The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa
VACANCY Announcements
Senior Data Analyst: Ref: FARA/adv./SDA SP2/ 2.2.1.1 /2014
FARA’s mission is to create broad-based improvements in agricultural productivity, competitiveness and markets by supporting Africa’s sub-regional organizations in strengthening the capacity of the NARS for agricultural innovation.
FARA is seeking to recruit and experience professional with extensive theoretical and practical background in Agricultural research for development, macroeconomic statistics, data science and knowledge management, for a senior data management position. The candidate should have experience in applying and analysing economic concepts, with an intimate knowledge of economic data sources and datasets required to conduct data, trend and economic analysis. The candidate should also be proficient with aggregating and analysing large datasets, with a keen attention to detail in order to drive data consistency and accuracy. The candidate will be expected to have strong research skills, understanding consumer markets, and macroeconomic data and have the ability to identify data driven trends. FARA is currently implementing its new Medium Term Operational Plan (MTOP) from 2014-2018 which has three Strategic Priorities (SPs):
SP1: Visioning Africa’s agricultural transformation through foresight, strategic analysis and partnerships
SP2: Integrating capacities for change by connecting and learning
SP3: Creating an enabling environment for implementation through advocacy and communication
Main Purpose
In relation to its three strategic priorities, FARA Secretariat has the overall responsibility for:
· Facilitating the enabling of more productive engagement between the public and private sectors in all aspects of the supply and value chains, leading to the creation of an integral Agricultural Innovation System, improved trade (especially intra-Africa trade) and marketing to reduce consumer prices, and improved household incomes.
· Ensuring that Africa has human, institutional and innovative capacity in public, private and civil society agricultural organizations and institutions through demand–led capacity development approaches to spearhead innovations needed to ensure the production of fit-for-purpose human capital, strong implementation capacity and the achievement of improved and broad-based agricultural productivity and competitiveness
· Facilitating pro- poor agricultural development advocacy to convince African governments that strong agricultural innovation systems are the linchpins of economic development and food security, and that they must invest more in it themselves and
Scope of services
The Senior Data Analyst will work closely under FARA’s three strategic priority teams and technical units to determine the scope, data capture process and quality control of existing and additional data to be added to FARA data base. He/she will have significant data responsibilities as part of day to day activities, including the management and updating of capacity, economic and Industry specific data. He / She will be responsible for undertaking analysis from data collection from different sources, data cleansing and data manipulation using various modeling and statistical analysis techniques.
He /She shall work on projects including the eCapacities platform, Regional Mobility for Capacity Strengthening (ReMoCaSt), Regional Agricultural Information and Learning System (RAILS), Adaptation for Future Demands (AFDA), and Policy Science and Technology for Agricultural Development (PSTAD) and Africa Agricultural Policy Platform (AfAPP).
He / She will therefore develop and maintain relationships with FARA programme divisions/units and external professionals including key data providers and will work with research scientists, education experts, policy makers and managers of programmes to assist with strategic analysis, formulate capacity development strategy and actions and national policy and advice on making the best possible use of investments
Duties and Responsibilities
The key tasks will require combining subject matter and expertise to analytical approach using both quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis to complete a comprehensive, cogent set of findings, recommendations, or lessons learned across constraints, trades, and objective functions such as cost, performance, schedule, and mission success.
· Define the problem for analysis, collect and ensure the quality of data and derive analysis and trends to support senior decision makers in understanding complex issues
· Ensure analysis is processed and displayed for effective, visually appealing products that maximize communication and improve decisions and provide analytic insights.
· Define data requirements and gather and validate information, applying judgment and statistical tests, Specify manipulative or computational methods to be applied to models
· Support the establishment of statistical research methods and techniques
o e.g. Hypothesis testing, probabilistic modeling, optimization techniques, applied statistics, and decision analysis, data visualization, trend analysis and forecasting
· Recommend new analytical processes; initiate development of new analytical tools such as power pivots and analytical cubes to enhance analytical capabilities.
· Be responsible for identifying trends, patterns, and relationships in the data that provide answers to questions.
· Prepare reports of findings and use data visualization techniques, such as charts and graphs, to illustrate the results and make them understandable to decision makers within FARA.
· Design, conduct, and evaluate experimental operational models in cases where models cannot be developed from existing data, use qualitative research data to support assumptions
· Perform validation and testing of models to ensure adequacy and reformulate models as necessary
· Be responsible for pointing out the limitations of the existing data so that decision makers do not misinterpret results.
Required
Minimum of a Master of Science degree in Mathematics and Statistics or Operational Research and related fields with experience and knowledge of government/Not- for- profit organizations with documentation processes, capacity development processes, or requirements for determination processes. The successful candidate should have a minimum of 5 years' experience and knowledge in operations research or other analytical field. The data analysis will require scientific methods of analysis and a systematic exploration of the quantifiable aspects of key problems. The data analysts should therefore have; Wide knowledge of data analysis techniques, Strong statistical skills, Highly literate with analytical software, Have basic understanding of the reporting and analytics correlations and quality measurement concepts (compliance, risk, network performance, provider profiling and care management programs). Experience of extracting and collecting data, and employing statistical analysis and data visualization programs such as Excel, Tableau, Stata, R, Crystal Ball, SPSS and SAS. S/he should have strong belief in the value of data collection and analysis and the insights it can give to help answer important questions. Continually seeking knowledge and understanding of new concepts and technologies
Duration/Compensation
FARA provides attractive compensation depending on civil status, experience and qualifications.
The Senior Data Analyst shall be engaged for a period of twelve months. Some of the projects might require working longer hours or during the weekend. Overtime pay is not provided. Travel is expected in executing the task under this assignment. Days and hours of work are Monday through Friday; Official working hours are 8.00am-4.30pm (Monday to Thursday) and 8.00am to 2.00pm (Friday).
Location
The successful candidate shall be based at the FARA Secretariat in Accra, Ghana
Applications
Qualified candidates are invited to submit via email comprehensive Curriculum Vitae together with a motivation letter and names/contact details of three referees to: Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, Executive Director, FARA, PMB CT 173, Cantonments, Accra, Ghana. Email: recruitment@fara-africa.org. Applications will be accepted up to 30th August 2014. Please use the job title and reference in the subject line of your email.
Due to anticipated high volume of applicants, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Applications which do not meet the stated criteria will be rejected.
FARA Affirmative Action Statement on Employment
There is no discrimination on the basis of gender race, religion, ethnic orientation, disability or health status.
Senior Data Analyst at The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa
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