MNCAH Data Scientist consultant, UNICEF Office of Strategy and Evidence (OSE), Integrated Health Data Analytics Unit, Data and Analytics Section, Florence, Italy, 15 months (remote)
Organizational Context
UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential. At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.
Job Purpose
The Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health (MNCAH) portfolio within UNICEF's Office of Strategy and Evidence (OSE) maintains and updates a critical global MNCAH database. This database is essential for SDG monitoring, program planning, and policy advocacy at global, regional, and country levels. The consultancy will support strategic enhancements to the database workflow, including the integration of administrative, modelled, and subnational data, to align with evolving global health priorities and improve data timeliness and availability. Additionally, the role will contribute to the development of data products and reporting processes for SDG monitoring, Strategic Plan reporting, and other MNCAH-related global reporting. The consultant will also provide technical expertise to support countries in strengthening health data analytics and data use for decision-making through the AHEAD project, including building out the AHEAD analytics package and responding to custom analytics requests.
Responsibilities
Maintain and update the global MNCAH database, ensuring data accuracy, completeness, and timeliness. Implement strategic enhancements to the database workflow to incorporate new data sources such as administrative, modelled, and subnational data. Develop and maintain data products and reporting processes for SDG monitoring, UNICEF Strategic Plan reporting, and other global MNCAH reporting requirements. Provide technical expertise and analytical support for the Actionable Health Analytics for Decision-making (AHEAD) project. Build out the AHEAD analytics package to enhance country-level data analytics capacity. Respond to custom analytics requests from countries to support data-driven decision-making. Collaborate with the Integrated Health Data Analytics Unit and Data and Analytics Section to ensure alignment with broader data strategy and evidence generation efforts. Support the Statistics and Monitoring Adviser (MNCAH) in technical guidance and supervision related to data management and analysis. Contribute to the continuous improvement of data quality assurance and validation processes for the MNCAH database. Assist in the dissemination of MNCAH data insights and findings to relevant stakeholders.
Work Experience
Experience in data management, data analysis, and data visualization. Familiarity with health data, particularly in the context of maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health. Experience with statistical software and programming languages relevant to data science.
Skills
Data Science, Data Analysis, Database Management, Statistical Modeling, Data Visualization, Programming (e.g., R, Python), SQL, Health Data Analysis, SDG Monitoring, Data Quality Assurance, Problem-Solving, Communication