Research Team Lead at Malaria Consortium

Malaria Consortium is one of the world’s leading non-profit organisations specialising in the comprehensive prevention, control and treatment of malaria and other communicable diseases among vulnerable and under privileged populations. We increasingly find our work on malaria can be effectively integrated with other similar public health interventions for greater impact and therefore expanded our remit to include child health and neglected tropical disease interventions.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Research Team Lead 

Location: Kebbi

Purpose of the Assignment

• The purpose of the assignment is to engage research consultants that will conduct qualitative surveys (FGDs and KIIs).

Scope of Assignment

• The overall objective of this consultancy is to support MC in generating evidence for an effective hybrid model of malaria vaccine delivery in highly seasonal malaria transmission settings. 
• This involves conducting qualitative survey to assess the feasibility and acceptability of implementing the hybrid malaria vaccine immunization with different delivery approaches.

Methodology

• The qualitative survey will draw on a framework of constructs important in feasibility studies described by Proctor et al (2011) to develop topic guides and areas of questioning for both Focus Group Discussions and Key Informant Interviews. The qualitative survey will be conducted across 3LGAs in Kebbi state where the project is being implemented.
• The study will employ a purposive sampling strategy to maximize the range and diversity of the participants, ensuring that we have a diversity of participants across criteria which may influence SMC and EPI programming. Furthermore, the KIIs component of the qualitative research will be conducted either virtually or in-person among national and sub-national level policy makers and program managers that have experience and understanding of the SMC and EPI programs. FGDs will be conducted in person (face-to-face) in groups of 10 -12 participants and will take place in a communal space in participant’s communities.
• All the interviews and FGDs will be conducted by local researchers. A second research assistant will be present to take notes and record observations. If the participants consent to audio recording, the interviews and discussions will be recorded and transcribed.

The key outcomes(domains) to be measured are
Acceptability:

• Health worker (HW) satisfaction and adherence to hybrid approach.
• Community, HW perception of benefits and risks of hybrid model

Appropriateness:

• Community, HW perceptions of fit/relevance of seasonal messaging to vaccine uptake improvement.

Practicality & Sustainability:

• Health systems capacity to implement hybrid approach supply management, other relevant infrastructure)
• Perception of ease of maintenance or routinization of hybrid model

Adoption & Fidelity:

• HW and CHWs’ uptake of hybrid approach and implementation consistency

Expected Output/deliverables

• Satisfaction & Adherence to hybrid approach (including consistency of messages delivered and willingness to deliver targeted messages)
• Community & HW perception of fit or relevance of the seasonal messaging.
• Health system capacity to implement hybrid approach including supply management & other relevant infrastructure Process Evaluation incorporating some of these key elements KIIs, quantitative (Health facility record review (HWs duty roster, immunization register.
• HW & CHWs uptake of the hybrid approach and consistency of implementation.

Specific Objectives
Specific tasks for Research Team Lead (1):

• Provide technical oversight for implementation of the qualitative aspect in tandem with the project research protocol.
• Provide inception report detailing the identification and recruitment methodology of the survey respondents, data analysis plan and timelines for accomplishing the tasks
• Support the translation and back translation of field guides and questionnaires to the local language (Hausa).
• Support preparatory activities for training and for field data collection.
• Train all research personnel in the qualitative survey on conducting the data collection process.
• Liaise with the Project manager to obtain necessary research tools.
• Liaise with the Project manager to prepare a list of key informants and FGD participants and arrange for interviews and FGDs
• Promptly raise any methodological question arising during the data collection process which may affect adherence to the research protocol.
• Coordinate the data collection process and assign daily tasks to interviewers.
• Lead the scheduling of interviews and FGDs.
• Conduct key informants’ interviews
• Coordinate the organization of FGD sessions.
• Prepare data analysis plan for FGDs and KIIs
• Oversee recording transcription and translation.
• Collate and summarize all transcriptions
• Conduct data analysis and report writing
• Collate and report daily issues and challenges to the Project Manager and the Principal Investigator.
• Collate and submit all assessment materials including soft copies of all FGDs and KII data sets.
• Ensure that all recording devices are accounted for.
• Take responsibility for compliance with confidentiality and security procedures to ensure respondent privacy is protected.
• Prepare and submit the report in MS word and a summary of key findings in MS PowerPoint slides

Expected Output / Deliverables
Deliverables for Research Team Lead (1):

• Inception report detailing the identification and recruitment methodology of the survey respondents, data analysis plan and timelines for accomplishing the tasks
• Translation of research tools into Hausa
• Data analysis plan
• Preliminary analysis outputs
• Final assessment report submitted (narrative format & power point format)
• Scheduling of KIIs and FGD.
• Incident log.
• Summary daily reports.
• Final supervision report.
• Consultancy report

Type of personnel required: Research Team Lead:

Requirements
Essential:

• BSc Degree or MSc Degree in Docial, behavioural or health sciences.
• At least 5-7 years experience in conduct and management of qualitative studies.
• At least 4 years experience in supervising qualitative research.
• Demonstrated expertise in rigorous qualitative research design, data collection and data analysis techniques
• Strong analytical skills and ability to clearly demonstrate synthesize and present findings, draw practical conclusions, make recommendations and to prepare well-written reports in a timely manner
• Experience in leading evaluations, surveys and analysis is highly desirable.
• Practical knowledge of community entry & mobilization techniques.
• Experience in the use of qualitative statistical softwares such as Nvivo and atlas Ti etc
• Demonstrable experience in data transcription
• Computer literacy to be able to work on electronic data collection applications.
• Good facilitation skills.
• Strong written and verbal skills in Hausa, preferably mother tongue.
• Strong written and verbal skills in English.

Desired:

• Good communication skills and experience in participatory methodology.
• Innovative, motivated, and able to work with minimal supervision.
• Certification in M&E will be a plus.
• Resident in Kebbi state.
• Mother tongue Hausa.

Application Closing Date
16th April, 2025; 5:00 pm.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note

• For this position, previous working experience with MC and in SMC are added advantages.
• Kindly note that applicants who do not follow this specification will be disqualified.
• Only Shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
• Kindly note that applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and as a result, 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.