Senior National Consultant and National Consultant at Malaria Consortium

Malaria Consortium (Established in 2003) is one of the world’s leading non-profit organisations specialising in the prevention, control and treatment of malaria and other communicable diseases among vulnerable populations. Our mission is to save lives and improve health in Africa and Asia, through evidence-based programmes that combat targeted diseases and promote universal health coverage.

We are recruiting to fill the following positions below:

Job Titles: Senior National Consultant and National Consultant

Location: Abuja (FCT)
Employment Type: Contract
Activity: Perennial Malaria Chemoprevention (PMC) Effect Study Implementation
Duration: September 1st - November 30th, 2024

Purpose of the Assignment

• The purpose of this assignment is to assess the steps in the project’s theory of change model, understand the potential for PMC (Perennial Malaria Chemoprevention) policy adoption and explore other markers of fidelity, integration, sustainability, coverage and processes from caregivers, local leaders, stakeholders, and health facility workers in the project sites using quantitative and qualitative research approaches.

Scope

• A household survey will be conducted among caregivers who have children aged 12 – 23 months across 40 intervention wards (clusters) to determine the coverage of SP doses after 12 months of implementation. Exit interviews will be conducted with the caregivers shortly after receiving SP during routine immunization session in the selected health facilities using a structured questionnaire and AIM tools. Health workers will be observed during the SP administration in the selected health facilities. A checklist will be used to document observation during service delivery. KIIs, IDIs and FDGs will be conducted with caregivers, local leaders, stakeholders, and health facility workers to qualitatively explore context-based factors that may affect coverage, acceptability, adoption of PMC implemented via EPI platform. Caregivers of children 12 – 23 months children will be recruited from communities across the 40 intervention wards. Approximately 10 caregivers will be randomly selected from each of the ward/cluster in the intervention arm. Overall, 400 caregivers will be interviewed across the 40 intervention wards.
• Caregivers and health facility staff will be recruited from sentinel facilities and health posts during the implementation phase of the study: twelve months after the start of implementation period. On scheduled recruitment days, caregivers of eligible children visiting sentinel facilities and health posts for SP during immunization in each ward will be recruited to take part in the exit interview.
• Approximately 10 caregivers from each of the sentinel facilities and 5 caregivers from each of the health posts will be recruited for the exit interviews across the intervention wards. Overall, a -total of 600 exit interviews will be conducted and 80 observational checklists in the intervention arm of the study. FGD in an accessible, private location will also be conducted with the caregivers. Groups will be purposively sampled to represent a range of implementation and socio-demographic class (including age, gender, and staff type). Three groups will be convened per type of respondent (i.e. minimum of three for caregivers, fathers of children <24 months, local leaders and health workers and other identified participant types). Overall, a total of 12 FGDs will be conducted in the intervention arm. The study will aim to include 10-12 participants per caregiver FGDs and 4-10 participants per health staff/local leader/Stakeholder FGDs. KIIs will be conducted with health workers, local leaders and stakeholders in the intervention arm.

Specific Tasks for Senior National Consultant
Expert Profiles:
In consultation with the PMC project team:

• Review and finalize the sample size and methodology to be used to conduct the study (quantitative and qualitative)
• Review and finalize the study protocol for the quantitative and qualitative study
• Review and finalize the exit interview questionnaire, observational checklist, KIIs, FGDs guide and translate it into appropriate local languages
• Review and finalize data analysis plan
• Train data collectors or interviewers
• Pre-test and finalize questionnaire, checklist, and interview guides
• Monitor the survey and the interviews as well as related activities
• Analyze the quantitative data (exit interview questionnaire and observational checklist)
• Validate the interview transcripts
• Analyze qualitative data
• Prepare draft report and present findings to PMC project team
• Finalize draft report.

Deliverables for Senior National Consultant:

• Survey protocol, exit interview questionnaire and health workers observational checklist, KIIs and FGDs guides
• Completed interview guide(s) and sociodemographic form
• Data collection work plan
• Training report
• Qualitative data transcribed
• Validate the transcribed data
• Analyze the qualitative data
• Analyze quantitative data (household survey, exit interview questionnaire and observational checklist)
• Summary technical report and PowerPoint slide of key findings
• Presentation of key findings to project principal investigators and project team
• Final study report
• Final consultancy report.

Person Specification for Senior National Consultant
Essential:

• Senior national consultancy expertise in public health, epidemiology, Global Health, Demography, Sociology, implementation research and related fields with at least 10 years of experience
• MSc in a relevant academic field, PhD is an added advantage
• At least 10 years of professional experience in conducting process evaluation studies (quantitative and qualitative research) Familiarity with health facility surveys, exit interviews, and observational studies
• Familiarity with Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), In-depth Interviews (IDIs) or similar qualitative research tools is a plus
• Proven experience in writing reports for public health programs or projects in Nigeria or similar developing country context
• Knowledge of qualitative data analysis software such as Atlas.ti, NVivo, Dedoose, etc.
• Knowledge of quantitative data analysis software such as Stata, R, Python, SAS, SPSS etc.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

Desired:

• Extensive knowledge of the Nigerian public health sector
• A proven ability to work as part of a team and to be self-managing
• Experience in setting up and facilitating meetings
• Ability to work with little or no supervision
• Good writing and reporting skills
• Good presentation skills
• Proven academic experience, including pieces of research, publications, and written reports
• Excellent writing and oral communication skills in English.

Specific Tasks for National Consultant

• Participate in the training activity for conducting data the collection process and step-down training for interviewers
• Liaise with the lead consultant to obtain necessary survey tools and interview guides
• Identify and recruit caregivers for the exit interviews
• Identify and recruit participants for health workers' observations
• Identify and recruit the FGDs participants and fix an appointment for interviews
• Organize the FGDs sessions
• Coordinate the data collection and interview process and assign daily tasks to interviewers
• Ensure that all interview recording devices or tablets are accounted for
• Responsibility and oversight for all interviews and data transcription
• Collate and report daily issues and challenges to the lead consultant
• Follow confidentiality and security procedures to ensure respondent privacy is protected.

Deliverables for National Consultant:

• Identify respondents, book appointments for the interviews, and coordinate the interview process
• Supervision report of the interview process
• Summary daily reports.

Person Specification for National Consultant
Essential:

• BSc or MSc in a relevant academic field
• At least 5 years of experience in quantitative and qualitative data collection
• At least 3 years' experience in supervising quantitative and qualitative research
• Practical knowledge of community entry & mobilization techniques
• Demonstrated experience in the management of quantitative and qualitative data activities and enforcing data quality procedures
• Strong attention to detail
• Computer literacy to be able to work on electronic data collection applications
• Good facilitation skills.

Desired:

• Effective communication skills and experience in participatory methodology.
• Innovative, motivated, and able to work with minimal supervision.
• Certification in M&E will be a plus
• Good written and verbal skills in English
• Resident in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Application Closing Date
20th August, 2024.

How to Applyy
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note

• Applicants who do not follow this specification will be disqualified.
• Only Shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
• Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and the process may conclude before the advertised deadline. Therefore, early applications are highly encouraged.
• Malaria Consortium does not accept or ask for payment during recruitment. We also would not accept hardcopy CVs; all applications should be sent through the above link.