Global Survey Manager

ICF International; Rockville (MD); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

ICF is seeking a motivated Survey Manager to provide technical leadership and coordination to national implementing agencies conducting population-based surveys through The DHS Program. This role drives data quality from design through dissemination and mentors a cross-functional team in sampling, data processing, biomarker, GIS, and communications.

The position can be remote or hybrid, based in Rockville, Maryland, with approximately 25-30% travel to countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia,

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in demography, public health, nutrition, epidemiology, or a similar topic area.
• 3+ years of experience in survey work, preferably in global health and population surveys, including using CAPI.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership and coordinate population-based surveys through DHS Program.
• Lead cross-functional teams across sampling, data processing, biomarker, GIS, and communications.
• Coordinate with host country implementing organizations and other survey stakeholders to meet data needs within budget and time constraints.
• Support survey design, field staff training, data quality assessments, reporting, and dissemination of findings.

Skills

Data analysis

Project management

Communication skills

Team coordination

Remote collaboration

Education

Advanced degree in demography/public health/epidemiology

Tools

CAPI

GIS

Stata

R

Tableau/PowerBI

Job description

ICF is seeking a motivated Survey Manager to provide technical leadership and coordination to national implementing agencies conducting population-based surveys through The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program; and to inform and support technology-enabled innovations that improve the efficiency of the overall survey process.

Survey Managers typically lead one active survey at a time. The Survey Manager is ICF's main day-to-day counterpart to the national implementing agency, usually a statistics office or ministry, and supports country ownership of the survey from design through dissemination. Survey Managers coordinate a cross-functional team of sampling, data processing, biomarker, GIS, and communications specialists. The Survey Manager works within a portfolio of surveys overseen by a Survey Portfolio Manager, who provides mentoring, budget and forecast information, and backup support.

Specific programmatic and technical tasks include:

• Working with host country implementing organizations and other survey stakeholders to support implementation of surveys and activities to meet data needs within budget and time constraints.
• Providing technical assistance to countries in various stages of the survey process, e.g., questionnaire adaptation, field staff training, fieldwork monitoring, adaptation of analysis plans, reviewing data tables for accuracy, report writing, and dissemination of the survey findings.
• Preparing and adapting training materials and working with implementing agencies to train local field staff in questionnaire content, interviewing techniques, and computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI).
• Leading the survey's cross-functional project team (sampling, data processing, biomarker, GIS, communications, and other specialists): running regular team meetings, setting technical priorities, and agreeing on assignments across ICF teams.
• Support the Survey Portfolio Manager's negotiation and management of survey budgets, flagging technical, schedule, and cost issues early and as they arise.
• Supporting the preparation of contracts and subcontracts for implementing agencies, working with ICF contracts staff.
• Preparing IRB protocols.
• Assuring ICF and DHS Program protocols are followed to ensure data quality and timeliness, and flagging technical, schedule, and cost risks early.
• Writing and reviewing survey reports, including descriptions of survey activities and interpretation of survey results.
• Communicating throughout all stages of the survey process with other staff, implementing agencies, donor agencies, and other key stakeholders in a clear and timely manner.
• Working with data analysts on an as-needed basis to conduct data quality assessments and interpret demographic data.
• Working with the wider team to adapt survey management tools and processes in ways that increase cost and time efficiencies while maintaining core DHS quality standards.
• Piloting and giving structured feedback on DHS Program innovation tools, such as AI-assisted report writing and anomaly detection for data quality.
• Using AI-assisted and automated tools in day-to-day survey work, and helping identify where they save time and where expert judgment remains essential.

This position will be either remote or hybrid, based in Rockville, Maryland, and involves approximately 25-30% travel mainly to countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Trips are typically 2-6 weeks in duration. Preference will be given to candidates with experience working in low- and middle-income countries.

Required Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in demography, public health, nutrition, epidemiology, or a similar topic area.
• 3+ years of experience in survey work, preferably in global health and population surveys. This experience must include using CAPI.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Professional level proficiency in French.
• Experience coordinating a full survey cycle at DHS or other large population-based household survey program (e.g., MICS, LSMS, PHIA, or national surveys).
• Experience with biomarker collection in population-based surveys.
• Project management experience on international programs.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience in survey budget monitoring.
• Experience using or testing digital, automated, or AI-enabled tools in survey or data work.
• Ability to read and understand financial budgets and their connection to activities and deliverables (e.g., have budget awareness).
• Ability to foster productive working relationships with multiple stakeholders in a complex political environment.
• Strong organizational and program management skills, including the ability to balance multiple tasks simultaneously and set strategic priorities.
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team.
• Professional level proficiency in Portuguese.
• Data analytic and visualization experience using a statistical software package e.g., Stata, R, SPSS, Tableau, PowerBI.

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