Senior Associate (Data Analytics and Systems)

Organization: Research and Development Solutions (RADS)

Unit: Urban Impact Lab

Location: Islamabad

Reports to: Team Lead, Urban Impact Lab

Employment type: Full-time

About the role

This is a core data role inside the Data Analytics and Systems vertical, Urban Imoact Lab (UIL). The incumbent owns RADS's data infrastructure end to end. That includes designing and maintaining data collection systems, building and running pipelines between survey servers and program databases, managing the database and BI layer behind AapiVerse, developing dashboards across different tools and environments, and automating the recurring extraction, cleaning, and reporting work that keeps field operations and program monitoring functional. The role is hands-on and engineering-first. Research and policy outputs are handled by other verticals; this role exists to make their work possible.

Key responsibilities

Data collection systems (SurveyCTO)

• Own RADS's SurveyCTO environment: form design, complex skip logic, relevance and constraint rules, encrypted case management, enumerator assignment, review workflows, server administration, and user roles.
• Localize and version instruments between English and Urdu, and maintain an internal library of reusable form components.
• Build high-frequency checks, back-check workflows, and enumerator performance dashboards that catch data issues within 24 to 48 hours of collection.

Data pipelines and ETL

• Design, build, and maintain production-grade pipelines that move data from SurveyCTO, the MySQL platform, and external administrative sources into a clean, documented, analysis-ready warehouse.
• Write clean, version-controlled ETL code in Python (pandas, SQLAlchemy) and Stata; schedule recurring jobs and monitor them.
• Maintain raw, intermediate, and output data layers with full lineage documentation, codebooks, and data dictionaries for every dataset produced.

Database and BI layer

• Manage RADS's MySQL database and its schema’s, and extend the schema as new modules and studies come online.
• Resolve schema issues, relationship conflicts, and performance bottlenecks in coordination with the software team.

Dashboard development across tools and environments

• Build and maintain production dashboards for program management, field operations, donor reporting, and internal analytics, choosing the right tool for the audience and use case.
• Work across a mix of BI platforms (Power BI, Tableau, Metabase or Superset) and code-based environments (Python with Streamlit or Dash, R with Shiny, and web-based visualizations with Leaflet or Plotly).
• Own the refresh schedule, access controls, and version history for every dashboard in production.
• Embed dashboards into the AapiVerse platform and donor-facing microsites where needed.
• Retire dashboards that are no longer used and document what replaced them, so the surface area stays manageable.

Automation and integration

• Automate recurring data extraction, cleaning, and reporting tasks.
• Build browser-based automation (Playwright) where public or partner data is only accessible through a UI.
• Integrate geospatial layers such as catchment polygons, facility locations, and household GPS using GeoPandas and QGIS, and publish web maps where useful.

Data governance

• Maintain IRB compliance, PII handling standards, encryption at rest, access controls, and retention policies across all RADS data assets.
• Keep the data inventory, ROPA, and consent artifact records up to date.

Team coordination

• Supervise data officers, junior analysts, and short-term consultants on the vertical's workstreams.
• Coordinate with the MeriSehat/AapiVerse software team on platform data structures, UAT cycles, and release planning.
• Act as the data point of contact for other RADS verticals including research, program, and partnerships, ensuring their data needs are served reliably.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Data Science, Statistics, Computer Science, Economics, Public Health, or a related quantitative field.
• 3 to 4 years of hands-on experience in data systems, pipelines, and analytics, ideally in a research, health, or development setting.
• SurveyCTO: demonstrated experience designing complex forms, managing the server, and running review and back-check workflows.
• Python: strong working proficiency in pandas, numpy, and SQLAlchemy; comfort writing unattended scripts and small automations.
• Stata: fluency for data cleaning, reshaping, and merging large survey datasets.
• SQL and MySQL: able to write non-trivial queries, design schemas, and debug relational models.
• Dashboarding: production experience with at least one BI tool (Power BI, Tableau, Metabase, or Superset) and at least one code-based framework (Streamlit, Dash, Shiny, or equivalent).
• Experience embedding dashboards into web applications and working with front-end teams on integration.
• Experience with geospatial stacks (GeoPandas, QGIS, Leaflet) and browser automation (Playwright, Selenium).
• Familiarity with cloud environments (AWS or GCP) and workflow orchestration tools.
• Exposure to NIH and FCDO data management and sharing requirements.
• Experience building data systems for RCTs or longitudinal household studies.

Qualifications

Required

Preferred

Skills and attributes

Engineering discipline, with documentation, reproducibility, and version control as defaults. Comfort moving between a SurveyCTO form, a Python script, a MySQL schema, and a dashboard in the same day. Good judgment about which dashboarding tool fits which audience, rather than defaulting to one. Ability to own multiple concurrent systems without close supervision. Collaborative temperament when working across software, field, and program teams. A preference for durable infrastructure over one-off fixes.

How to apply

1. Curriculum vitae.
2. A brief cover letter (one page).
3. A technical artifact of your choice, such as a GitHub repository, a SurveyCTO form export, a dashboard link or file (Power BI, Tableau, Streamlit, or similar), a Stata project, or a data pipeline, that demonstrates your systems work.