MEAL Database Officer

Position:         MEAL Database Officer

Department:             MEAL UNIT

Direct Hierarchy: Senior Meal Database Officer

Location:         Kismayo Jubbaland

Starting date:          January 2024

Background on ACTED

ACTED is a French humanitarian NGO, founded in 1993, which supports vulnerable populations, affected by humanitarian crises worldwide. ACTED provides continued support to vulnerable communities by ensuring the sustainability of post-crisis interventions and engaging long-term challenges facing our target populations, to break the poverty cycle, foster development and reduce vulnerability to disasters. Their interventions seek to cover the multiple aspects of humanitarian and development crises through a multidisciplinary approach which is both global and local, and adapted to each context.

Acted is committed to immediate humanitarian relief to support those in urgent need and protect people’s dignity while co-creating longer-term opportunities for sustainable growth and fulfilling people’s potential. Acted endeavors to respond to humanitarian crises and build resilience; promote inclusive and sustainable growth; co-construct effective governance; and support the building of civil society worldwide by investing in people and their potential.

ACTED is looking for professionally confident, self-motivated, experienced, and committed team player to fill the MEAL Database Officer position in Kismayo Jubaland.

Position Profile:

Under the direct supervision of the Country MEAL Manager, along with the MEAL Manager, Senior MEAL Officer – Database the MEAL Officer Database is responsible for designing and developing appropriate and viable database systems that are in line with ACTED’s global MEAL procedures and ensuring that these systems perform as planned.

Implement robust database systems: Develop and implement a solid database management system that is in line with global MEAL procedures and ensure that project data is effectively collected, entered, cleaned and validated, stored, transformed and presented in an efficient and effective manner to support timely decision making.

Provide accurate and relevant data analysis: Support the accurate, relevant, timely, and insightful analysis of data, and lead the packaging and presentation of data in effective and creative methods.

Promote efficient sharing and use of information: Promote and support the routine use of databases by relevant staff, providing trainings when needed.

Implement robust GIS and MIS systems: Develop and implement solid GIS and MIS systems and mechanisms that are in line with global MEAL procedures and ensure that data on project beneficiaries, processes, progress, locations (GIS) and performance are effectively collected, entered, cleaned and validated, stored, transformed and presented in an efficient and effective manner to support timely decision making.

The MEAL Officer Database will be based in Kismayo, where Acted operates with the full project team in coordination with the area-based offices in Jubbaland.

Duties and Responsibilities

1.       Establish and implement the database management system!

1.1.        Database Strategy

·       Develop and implement appropriate data collection methodologies and tools, analysis plans, reporting outlines, and data/information dissemination/utilization plans.

·       Establish and maintain data standards, best practices and adherence to these standards as required.

·       Identify and design innovative practices to improve organizational efficiency and effectiveness in database management and incorporate them in the country MEAL strategy.

1.2.       Database Systems Development and Implementation

·           Support the creation, upgrade and maintain the country’s central and project-specific databases, ensuring continual development and strengthening of the system.

·           Create user-friendly data entry interfaces ensuring that they correspond to department needs and their information gathering system.

·           Ensure accurate and consistent data entry and that databases are up to date.

·           Maintain and further develop the structure or format of the databases as required, incorporating ideas and amendments from relevant staff and partners.

·           Provide additional updates and data analysis as required.

·           Ensure the day-to-day integrity of database and database procedures, which may include conducting weekly and monthly audits of data to confirm use of accurate entry processes; identifying and eliminating duplicate records; and maintaining users security settings.

·           Compare and verify accuracy of data with source documents (quarterly reports, performance monitoring matrix, site visit reports, joint reviews etc.) for consistency.

·           Train the relevant staff on the use of the databases.

·           Develop and implement proper backup, restore, data validation, and security procedures to ensure data integrity and availability.

·           Provide database technical support to ACTED teams and troubleshoot both hardware and software issues.

2.       MEAL Support

·           Ensure alignment of the tools developed with programmatic objectives for outputs and outcomes defined by key contractual indicators of donors.

·           Take the lead in digitalizing MEAL tools including HH surveys, KII questionnaires, etc.

·           Support the sampling methodologies for different departmental activities and reduce deviation during the data collection. 

·           Support the project team in the registration of beneficiaries through cleaning the registration data by identifying duplicates for retargeting and correcting inconsistencies.

·           Support the beneficiary verifications to ensure targeted beneficiaries fit project’s set beneficiary selection criteria.

·           Support the analysis of data collected from field assessments and distributions, including identifying trends in the data, and ensure the production of reports in various formats including graphs, charts, etc., as required.

·           Ensure the verification of the accuracy of the data collected during assessments.

·           Clean data collected during assessments and flag any issues to the relevant departments.

·           Adhere to the standard operating procedures for data cleaning and data analysis (developing new procedures and updating existing ones) to uphold data quality assurance.

·           Extract queries, figures, and reports from the database.

·           Support the improvements of the data collection tools and processes and pilot new ideas with assessment teams in the field.

3.  Efficient Sharing and Usage of Information

·           Continually gather information from the field to monitor the humanitarian situation, track trends, and provide basic forecasts to ACTED project teams.

·           Support effective and efficient information production, sharing and usage among all target groups and end-users.

·           Support an effective roll-out of database management systems to all staff and partners through training, site visits, manuals, and other technical support as needed. Ensure systems are well understood and properly implemented by staff and partners.

·           Develop and implement strategies to increase data use and demand amongst relevant staff and other data/information users.

·           Facilitate trainings for non-MEAL staff (e.g., PMs, PDs, TCs) on the use of project databases and database related reporting.

·           Provide capacity building on effective use of database products and systems.

4.  Team Management and Training

·         Ensure that staff under their direct responsibility understand and can perform their roles and responsibilities.

·         Manage Database Assistants delineating their responsibilities and follow-up the work plans and day-to-day activities.

·         Provide capacity building on effective use of database products and systems, such as specific trainings on mobile data collection tools and methods.

·         Ensure a positive working environment and good team dynamics.

·         Manage interpersonal conflicts among team members.

·         Undertake regular appraisals of relevant staff.

·         Identify the MEAL training needs of team members and discuss plans with the direct manager for both internal and external trainings.

·         Coach, train, and mentor Database Assistants with the aim of strengthening their technical capacity, exchanging knowledge within the MEAL team.

4.1.        GIS Systems Development and Implementation

·           Identify map information needs and relevant data sources.

·           Acquire spatial data through one or multiple forms of followings:

·           GPS data including the locations of community assets, beneficiary locations, routes to data collection sites.

·           Desk-based data capture (digitizing) to convert paper maps to GIS datasets, for example, to record the location of community infrastructure from original maps.

·           Satellite imagery and other remote-sensing data to acquire features and information through technical data/image-interpretation methods.

·           Produce user-friendly and informative maps in an efficient manner to fulfil information/mapping needs.

·           Create new information or investigate patterns through GIS based analysis, e.g., estimating the number of people potentially affected by flooding, using population growth figures a protracted refugee/IDP situation to assess the demand for basic services.

·           Ensure that the produced maps or GIS based products meet the requirements of both internal and external users.

·           Create and maintain the structures necessary for GIS data storage.

·           Develop the tools for loading/transferring GIS data between different systems.

·           Manipulate, analyse and present geographical information by converting GIS information from one format to another.

·           Develop internet applications to present GIS data and tools on corporate websites where necessary.

5.  Other

·       Provide regular and timely updates on progress and challenges to supervisors and other team members.

·       Participate in MEAL-related conferences and workshops when possible and stay up to date with best practices and new knowledge created in the field of MEAL.

·       Perform any other related activities as assigned by immediate supervisor.

Job Requirement (Qualification and Experience)

·         Bachelors’ degree in a relevant discipline (Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Management Systems, Epidemiology, Statistics, Mathematics, etc.) with relevant work experience,

·         3 years of experience in Data Science, Statistics, programming, and/or GIS, preferably in a humanitarian context,

·         At least 3 years of experience in MEAL with international NGOs particularly humanitarian projects

·         Excellent analytical skills,

·         Proficient knowledge of programming language, Python, and other relevant data management software,

·         Experience with cleaning and analyzing large datasets required,

·         Experience in data visualization software – Tableau, Power Bi etc.

·         Strong skills in use of analysis software - Excel, R, Stata required,

·         Good understanding of various sampling frameworks,

·         Ability to operate in a cross-cultural environment requiring flexibility,

·         Ability to work independently and remotely,

·         Written and spoken fluency in English required,

·         Experience with ArcGIS, QGIS, Google Earth Engine.

·         Experience with ONA, Kobo, ODK or similar mobile data collection tools.

Qualified Somali Nationals with the required skills are invited to submit their applications accompanied by detailed curriculum vitae and cover letter as a single document i.e. with the cover letter being on the first page and the CV starting on the second page, detailing three work-related referees and contacts to [email protected] and received on or before 5.00 PM on 5th December with the subject line “MEAL DATABASE OFFICER KISMAYO”

Please do not attach any other documents while sending your applications, if required they will be requested at a later stage.

Please do not attach any other documents while sending your applications, if required they will be requested at a later stage.

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

ACTED will at no stage of recruitment process request candidate to make payments of any kind. Further, ACTED has not retained any agent in connection with recruitments.

ACTED is committed to protecting beneficiaries within our programmes from exploitation and abuse and any kind of misconduct. ACTED has specific policies, including PSEA and Child Protection, which outlines the expected behaviour and the responsibility of all staff, beneficiaries, consultants and other stakeholders and has zero tolerance towards misconducts. Any candidate offered a job with ACTED will be expected to sign ACTED’s organizational Policies and Code of Conduct as an annex to their contract of employment and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these documents.

ACTED is an Equal Opportunity Employer.