovation and learning within IMPACT’s operations.
Develop packages to increase efficiency of the MSNA research cycle
- For instance, developing packages related to convert questionnaires to xml formats (Kobo format)
- Most tools for the MSNA are written using R, but it may be possible to use other software such as python as long as the packages are interoperable. Examples of interoperable tools include, rpy2, data interchange formats like CSV/JSON/Parquet, the reticulate package, and Jupyter Notebooks.
- Build the capacity of country teams to use, adapt, and operationalise MSNA efficiency/automation/standardisation tools in close collaboration with R&D team.
- Ensure the above tasks are conducted in accordance with IMPACT data protection standards and policies and in collaboration with teams across IMPACT, including R&D, TLC, IT, and the research department
- Potentially support further automation in collaboration with IT and automation specialists as the organisation automation work and policies progress.
Data Confidentiality and Protection
- The Data Specialist will maintain the strictest confidentiality on all data collected and related processes, and adhere to all relevant regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). They will actively take measures to prevent the unauthorized sharing of any information and data belonging to IMPACT and its partners or collected during his/her assignment with IMPACT.
REQUIREMENTS
Required qualifications
- Academic Excellent academic qualifications, preferably including a master’s degree in relevant discipline, e.g. data science, computer science, geomatics, or statistics
- Years of work experience At least 5 years of relevant working experience, of which at least two in development or humanitarian contexts. Familiarity with large, multisectoral or other forms of humanitarian needs assessments
- Data analysis skills Excellent data analysis skills required, including an ability to build dashboards, merge datasets and create efficiencies in existing processes.
- Software skills Advanced knowledge of R and kobo required, including use of R-shiny. Knowledge of ArcGIS an advantage.
- Capacity building skills and country support Proven experience in conducting training and capacity building for teams and partners on assessment methods, including ability to mentor. Experience developing and implementing tools and guidance for teams working in humanitarian settings.
Desired qualifications
- Database management skills and experience working with database languages such as SQL, Experience in coding data collection tools for mobile data collection platforms a strong asset.
- A self-starter with a proven ability to work independently.
- Working knowledge of Arabic, French, Spanish, or another relevant language.
- Familiarity with the humanitarian aid system.
- Experience in needs assessments, monitoring & evaluations, information management in field research settings or other field work in an international context.
CONDITIONS
- For this position, gross salary is between 6,000 and 6,300 CHF monthly (before income tax). NB – IMPACT salaries are strictly determined by our salary grid depending on the grade of the position and the level of education and experience of staff. A contribution to medical insurance of 520 CHF per month is already included in the salary figure.
- Insurance covering professional and non-professional accidents throughout the period of employment with IMPACT
- Health insurance, life insurance and repatriation assistance in case of field visits/temporary deployments
- Enrolment in IMPACT Initiatives Research Foundational Learning Programme within the first 3 months from the start of contract.
- Applicants must hold a valid work permit for Switzerland or be EU/EFTA citizens
- Up to 40% of remote work on a weekly basis
How to apply
Please submit your application following the link below. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.