Data Management Coordinator (Harare)

Position: 1 x Data Management Coordinator (Harare)
Full time: 12 months
Job Purpose
Zvitambo is seeking an experienced and talented Data Coordinator who will coordinate the
LIFE-ED Data Core activities across five countries. This role requires somebody who has a
strong background in research data management and statistics/data science, combined with
exemplary project management and communication skills. The role will form the public 'face'
of the LIFE-ED Data Core, coordinating meetings, developing case report forms (CRFs),
specifying data system requirements and data quality assurance SOPs, harmonizing data
approaches and interfacing with data scientists in Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Peru, India and
Bangladesh to launch a complicated 5-country study. This position requires broad
experience in data collection and data management systems, strong team leadership skills,
a dynamic approach to motivating teams in other countries, and exemplary communication
skills - with the ability to lead multi-country calls to harmonise data decisions. The Data
Coordinator provides a link between the Data Core and each LIFE-ED study team. The post
holder will work closely with the Associate Director for Data, IT and Statistics to launch the
project, and will oversee a team of three programmers and two data officers. This post will
be based in Harare and may require international travel to coordinate meetings, or to support
deployment of data systems at other LIFE-ED sites.

• Employer: Zvitambo
• Job Type: Full-time
• Location: Harare, Zimbabwe
• Category: Data Management
• Closing Date: 2026-11-04

• Project Planning & Scheduling: Develop detailed project timelines, set milestones, and organize daily tasks for data systems design, development, deployment and maintenance.
• Data Tracking & Quality Control: Monitor incoming data workflows, check for data integrity and accuracy, and help maintain documentation or standard operating procedures (SOPs).
• Cross-Functional Communication: Act as the central point of contact between data scientists, database administrators, and researchers, translating technical progress into updates.
• Resource & Vendor Coordination: Ensure the data team has the necessary software, tools, and personnel, and coordinate with external vendors or data providers when required.
• Progress Reporting & Risk Management: Track project metrics, log potential bottlenecks or compliance/security risks, and prepare status reports for LIFE-ED stakeholders.
• Administrative Support: Schedule Data Core meetings, take meeting minutes, manage shared resources or databases, and track project expenses.
• Data Governance and Policies: In collaboration with country data management teams, develop and enforce standards, procedures, and guidelines for how data is collected, stored, used, and shared across the LIFE-ED consortium.
• Data Quality and Integrity: Implement validation rules, cleaning processes, and deduplication routines to fix errors and maintain reliable datasets.
• System and Database Management: I collaboration with programmers, design, maintain, and optimize data storage platforms, including databases, data warehouses, and cloud-based repositories.
• Security and Access Control: In collaboration with IT team, establish user permissions, authentication protocols, and backup procedures to safeguard sensitive information.
• Regulatory Compliance: In collaboration with DPO, ensure data practices adhere to relevant privacy laws and industry regulations (such as GDPR, HIPAA, or CCPA).
• Lifecycle Management: Oversee data from its initial creation or acquisition through active usage, archiving, and final deletion or destruction.
• Collaboration and Support: Work closely with IT teams, data analysts, data scientists, and LIFE-ED teams to turn raw data into actionable dashboards, reports, and insights.

• Master's Degree in quantitative field such as Statistics, Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Science or Mathematics.
• Professional Certifications in data management, data analytics, cloud computing (e.g. AWS Certified Data Analytics, Azure Data Engineer)
• Project management certifications
• At least 3 to 5+ years of hands-on experience in data management, data coordination, database administration, data warehousing, or data analytics.
• Advanced proficiency in SQL (essential), plus working knowledge of database systems like PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, or MongoDB.
• Familiarity with data manipulation and analysis languages like Python or…