Senior Programme Officer - Data Science at The Science for Africa Foundation

PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Scientific and Technical Leadership

• Collect, clean, and preprocess data from diverse sources, including African population cohorts.
• Develop pipelines for data extraction from Local Participating Cohorts (LPCs).
• Analyse structured and unstructured data to identify trends, patterns, and actionable insights.
• Develop predictive models, statistical analyses, and machine learning algorithms to support research objectives.
• Visualise data insights using tools such as Tableau, Power BI, matplotlib, or Seaborn.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and cohort partners to understand data requirements and inform project design.
• Map and harmonise metadata across APCC LPCs.
• Document methods, models, analyses, and data-related workflows in a clear, reproducible manner.
• Ensure adherence to FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and best practices in data governance.
• Stay updated on emerging data science methodologies, statistical tools, and computational techniques.
• Support the development and implementation of data harmonisation protocols, metadata standards, and data interoperability strategies.
• Implement and monitor data quality assurance, validation, and reproducibility processes.
• Ensure compliance with ethical standards, data protection regulations, and secure data-sharing protocols.
• Maintain and manage APCC data repositories, including GitHub and other collaborative platforms.

Research Strategy and Innovation

• Conduct programme-relevant research to inform the design, implementation, and evaluation of projects within the APCC portfolio.
• Collaborate with the M&E team to collate, track, validate, and analyse programme data, providing actionable insights for decision-making.
• Develop and implement innovative data-driven solutions to enhance programme delivery and research outcomes.
• Track research trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in population health and data science to inform APCC strategy.
• Prepare reports, policy briefs, publications, and presentations for grantee meetings, stakeholders, and strategic discussions.
• Build and maintain relationships with universities, research institutions, government agencies, think tanks, and intergovernmental organisations.
• Support cross-cohort comparative analyses and meta-analyses to strengthen evidence generation.

Programme Coordination and Stakeholder Engagement

• Represent SFA Foundation and APCC programmes at internal and external meetings and events.
• Work closely with Communications teams to develop media, outreach, and dissemination strategies to enhance programme visibility and stakeholder engagement.
• Support cross-cutting programme activities across SFA Foundation initiatives when required.
• Coordinate training and capacity-building sessions for cohort partners on data management, analytics, and visualisation tools.
• Contribute to programme planning, budgeting, and resource allocation in collaboration with the Programme Manager.
• Support risk management, including identifying, tracking, and mitigating data-related and programme risks.

PERSON SPECIFICATIONS

Academic Qualifications

• A Master's or PhD degree in a relevant Data Science/, Computer Science, Statistics, or related research field obtained over the past 5 years; or equivalent training qualities and experience.

Experience

• At least 5 years’ experience working in research/data capacity and development of programme design and implementation on the African continent.
• A proven record of data analysis.
• Experience with data visualisation tools.
• Knowledge of big data platforms.