PAHO Consultant - Database Engineer Consultant for Geospatial Immunization Data Integration and Management

OBJECTIVE OF THE OFFICE/DEPARTMENT

This is a requisition for employment at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO)

Contractual Agreement:

Non-Staff - International PAHO Consultant

Job Posting:

August 28, 2026

Closing Date:

September 7, 2026, 11:59 PM Eastern Time

Primary Location:

Off Site

Organization:

EIH Evidence and Intelligence for Action in Health

Schedule:

Full time

PURPOSE OF CONSULTANCY

Organization: Department of Evidence and Intelligence for Action in Health (EIH) and PAHO technical teams for immunization, health analysis, information systems, and digital transformation.

Background

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) supports countries of the Region of the Americas in strengthening immunization systems, epidemiological surveillance, health information systems, and evidence-informed planning of interventions aimed at populations with limited access to health services.

The project seeks to identify where children who have not received the first dose of measles vaccine are concentrated (zero-dose children for measles). This information will serve as the basis for developing a cloud-based solution for geospatial microplanning of vaccination campaigns, enabling the integration of vaccination coverage, population, administrative boundaries, health facilities, access barriers, and campaign operational data.

A reliable database layer is critical for this type of solution. The platform will depend on structured, traceable, versioned, and quality-controlled data to generate maps, indicators, prioritization lists, microplanning inputs, and monitoring outputs. The solution must be able to ingest heterogeneous datasets from multiple sources, harmonize geographic and administrative identifiers, preserve data lineage, and provide performant data products to backend services and user interfaces.

To advance this component, PAHO requires a consultant specialized in database engineering, geospatial databases, data integration, and data quality. The consultant will design and implement the database structures and data management processes needed to support the identification of zero-dose measles vaccination gaps and to operationalize geospatial microplanning for vaccination campaigns.

Purpose
Design, implement, document, and validate the database and data management layer for a cloud-based geospatial microplanning solution aimed at identifying and prioritizing areas where children are missing the first dose of measles vaccine.

Ensure that the database component is secure, scalable, interoperable, geospatially enabled, and prepared to support subsequent backend services, analytical workflows, and user-facing applications for vaccination campaign planning and monitoring.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES:

Responsabilities

The consultant will be responsible for planning, developing, documenting, and validating the database engineering components through the following activities:

1. Data requirements, source inventory, and technical planning

• Review project objectives, expected analytical outputs, and microplanning use cases with PAHO technical teams and designated counterparts.

• Identify, document, and classify expected data sources, including vaccination coverage, target populations, administrative boundaries, health facilities, campaign operations, and geospatial reference layers.

• Assess known data quality, completeness, interoperability, coding, geocoding, and update-frequency issues relevant to the database component.

• Develop a database engineering work plan aligned with the broader cloud, backend, and user experience workstreams.

2. Database architecture and geospatial data model design

• Define the conceptual, logical, and implementation data model for the solution, including core entities, relationships, indicators, metadata, and spatial references.

• Design normalized and analytical structures to support ingestion, transformation, quality control, geospatial analysis, and microplanning outputs.

• Specify the use of relational and geospatial database technologies, such as PostgreSQL/PostGIS or equivalent cloud-compatible services, according to institutional requirements.

• Prepare source-to-target mappings, naming conventions, data dictionaries, coding standards, and versioning rules.

3. Database implementation and environment configuration

• Implement development database schemas, staging areas, reference tables, geospatial layers, roles, permissions, spatial indexes, and baseline configuration scripts.

• Coordinate with the cloud backend architect to ensure compatibility with the cloud deployment model, security architecture, and API layer.

• Document assumptions, dependencies, limitations, and operational risks affecting the database environment.

4. Data ingestion, transformation, and quality assurance pipelines

• Develop or specify reproducible ETL/ELT routines for loading, cleaning, transforming, validating, and publishing priority datasets.

• Implement quality checks for missing values, duplicate records, geographic inconsistencies, administrative-code mismatches, temporal inconsistencies, and indicator calculation errors.

• Create exception logs, validation summaries, and data lineage records that allow PAHO teams to trace how final indicators and outputs were produced.

• Support secure handling of sensitive or restricted data through appropriate access controls, minimization principles, and documentation.

These activities are essential to establish a reliable, interoperable, and well-documented database foundation for the geospatial microplanning solution, enabling subsequent development of tools to identify vaccination gaps and plan targeted measles vaccination interventions.

Consultant profile

The consultancy requires a database engineer or data engineer with specialization in relational and geospatial databases, data modeling, ETL/ELT processes, data quality assurance, and cloud-compatible database implementation for analytical and operational applications.

The consultant should demonstrate the capacity to work with multidisciplinary teams, translate public health and geospatial requirements into database structures, and produce technical documentation suitable for software engineers, data analysts, and institutional stakeholders.

Languages: Advanced Spanish or English; working knowledge of the other language will be considered an advantage.

Education: Minimum bachelor’s degree for the lower end of the band; advanced university degree for the mid or upper range of Band B, in computer science, information systems, data engineering, software engineering, geomatics, public health informatics, or related fields.

Minimum experience: At least seven (7) years of professional experience in database engineering, data engineering, data architecture, or related technical roles, preferably supporting public health, geospatial analysis, immunization, epidemiological surveillance, or digital health projects.

Demonstrated experience designing and implementing relational and geospatial databases for analytical or operational systems, including data modeling, schema implementation, query optimization, and data lifecycle management.

Experience developing data integration workflows from heterogeneous sources and creating technical documentation such as data dictionaries, source-to-target mappings, runbooks, and database diagrams.

Experience working in multidisciplinary environments and translating analytical, public health, or geospatial requirements into production-ready data structures and documentation.

Skills:

• Relational database design and implementation, including normalization, indexing, access control, and performance tuning.

• Advanced SQL and experience with PostgreSQL/PostGIS or equivalent geospatial database technologies.

• ETL/ELT development, data ingestion, data validation, data lineage, and reproducible data processing workflows.

• Geospatial data management, administrative boundary harmonization, spatial joins, geocoding support, and map-ready data products.

• Cloud-compatible database deployment, backup/restore planning, migration scripts, and environment documentation.

• Data governance, privacy, role-based access, auditability, and secure handling of sensitive health or operational data.

• Collaboration with backend developers, UX designers, data analysts, public health specialists, and country counterparts.

Technical coordination and supervision

Under the supervision of the Advisor in Data Science from the Health Analysis team of the Department of Evidence and Intelligence for Action in Health, will supervise the consultant. The consultant will coordinate with immunization, information systems, geospatial analysis, data, information security, cloud/backend, and UX/web design focal points designated by PAHO.

Contract value

Depending on deliverables, daily rates can vary from US $258 to US $314.

Duration: September 9, 2026 - December 31, 2026

Contract type: PAHO International Consultant - Non-staff Position (Band B)

Band level: Band B: services related to projects or technical tasks of moderate complexity or specialization; require specialized qualifications.

Main location:  Remote work (off-site), with regular virtual meetings and coordination with PAHO teams and national counterparts.

Scheduled weekly hours: Up to 40 hours, according to the work plan and deliverables schedule.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.
• Successful candidates will be placed on the roster and subsequently may be selected for consultancy assignments falling in this area of work or for similar requirements/tasks/deliverables.  Inclusion in the Roster does not guarantee selection for a consultant contract.  There is no commitment on either side.
• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
• All applicants are required to complete an on-line profile to be considered for this consultancy. For assessment of your application, please ensure that your profile in the PAHO Career page is updated; all experience records are entered with elaboration on tasks performed at the time.  Kindly note that CV/PHFs inserted via LinkedIn are no accessible.
• A written test may be used as a form of screening.
• If your candidature is retained for interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. PAHO/WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. PAHO will also use the databases of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation http://www.chea.org/search/default.asp and College Navigator, found on the website of the National Centre for Educational Statistics, https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator to support the validation process. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
• Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to PAHO/WHO Regulations, and e-Manual.
• For information on PAHO please visit: http://www.paho.org
• PAHO/WHO is committed to providing a respectful and supportive workplace for all personnel .
• PAHO is an ethical organization that maintains high standards of integrity and accountability. People joining PAHO are required to maintain these standards both in their professional work and personal activities.
• PAHO also promotes a work environment that is free from harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and other types of abusive behavior. PAHO conducts background checks and will not hire anyone who has a substantiated history of abusive conduct.
• PAHO personnel interact frequently with people in the communities we serve. To protect these people, PAHO has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse. People who commit serious wrongdoings will be terminated and may also face criminal prosecution.
• PAHO/WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
• Applications from women and from nationals of non and underrepresented Member States are particularly encouraged.
• Consultants shall perform the work as independent contractors in a personal capacity, and not as a representative of any entity or authority.  The execution of the work under a consultant contract does not create an employer/employee relationship between PAHO and the Consultant.
• PAHO/WHO shall have no responsibility whatsoever for any taxes, duties, social security contributions or other contributions payable by the Consultant.  The Consultant shall be solely responsible for withholding and paying any taxes, duties, social security contributions and any other contributions which are applicable to the Consultant in each location/jurisdiction in which the work hereunder is performed, and the Consultant shall not be entitled to any reimbursement thereof by PAHO/WHO.