Data Associate, Provost Office COE at Aga Khan University Hospital

Job Summary

The Data Associate will be required to support the review of the design and development of the study databases and data collection tools. He/she will also be involved in study team activities related to data collection, participant ID management, tracking of participant follow-up, management of all data & IT devices, management of user accounts, and supporting IT infrastructure at the recruitment sites. His/her role will involve coordinating data management activities. He/she will also be the point person in interactions with the AKU ICT team, data teams from other research projects in CoEWCH, and the collaborating institutions.

Responsibilities:

• Contribute to the design and set up of study databases in collaboration with collaborators at Indiana University and other collaborating institutions.
• Manage all study data handling systems: both paper and electronic.
• Testing and troubleshooting data handling systems.
• Development and piloting of data collection tools.
• Alongside the study coordinator oversee all study data related activities.
• Prepare training schedules synchronized with other training activities and guided by the study coordinator.
• Conduct training related to data entry and data quality and use of devices eg. Tablets, bar code scanners.
• Provide approval for staff to participate in data entry after achieving desired proficiency in data entry.
• Continuously assess training needs for the team and arrange appropriate refresher training as needed.
• Co-supervise clinical and research teams in their data handling tasks.
• This includes enumerators and nurses.
• Ensure that the generation, printing and allocation of IDs is done in a timely and accurate manner with no duplications and conflicts.
• Ensure that the above is well documented.
• Support the selection, purchase, setup and maintenance of data collection devices: including computers, tablets and bar code readers.
• Supervise the inventory keeping for study ICT equipment and accessories.
• Set up specific user profiles for each user and assign and manage user access rights.
• Support the development of site-specific SOPs, policies and processes for data collection and handling.
• Set up systems to ensure continuous data cleaning by the study teams.
• Develop, test and apply data quality assessment tools.
• Continuously monitor and advise the research team on data quality issues, including discrepancies, errors and missing data.
• Respond to queries and data errors and implement corrective actions to clean the data.
• Participate in standardization of data collectors for specific activities eg. anthropometry measurements.
• Identify errors or potential sources of error in data collection systems, databases and applications.
• In liaison with the data manager, test and implement modifications to the study database.
• Contribute to periodic and ad hoc data analysis of study data to support study activities or answer specific research questions.
• Respond to data requests from study investigators and analysts.
• Preparation and compilation of reports for data as agreed with supervisors.
• Provide data exports in desired format to study investigators.
• Liaison with the data teams in partnering institutions.
• Be the study contact person with the Aga Khan University’s ICT team in tasks related to data management, internet and intranet connectivity, user accounts and logins and device setup.
• Liaison with the County health records departments.
• In collaboration with AKU ICT team and other providers - Ensure the network set up, running smoothly and is of sufficient capacity to handle study needs.
• Implement and enforce regular data security activities such as backups, archiving and user administration.
• With necessary approvals, establish appropriate linkage between the databases for other research studies in AKU.
• Facilitate data sharing where appropriate and with necessary approvals.
• Support the setup and running of other sub-studies and/or related studies as allocated by the Principal Investigator.
• This may include responsibilities in other studies/projects within the CoEWCH.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree in any of the following or closely related fields: Computer Science, Information Technology, Statistics.
• Training and/or demonstrable competence in any/most of the following: MS-Access, SQL-Server, MySQL, Oracle, DHIS-2, ODK, and ODK-Tracker, REDcap.
• Training and/or demonstrable competence in any of the following statistical packages Stata, SPSS, R. Python.

Relevant Experiences:

• At least 2 years of data management experience.
• Relevant experience in a health research environment including community and public health facility settings will be an added advantage
• Relevant experience in multi-centre / multi-country projects will be an added advantage
• Demonstrable programming proficiency in at least 2 of the following: MS-Access, SQL-Server, MySQL, Oracle, DHIS-2, REDCap, ODK
• Proficiency with data management procedures: data cleaning, manipulation, summarization, tables, listings, graphics and report generation
• Experience in programming and troubleshooting electronic field data capture platforms
• Experience in data analysis will be an added advantage
• Excellent written and verbal skills in English

Personal Characteristics:

• Good organizational and management skills
• Attentive to detail and quality
• Ability to work independently/ with minimum supervision and within stipulated deadlines and schedules
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• A team player and able to work in a multicultural environment

Closing Date: 18/03/2025, 7:59:00 PM