The “owner” or Site Leader recruits the DSS (Station) Manager.  The DSS Manager is the overall-in- charge of the DSS day-to-day operations. He or she can be recruited through appointment or the position could be advertised for competition. The job description for this position and qualifications as defined in the standard operating procedures should be followed in the recruitment. The DSS Manager supervises the Field Manager, Data Manager and Administrator. These positions may be shared across other institutional projects or units.  The following functions must occur, irrespective of the title applied.

A Field Manager will be recruited to head the DSS field operations. This role will involve supervising fieldwork supervisors including field activities of research projects. 

The data manager will be responsible for ensuring that data collected from DSS are accurately processed and entered into a database. He/she will ensure availability of the data to all other staff in a wide range of formats. His or her responsibilities include:

The ideal candidate must be a team player, of good integrity, and ready to work long hours when necessary.  Knowledge of SQL is essential. Knowledge of ODBC, Fox Pro, Crystal Reports is an asset.

You may not need to employ a statistician at the startup phase, but it is good to have access to statistical advice.  Any statistician working with the DSS must be knowledgeable in the relational data model and the use of Stata (or equivalent software) and the conduct of different types of surveys. Statistical advice early in the design stage is important for establishing the size of the DSS.

The administrator is trained on SOPs or helps develop them. In either case he or she should have a good understanding of the SOPs since they serve as the administration guidelines for all the DSS staff members.  The administrator supervises support staff and reports to the DSS Manager

A qualified accountant reporting to the administrator will be in charge of accounting. Good financial records will in turn lead to good administration. The accountant should carefully study the accounting manuals and the accounting software to be used before he starts the work. The Accountant reports to the Administrator.

It is important in recruitment and training to consider redundancy to be able to absorb staff promotion and portability.  For example, consider hiring an assistant data manager.