Health Informatics Specialist (HI specialist) - JSI Research & Training Institute

JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (JSI), a leader in global health, is nonprofit public health management consulting and research organization dedicated to improving the health of individuals and communities throughout the world.

Job Description

JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (JSI) is a public health management consulting and research organization dedicated to improving the health of individuals and communities throughout the world over the last forty years. Country Health Information Systems and Use (CHISU) is currently seeking an exceptional Health Informatics Specialist with a strong IT background for an upcoming portfolio supporting the implementation of the Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System (SORMAS) in Ghana.

CHISU is a 5-year program designed to enhance the host country's capacity to produce high-quality health information, to optimally manage this information, and institutionalize evidence-based decision-making. The program works with USAID- supported host country health managers, health workers, and other stakeholders to strengthen enabling environment for health information management and strategic planning to improve the harmonization of fragmented information systems, reduce duplication of data collection, and improve monitoring and tracking of the country’s own health trends and priorities.

In Ghana, CHISU will engage in activities at the central and sub-national levels that contribute to COVID-19 surveillance systems alignment, complementing current work supported by other donors in the space (GIZ, Global Fund). These activities will also contribute to the strengthening of the overall integrated disease surveillance and response. CHISU’s activities will include technical assistance and assessments and support the implementation of and sustainability planning for SORMAS and support interoperability between Ghana’s current disease surveillance systems.

The Health Informatics Specialist will lead in-country SORMAS-related technical activities undertaken by the program and ensure full implementation of approved activities with oversight from the Resident Advisor. He/she will also be responsible for leading SORMAS, DHIMS2 and other IT deployment activities, including conducting IT and HR infrastructure assessments to enable the transition of SORMAS to GHS ownership and supporting the development of SORMAS implementation milestones and a transition plan.

The Health Informatics Specialist (HI specialist) must demonstrate

• leadership in the areas of Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System (SORMAS), DHIS2, and District Health Information Systems 2 (DHIS2) tracker. 
• depth and breadth of technical expertise in SORMAS, capacity building, and change management; and
• strong interpersonal skills.  Professional relationships will be an advantage.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the development of SORMAS implementation milestones and transition plan in collaboration with the Public Health Division of the Ghana Health Service and other stakeholders such as GIZ and GCNet
• assess the capacity of GHS to host, maintain and support the users of SORMAS.
• Facilitate the GHS PHD and its partners to develop SOPs for SORMAS.
• conduct IT infrastructure assessment to enable transition of SORMAS to GHS.
• Coordinate and facilitate efforts by the Public Health Directorate and the Policy Planning Monitoring and Evaluation to complete SORMAS and DHIMS2 interoperability adapter activities and escalate to all regions. 
• In collaboration with PPMED and the Surveillance Unit of PHD conduct SORMAS data quality assessment
• Support GHS to develop a data quality assurance plan for SORMAS
• Ensure that global project goals and objectives are fulfilled.
• Support other CHISU tasks as requested.

Required Skills or Experience

• A bachelor's degree (or equivalent) in one of the following disciplines is required: information systems, health informatics, computer science, epidemiology, public health, biostatistics or a related field
• A minimum of five years of experience in managing health information systems or disease surveillance information systems in a developing country is required
• An understanding of Ghana’s disease surveillance systems, DHIMS2 and SORMAS, is required
• Previous work with the Ghana Health Service and relevant directorates at central, regional, and sub-regional levels is desirable
• Expertise in data exchange, in particular, an understanding of standards and application methodologies relevant to a health information exchange such as OpenHIE and FHIR is required
• Experience in applying a user-centered design approach to requirements gathering and applications development, including testing and quality assurance, is required
• Agile software development experience, including expertise in web and/or mobile application development, and web-oriented programming languages (e.g., PHP, JavaScript).; Experience with online collaboration platforms such as Jira and GitHub.
• In-depth knowledge of electronic medical records, aggregated data (e.g., DHIS2), and other systems used to collect, manage, report, and use data
• Expert in the use of database management systems (e.g., MS Access, PostgreSQL or MySQL)
• Ability to engage key stakeholders, manage expectations, as well as plan and coordinate tasks and deliverables
• Experience in successfully training, coaching, and mentoring government staff in the use of information systems
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to work closely and in an integrated manner with a multidisciplinary team
• Ability to take initiative to produce expected results
• Strong leadership skills to work independently and with limited direct supervision in managing day-to-day activities
• Fluent English is required