Position: Research Officer – (Fullstack Software Developer) 1 Post

Reports To: Project Leader

Work Station: Dar es Salaam

Institute Overview

Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) is a leading research organization in Africa with a strong track record in developing, testing and validating innovations for health. Driven by a core strategic mandate for research, training and services, the Institute’s work now spans a wide spectrum, covering biomedical and ecological sciences, intervention studies, health-systems research, service delivery and policy translation.

Position Summary

The Ifakara Health Institute is seeking a qualified Research Officer (versatile Fullstack Software Developer) with expertise in the FastAPI framework. He/she will play a key role in designing, developing, and implementing software solutions to support data analysis, machine learning model development, and research initiatives within the VMAN Project (Development of a Standard Verbal Autopsy Manager Tool to improve Death and Cause of Death Data Quality, Data Use and Data Linkages). He/she will collaborate closely with researchers, data scientists, and public health experts to create impactful tools and platforms that facilitate data-driven decision-making and advance scientific discoveries.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams of researchers, data scientists, and public health experts to understand project requirements and translate them into technical solutions.
• Design and develop scalable and efficient backend services and APIs using the FastAPI framework, ensuring optimal performance, reliability, and security.
• Implement frontend interfaces for data visualization and user interaction using modern frontend frameworks and technologies (e.g., React, Angular, Vue.js).
• Develop database schemas, optimize queries, and manage data persistence layers (e.g., SQL, NoSQL databases) to support research data management and analysis.
• Write analytical and machine learning models using Python libraries (e.g., scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch) to extract insights from large-scale public health datasets.
• Collaborate with researchers to integrate analytical and machine learning models into software applications, ensuring seamless integration and functionality.
• Write clean, well-documented code following best practices and coding standards, and conduct code reviews to maintain code quality and consistency.
• Troubleshoot and debug issues, perform root cause analysis, and implement effective solutions to ensure the reliability and integrity of research software systems.
• Stay abreast of the latest developments in software development, data science, and public health research, and proactively explore and implement innovative technologies and methodologies to enhance research capabilities.

Qualification and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Public Health, or a related field and with equivalent experience.

Skills and Competencies

• Proven experience as a Fullstack Software Developer with expertise in developing applications using the Fast API framework.
• Strong proficiency in Python programming language and experience with backend development frameworks (e.g., Flask, Django).
• Solid understanding of frontend technologies such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and frontend frameworks/libraries (e.g., React, Angular, Vue.js).
• Experience with relational and/or non-relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, MongoDB) and proficiency in writing efficient SQL queries.
• Demonstrated experience in writing analytical and machine learning models using Python libraries (e.g., scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch).
• Excellent problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and ability to work independently as well as collaboratively in a multidisciplinary research environment.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate with researchers, data scientists, and public health experts.
• Passion for leveraging technology to address public health challenges and drive meaningful societal impact.

Remuneration

An attractive and competitive remuneration package will be offered to successful candidates as per IHI salary scales.

Equal Opportunity

IHI is an equal opportunity employer. We prohibit intentional biases or discrimination and harassment of any kind at the work place and during recruitment. All employment decisions are based solely on job requirements and individual qualifications, and our recruitment process is governed by the labour laws of Tanzania.

Mode of Application

All candidates who meet the above job requirements should send their application letters together with their detailed curriculum vitae (CVs) showing contact addresses including email, telephone/cell phone numbers and copies of academic and professional certificates to the email address below.

The deadline for this application is 17:00 hrs on June 10 2024. All e-mail application subject lines should include: [Research Officer (Fullstack Software Developer) – VMAN project]. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for interview.

Human Resources Manager

IFAKARA HEALTH INSTITUTE

#5 Ifakara Street Plot 463 Mikocheni

P.O. Box 78,373

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Email: recruitment@ihi.or.tz