Health Informatics Officer at Desmond Tutu Health Foundation

 Job Description

• The Desmond Tutu Health Foundation (DTHF) is a registered non-profit organisation focused on the pursuit of excellence in research, treatment, training and prevention of HIV and related infections in Southern Africa. 
• We have fantastic job opportunities across our businesses for talented people wanting to realize their full potential. Could that be you? If so, we invite you to explore the possibility of joining us to play your part in Desmond Tutu Health Foundations’ exciting future.
• We are seeking a Health Informatics Officer to strengthen our data management and analytics capacity across research and programmatic activities. The ideal candidate will combine technical expertise in REDCap and data systems integration with a solid understanding of public health research workflows. This role offers an opportunity to design, standardize, and automate data solutions that drive high-quality evidence generation and decision-making.

Job Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in health informatics, Public Health, Data Science, Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field.
• Minimum 2–3 years’ experience in health informatics, research data management, or data systems administration.
• Proven experience with REDCap design and administration, Power BI dashboarding, and data integration (APIs, ETLs).
• Proficiency in data cleaning and analysis using R, Stata, Python, or SQL.
• Familiarity with health information systems, research data governance, and ethical data practices.
• Proficiency in MS Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong organizational and time management skills, with attention to detail.
• Ability to work independently and manage high volumes of data processing under pressure.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to collaborate with a multidisciplinary team.
• Strong work ethic and professionalism.

Advantageous:

• Basic knowledge of statistical packages (e.g., STATA, SPSS, SAS, SQL, Python or R) for data queries.
• Certification in Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and Protecting of Human Subjects.
• Postgraduate qualification in health informatics, Public Health, Data Science, Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field.
• Experience implementing data standardization initiatives across multi-site projects.
• Understanding of data warehousing, cloud data infrastructure, or automated data pipelines.

Responsibilities:

• Database and System Development
• Design, configure, and maintain REDCap and other health system databases and project templates to support standardized data capture across studies.
• Develop and document data dictionaries, validation rules, and metadata standards to improve data quality and system interoperability.
• Collaborate with project teams to ensure database structures align with study protocols, ethical approvals, and data governance requirements.
• Data Integration and Workflows
• Develop and maintain data workflows, including API integrations and ETL pipelines, to connect REDCap with other health information systems or analysis platforms.
• Support the setup and optimization of data repositories for research and routine monitoring.

Data Quality and Analytics

• Conduct data cleaning, transformation, and quality assurance checks across multiple research datasets.
• Perform basic data analysis and visualization to support operational monitoring and scientific reporting.
• Collaborate with researchers to prepare data for advanced statistical or machine learning models.
• Reporting and Visualization
• Develop and maintain interactive dashboards and reports (e.g., in Power BI) to track key indicators and provide timely insights into project performance.
• Support the automation of key reports and indicator tracking tools for routine dissemination.
• Capacity Building and Governance
• Develop training materials, SOPs, and user guides to strengthen team capacity in data collection, management, and analytics.
• Provide hands-on training and mentorship to staff and researchers on data systems and visualization tools.
• Ensure compliance with data governance, ethical standards, and information security policies.
• Support the documentation of data management plans and contribute to data sharing or access procedures.