Cancer Epidemiology Expert

About the role

The Key Expert – Cancer Epidemiology will provide technical assistance to the Syrian Ministry of Health under an EU‑funded project aimed at strengthening institutional capacity and governance. The role focuses on cancer surveillance, statistical analysis, and translating registry data into evidence‑based public‑health policies and national cancer‑control strategies.

Key responsibilities

• Design and conduct descriptive and analytical epidemiological studies using cancer registry and health‑facility data, including incidence, prevalence, survival and trend analyses.
• Analyze, model and visualise cancer‑surveillance data with statistical software (R, STATA, SPSS, SAS) and produce age‑standardised rates and survival analyses.
• Assess data quality (completeness, validity, timeliness) and ensure compliance with IARC/GLOBOCAN reporting standards.
• Develop and deliver competency‑based training and mentoring to build analytical capacity of national counterparts.
• Prepare peer‑reviewed publications, technical reports and policy briefs that translate epidemiological evidence into actionable public‑health recommendations.

Required profile

• Master’s degree or PhD in Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Public Health or a related quantitative discipline.
• Minimum 8 years of professional experience in epidemiological research or disease surveillance, with at least 4 years focused on cancer epidemiology or population‑based cancer‑registry analysis.
• Demonstrated experience collaborating with cancer registries, health‑planning and digital‑transformation teams.
• Excellent written and spoken English; working knowledge of Arabic is an advantage.

Required skills

• Proficiency in statistical software (R, STATA, SPSS, SAS) for analysis, modelling and visualisation.
• Advanced use of Microsoft Excel and data‑visualisation tools for epidemiological reporting.
• Strong knowledge of cancer‑registry data quality assessment and IARC/GLOBOCAN standards.