Data Analyst Job in Nairobi Kenya

Vacancy: Data Analyst Consultant- Humanitarian Data Exchange, Data Lab

Duration: 3-6 months

Date of Entry: as soon as possible

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Background: The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has created a new humanitarian data platform – the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX). The goal of HDX is to make humanitarian data easy to find and use for analysis.

The HDX platform includes three technical components: a dataset repository for sharing data from across the community; data visualization and analysis functionality to compare indicators across countries and crises; and standards for the exchange of humanitarian operational data (the Humanitarian Exchange Language or HXL). HDX is being piloted in Colombia and Kenya in 2014.

As part of its roll out in Kenya, the HDX team will be establishing a Data Lab in Nairobi.

The Data Lab will serve as a front line, in-person service to the HDX platform and create a neutral, physical space for humanitarian partners, government officials, technologists, universities, and international stakeholders to collaborate on all things data.

Data services will include data extraction, cleaning, storage, analysis and visualization.

The Lab will also provide the opportunity to find new ways of working together on humanitarian data.

Nairobi was chosen as the initial location for a Data Lab because it is a regional setting that is often dealing with multiple emergencies.

We also want to explore the relationship between data and resilience in a region that has persistent drought and food insecurity.

As we get established, we hope to benefit from the experience of local innovators involved in the local tech scene.

The HDX Data Lab requires an experienced Data Analyst to collaborate with data partners.

The consultant will be part of the HDX Data Lab team that will include a Lab Manager and a Data Analyst.

The Data Lab team will be expected to work closely with staff from the OCHA regional office, based in Nairobi, and with the global HDX team.

Reporting Relationships: The consultant will report to the Lab Manager with oversight from the Statistician and Analytical Lead of the Humanitarian Data Exchange project who is based in New York.

Accountabilities

Within the limits of delegated authority, the consultant will be responsible for the following:
Work closely with staff from partner organizations to prioritize business and information needs for the purpose of conducting analysis.
Organize, design and carry out the evaluation and analysis of Eastern Africa-specific data sets through meaningful statistical techniques.
Understand, document, and ensure the quality of high-value humanitarian data for accuracy, consistency and comparability within Kenya and across the region, where applicable.
Participate in the development, implementation, and management of new indicators, together with its accompanying data, to be included in a Common Humanitarian Dataset.
Advise on methodologies for key humanitarian indicators such as the ‘number of people affected’ and the ‘number of people in need of assistance’ and their application and use in humanitarian crises in Eastern Africa.
Make recommendations, as needed, on the data visualization and analytic functionality of local systems and their relationship to the HDX platform.
Develop ad hoc analysis on demand for partner organizations.
Take part in HDX project team meetings as required.

Deliverables

Clean and validated high-value datasets produced by the humanitarian community.
Data visualizations and analysis of regional data, using both print and web technologies, conveying key insights for use by partner organizations and within the HDX platform.
Oversight and curation of data analytics for the relevant pages (e.g. country, region, crisis, or topic) in the HDX platform.

Qualifications

Education: A first level university degree in statistics, mathematics, economics, computer science or related field is required.

Experience:

A minimum of five years of progressively responsible experience in the collection, compilation, analysis and dissemination of statistical data or related area.
Proven experience of statistical software to analyze and evaluate complex data is required (e.g. SPSS, SAS, STATA).
Knowledge of geographic (GIS) data, its analytical procedures and software is a plus.
Knowledge of statistical programming languages (e.g. R, Python / NumPy) is a plus.
Knowledge of web-development technologies is a plus (e.g. JavaScript, HTML, CSS).
Experience with humanitarian data and indicators desirable.

Language: Fluency in English is required (both oral and written).

Send CVs to Mark Slezak at slezak@un.org and Javier Teran at teran1@un.org with a copy to hdx@un.org.