Research Insights Coordinator

Job Title      Research Insights Coordinator     
Job Location      Uganda
Type      Full-Time Paid     
Business Unit      In-Country Operations
More information about this job:
Overview:

About the Clinton Health Access Initiative:

The Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to strengthening integrated health systems in the developing world and expanding access to care and treatment for HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. CHAI’s solution-oriented approach focuses on improving market dynamics for medicines and diagnostics; lowering prices for treatment; accelerating access to life-saving technologies; and helping governments build the capacity required for high-quality care and treatment programs....Since its establishment in 2002 by President William J. Clinton, CHAI has worked on the demand and supply sides of the market to help more than 2 million HIV+ people access the medicines needed for treatment—representing nearly half of all people and 2 out of 3 children on HIV/AIDS treatment in developing countries. Building on this model, CHAI has expanded its scope to include efforts to strengthen healthcare delivery systems and to combat malaria and childhood illnesses.


In 2007, CHAI signed an MOU with the government of Uganda to provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Health and strengthen health systems. Since then, CHAI has worked hand-in-hand with the Ministry of Health to increase access to lifesaving pediatric HIV treatment by >400%; coordinate with private sector suppliers to lower costs and expand access to malaria drugs; pilot a point-of-care diagnostic technology, leading to scale up to >250 health facilities nationwide; introduce a new severe malaria drug which will save thousands of lives annually; and many other initiatives. Currently, CHAI Uganda works with the Ministry of Health around HIV, malaria, childhood illnesses, laboratory systems and drug logistics.
Background:
Diarrhea kills roughly two million children every year worldwide. In Uganda, diarrhea is responsible for ~15,000 child deaths, approximately 10% of all child mortality (third behind only malaria and pneumonia). This is in spite of the fact that a simple, highly-effective, and affordable treatment solution exists in the form of oral rehydration salts (ORS) and zinc. However, diarrhea remains grossly neglected: from 2007-2011, $6.5 billion of global funds were allocated to address HIV/AIDS; while only 0.23% of this figure ($15 million) was used to tackle diarrhea. This imbalance is now being addressed through an international effort, of which CHAI has been a driving member, leading to the development of treatment scale up programs in 10 high burden countries, including Uganda.

In Uganda, a program to scale-up diarrhea treatment with ORS and zinc is being undertaken by CHAI in partnership with the Ministry of Health. The problem is that these treatments are caught in a market trap: low levels of consumer/caregiver awareness about the appropriate treatment leads to poor demand for these products. This results in an anemic market, which provides no incentive for suppliers to optimize distribution networks, promote the products, or reduce margins. This, in turn, leads to a lack of availability, unaffordable prices, and minimal marketing – completing the vicious cycle and ensuring that consumer access is repressed. CHAI now seeks to break this vicious cycle by addressing both demand and supply-side barriers to access.

As part of this work, CHAI will be deploying Demand-Driven Evaluations for Decisions (3DE), a novel approach for rapidly translating research questions into policy. CHAI, in collaboration with our implementing partner IDinsight, will work closely with the Ministry of Health to identify real-time policy issues/gaps and design rapid research studies to directly address these questions. The 3DEs will use rigorous methodologies, provide timely evidence to inform decision makers on the diarrhea treatment scale-up strategy, and help ensure rapid adoption.
Position Description:
The Research Insights Coordinator will work with the Essential Medicines Team to support the Ministry of Health and the private sector to enhance access to ORS and zinc for diarrhea treatment.

Robust research will be critical to: 1) evaluate the performance of the Essential Medicines program and 2) identify and resolve specific implementation challenges and inform programmatic decisions. The program will focus on the primary outcome of zinc and ORS usage to treat diarrhea, as well as a number of output indicators that are critical to achieving that higher usage. In addition, several operational research studies are planned to assess the effectiveness of specific interventions and inform government policy development and decision making.


Where appropriate, operational research questions may be undertaken via the 3DE approach. The Coordinator will spend 50% of his/her time developing and overseeing 3DE research projects in close collaboration with the MOH. This will involve identifying diarrhea policy questions suitable for the 3DE approach; partnering with IDinsight to design and implement the studies; ensuring the uptake and translation of evidence into policy and programs; and disseminating the findings to stakeholders and the global evidence community.

The Research Coordinator will be responsible for leading and managing these research elements and for providing the thought leadership in designing and implementing a robust M&E framework to support the Essential Medicines program in Uganda.

The Coordinator will spend ~20% of his/her time travelling domestically, primarily to regions with limited facilities.
Responsibilities:

    Develop and implement a strategy to assess performance and impact of the diarrhea treatment program in Uganda, including household and outlet surveys, as well as other methods
    Identify and manage partner organizations and/or contractors to conduct data collection and analysis
    Provide technical leadership in the design of monitoring and evaluation tools, operations research, KPI reporting framework, and knowledge management
    Produce regular impact monitoring and evaluation reports, and  communicate main findings and conclusions through technical working groups in order to inform the Ministry of Health, donors, and other stakeholders
    Develop and implement operational research that will directly inform programmatic decisions around promotion strategy, training efficacy, consumer product preference, etc.
    Develop and coordinate market research to inform the development of the demand generation strategy, potentially including focus groups, surveys and data analysis
    Work with the Ministry of Health and IDinsight to develop 3DE research questions for diarrhea demand generation and supply-side strategies for the public and private sectors
    Work with the Global Essential Medicines Team to ensure CHAI’s resources and expertise are fully leveraged to meet needs in-country

Qualifications:

    A minimum of 2 years of experience in private or public sector enterprise, preferably including research management
    Entrepreneurial mindset and strong self-motivation
    Excellent knowledge of program monitoring and evaluation methods (qualitative and quantitative), including experience developing monitoring and evaluation plans, tools, training materials, reports and summary forms
    Strong quantitative, problem solving, analytical, and statistical skills (including excellent Microsoft Excel skills and experience with STATA or equivalent)
    Capacity to synthesize monitoring data into effective presentation of results to guide recommendations on performance improvement
    Ability to multi-task, prioritize, and be effective under tight deadlines
    Ability to develop and execute an operational research strategy, amidst substantial ambiguity and changing circumstances
    Excellent verbal, visual and written communication skills
    CHAI places great value on relevant personal qualities: resourcefulness, entrepreneurialism, flexibility, independence, humility, and work ethic

Advantages:

    Advanced degree in business, public health, or a related field
    Previous experience conducting research in developing countries
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