Job Opportunity: AI Systems / Applied ML Engineer (Health & Supply Chain) position available at Opian in Addis Ababa. IT, Computer Science and Software Engineering jobs in Ethiopia are in high demand. Apply now through GeezJobs - Ethiopia's leading job portal.

Location: Addis Ababa (preferred) or remote with strong local engagement
Type: Full-time
Reports to: CTO / Head of R&D

Role Purpose

Design, test, and deploy applied AI/ML models that improve forecasting accuracy, data quality, and decision support in Ethiopia’s health and supply-chain systems. This role focuses on intelligence, not dashboards or demos.

You will work on real national systems used by thousands of health facilities, under real constraints: incomplete data, policy rules, budget ceilings, and human decision-making.

Key Responsibilities

Forecasting & Analytics

• Design and improve demand-forecasting models for health commodities (RMNCH, HIV, TB, Malaria, Vaccines).
• Implement and maintain models that handle sparse, delayed, and biased data.
• Continuously evaluate model performance using metrics such as MAPE, bias, forecast attainment.

Data Intelligence

• Build anomaly detection and data-quality guardrails at facility, woreda, and national levels.
• Develop confidence scoring and explainability layers for forecasts.
• Translate messy operational data into usable analytical signals.

Human-in-the-Loop AI

• Design models that support, not replace, human planners.
• Ensure forecasts can be interrogated, adjusted, and justified.
• Embed national forecasting guidelines and assumptions into model logic.

Collaboration & Institutional Work

• Work closely with supply-chain experts, MoH/EPSS counterparts, and product engineers.
• Support pilots, evaluations, and national scale-up.

Contribute to technical documentation and knowledge transfer

Technical

• Strong experience in applied machine learning or statistical modeling.
• Solid background in time-series forecasting (Bayesian, hierarchical, classical ML).
• Proficiency in Python and data science libraries.
• Experience evaluating models in production environments.

Domain & Systems Thinking

• Experience working with real-world operational data (health, logistics, public systems, or similar).
• Ability to reason about uncertainty, constraints, and trade-offs.
• Comfort working with imperfect data and gradual improvement.

Ways of Working

• Evidence-driven, not model-driven.
• Comfortable explaining technical decisions to non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong documentation and reproducibility habits.

Nice to Have

• Experience in health systems, supply chains, or public-sector analytics.
• Familiarity with low-resource or low-connectivity environments.
• Experience working with government or donor-funded programs.

What Success Looks Like (First 12 Months)

• Measurable improvement in forecast accuracy and bias.
• Reduced data anomalies at source through better guardrails.
• Models trusted and routinely used by planners.
• AI outputs integrated into real planning cycles.

How To Apply

Apply at:  recruitment@opiantech.com