Rwanda FLR Data Coordinator

Job Summary

The Rwanda FLR Data Coordinator manages the end-to-end data pipelines for the Forest Landscape Restoration team. Core responsibilities include designing, testing, and deploying mobile survey tools; training field staff on data collection protocols; cleaning, validating, and auditing datasets to ensure absolute quality; analyzing quantitative and qualitative environmental trends; and serving as the primary operational liaison between field operations and the centralized data analytics department.

Foundational Capabilities & Prerequisites

Minimum Requirements

• Academic Credentials: A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution in Statistics, Information Technology (IT), Data Science, Economics, or a closely related quantitative/environmental field.
• Technical Tool Familiarity: Documented experience configuring and deploying digital survey tools for mobile field data collection (e.g., KoboCollect, ODK, SurveyCTO, CommCare).
• Analytical Base: Solid basic skills in quantitative data analysis, data cleaning methodologies, and professional report preparation using Excel or standard statistical packages.
• Qualitative Exposure: Prior exposure to qualitative field data collection methodologies, including organizing or tracking focus group discussions, semi-structured interviews, and open-ended feedback loops.
• Field Agility: Proven experience working directly alongside field-based teams, agricultural extension workers, or operating within rural communal environments in Rwanda.
• Domain Alignment: A foundational background or strong demonstrated interest in agriculture, forestry, agroforestry, or rural economic development.
• Linguistic Command: Complete professional fluency in written and spoken English, paired with native-level command of Kinyarwanda to lead field training sessions effectively.

Preferred Technical Assets

• Spatial Technology Exposure: Practical familiarity with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing applications (e.g., QGIS, ArcGIS, Google Earth Engine) for tracking tree planting coordinates or land canopy changes is an asset.

Key Responsibilities

1. Survey Design, Tool Configuration & Field Training

• Support the end-to-end design, logic scripting, and field-testing of mobile survey instruments deployed by the FLR program.
• Partner with field coordinators to ensure that survey questions are practical, culturally contextualized, and optimized for rapid mobile entry.
• Assist in organizing and facilitating technical training sessions for rural data collectors, ensuring complete alignment on data collection protocols and definition baselines.
• Build and track data collection timelines, actively following up with provincial team leads to ensure survey quotas are met on schedule.

2. Data Quality Assurance, Cleaning & Validation

• Execute daily and weekly data cleaning loops, writing validation queries to flag outliers, structural inconsistencies, or entry errors.
• Collaborate directly with field teams to resolve data discrepancies, cross-referencing flagged entries to fix recording errors.
• Maintain well-organized, version-controlled cloud datasets, ensuring data privacy and compliance with organizational information security standards.
• Continuously identify and suggest system updates to reduce survey entry bugs and automate routine data cleaning steps.

3. Quantitative Analysis, Reporting & Insight Generation

• Process raw environmental and program tracking data to generate descriptive statistical summaries, performance dashboards, and data trackers.
• Synthesize qualitative data from focus groups or post-harvest interviews into actionable summaries that reveal farmer adoption barriers.
• Prepare clear, visual data summaries and progress reports to guide programmatic decisions regarding seedling distributions and survival rate interventions.
• Support internal stakeholders with ad-hoc data extractions and baseline assessments for donor reporting.

4. Cross-Departmental Coordination & Documentation

• Serve as the primary, reliable communication bridge between decentralized rural field operators and the central office data team.
• Systematically log field issues, corrections, and survey logic adaptations, maintaining clear institutional documentation.
• Participate actively in weekly strategy syncs with your direct manager, using regular feedback and performance insights to accelerate your personal career growth.

Expected Outputs & Deliverables

• Fully functional, bug-free mobile survey forms deployed on time for seasonal FLR tracking.
• Audited, cleaned, and structurally organized program datasets delivered weekly to analytics leads.
• Concise monthly and seasonal data-tracker sheets visualizing field performance, seedling survival rates, and team quotas.
• Up-to-date documentation maps listing survey variables, data dictionaries, and operational field protocols.

Skills Required:

• Computer / Software / It / Data
• Economics / Statistics