Senior Advisor, Data Use

Resolve to Save Lives’ Prevent Epidemics program works closely with Ministries of Health and national public health institutes in Africa to strengthen epidemic preparedness capacity, accelerate disease detection and response, and effectively use data to inform action. In addition to direct partnerships with governments, we also work with implementing partners, including the US CDC, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and the Global Health Advocacy Incubator, to implement programs, prototype innovations, and ensure sustainability through increased national ownership, including domestic budget allocations.

Position Purpose

RTSL is seeking a Senior Advisor, Data Use to be embedded within the Strategic Affairs Executive Office within the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The mission of the Strategic Affairs Executive Office is to encourage the use of data and evidence to guide decision-making through institutionalizing core principles in the health sector. The Data Use Senior Advisor will play a pivotal role in guiding the MOH’s approach to data use and data access for public health emergency preparedness and response. The candidate will be responsible for improving and facilitating data sharing and data use across and within the Ministry of Health and Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), supporting evidence-based programming of bilateral/multi-lateral donor funds, promoting a data use culture for initiatives, and supporting governance and coordination mechanisms to enable operational efficiency and transparency. This role will also support the implementation of the Resolve to Save Lives Integrated and Collaborative Disease Surveillance initiative.

This position will be within MOH’s Strategic Affairs Executive Office and reports directly to the Executive Officer. As part of their routine duties, the incumbent will also have regular reporting, technical support, and collaboration on outputs with RTSL.

Length of Engagement: This is a fixed-term appointment based in Addis Ababa, through December 31, 2026 with the possibility of extension.

Core Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide strategic level support for new or existing initiatives to improve data governance, coordination, access, with a focus on public health emergency preparedness and response. Including national data warehouse initiatives.
• Support initiatives to functionalize new/existing coordination structures (steering committee, TWGs). Including by ensuring agenda is set for the meetings, arranging meetings according to schedules in the respective TORs, identifying relevant members and stakeholders and ensuring their participation, preparing meeting summaries and following up on action points.
• Work closely with the Statistics and Information team of Strategic Affairs Executive Office to identify data-needs of decision makers for health security and facilitate the preparation of data products which can address decision makers’ needs.
• Support activities to strengthen routine sharing of data relevant for epidemic and pandemic preparedness and response, between the MOH and its agencies such as the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) – Public Health Emergency Management, National Data Management Center.
• Identify senior leadership’s information needs for public health emergency preparedness and response (e.g., executive briefs) and coordinate the routine production of appropriate information products by collaborating with departments within the Ministry as well as EPHI.
• Support the production of key reports and visualizations
• Identify bottlenecks for data sharing and governance within and outside the health sector and work closely with relevant departments and stakeholders to address challenges.
• Identify opportunities for collaboration and support between MOH and its agencies to improve data sharing, use, and improve synergy on health information systems utilization (DHIS2)
• Provide strategic level support and aid in stakeholder engagement for new or existing initiatives to improve data governance and coordination.
• Provide technical support to compile data on national health security priorities from various sources and generate information products which can inform efficient and impactful programming of multi-lateral funds.
• Champion a data-driven culture by fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing among teams.

Education

• Master’s in public health or a relevant field of study
• Certifications in data analysis tools (Power BI, Tableau, etc.) is a plus

Experience

• Minimum of 10 years of experience in public health or related discipline
• Demonstrated experience in surveillance, data analysis, emergency response coordination
• Demonstrated experience working with multiple sectors and stakeholders
• Proven track record of developing and implementing successful data use strategies
• Ability to conduct descriptive analyses using MS Excel or a statistical analysis software (e.g. SPSS, Stata, SAS, R)
• Strong understanding of data governance, privacy, and security principles
• Experience with M&E and indicator development
• Demonstrable experience working in or with MOH or its agencies
• Experience working in a cross-functional environment and building strong relationships with stakeholders

Skills & Abilities

• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to tailor messaging to diverse audiences
• Ability to think strategically and translate data insights into actionable recommendations that drive informed decision-making
• Ability to navigate organizational change and guide the adoption/implementation of data use practices.
• The ability to present data insights in a clear, concise, and compelling way for both technical and non-technical audiences
• Ability to champion a data-driven culture and motivate others to leverage the power of data.