Organizational Setting

FAO Afghanistan is investing across all 34 provinces, in resilience reinforcing actions that focus on protecting agriculture livelihoods and local ecosystems, boosting local production of nutritious foods and cash-incomes, and safeguarding critical agriculture sectoral development gains achieved over the past couple of decades through revitalizing rural markets and economy. In 2024-2026, FAO will continue to implement emergency and longer-term, resilience-building projects and programmes in the context of the UN Strategic Framework for Afghanistan (UNSFA) and the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of FAOR and guidance of the Emergency and Rehabilitation Officer / Head of Field Programme Unit and the direct supervision of the Head of MEAL Team, the Information Management (IM) Specialist shall perform the following activities:

Technical Focus

The position will support the FAO Afghanistan MEAL team to ensure the availability of reliable, high-quality data to monitor and report against FAO Afghanistan’s programme. In strong collaboration with the MEAL and Programming colleagues, the IM Specialist will play an important role in improving data quality and information management to strengthen analytical processes and facilitate knowledge sharing and learning across the FAO programme.

Tasks and responsibilities

•    Lead in the implementation of MEAL Unit’s Information Management Strategy – in collaboration with the Field Programme Unit Information Management Specialist- INTL work on developing and implementing a sustainable Information Management strategy for all Programme MEAL data to ensure timely and information provision to various users;
•    KOBO Management and Identification, Delivery and Empowerment Application (IDEA)- Maintenance and management of FAO KOBO Application and IDEA bug trouble shooting, licenses management, device tracking and along with form development, trainings users and data management and quality assurance;
•    Data Management, Visualisation & Quality Assurance – Collect, compile, collate, verify and analyse data from various sources (program, MEAL, 5Ws, assessments, real time monitoring data etc.), ensuring accuracy and completeness;
•    Review of data, cleaning and quality checks/protocols to identify and correct errors, inconsistencies, and duplicates to ensure its integrity and consistency;
•    Prepare different visualization products (infographics, interactive dashboards etc.) by using advanced Power Point, Adobe Illustrator, and Power BI/ Tableau/Looker Studio;
•    Databases & API Integrations – work and collaboration with Information Management and MEAL team to assess programme reporting needs, and supporting infrastructures/databases and integration needs, providing tailored recommendations and solutions;
•    Lead in technical support for IDEA implementation in collaboration with the MIS User Support Specialist;
•    Provide ongoing support and maintenance to optimize database performance and troubleshoot integration issues;
•    Data Security & Protection – Ensure compliance with data privacy and security policies and procedures of FAO (FAO Data Protection Policy) to safeguard sensitive information and implement necessary steps to protect data;
•    Geospatial Data Integration – Utilize GIS software and tools to integrate these into data collection tools, systems and dashboards.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements  

•    Advanced degree (Master’s) or University degree (Bachelor’s) in Computer Science, Information Management Systems, Business Data Analytics or Data Management or a related field.
•    For advanced degree at least four (4) years of professional experience in data/information management, data analysis, data visualisation and database management.
•    For university degree at least six (6) years of professional experience in data/information management, data analysis, data visualisation and database management.
•    Working knowledge (level C) of English and local languages (Pashto and/or Dari).
•    National of Afghanistan.

FAO Core Competencies

•    Results Focus
•    Teamwork
•    Communication
•    Building Effective Relationships
•    Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

•    Extent and relevance of experience in relational database design (code and no code) management;
•    Familiarity with quantitative methods for economic analysis;
•    Experience with data cleaning, merging and visualization using PowerBI, Tableu etc;
•    Knowledge of remote sensing and/or geospatial analysis is a strong advantage;
•    Ability to work under minimal supervision to meet tight deadlines;
•    Previous work experience with the UN is considered a strong asset;
•    Strong professional command of Microsoft Office, in particular Word and Excel;
•    Experience in quantitative data analysis using statistical tools (i.e. STATA, R, PowerBI, SPSS etc.).

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION