Senior Research Associate (Consultant) at Palladium Group

Expected Level of Effort (LOE): 60 days
 
Project Overview and Role   

• Health Policy Plus (HP+) is a USAID-funded five-year $185 million project awarded to Palladium in August 2015. HP+ has a mandate across global, country, and subnational levels to strengthen and advance health policy priorities in HIV, family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH), and maternal health.
• It aims to improve the enabling environment for equitable and sustainable health services, supplies, and delivery systems through policy development and implementation, with an emphasis on voluntary, rights-based health programs, and by strengthening in-country partners’ capacity to navigate complex environments for effective policy design, implementation, and financing aligned to their priorities.
• HP+ provides technical assistance to governments, civil society, and the private sector to effectively engage in domestic resource mobilization (DRM), put in place sustainable financing and accountability mechanisms, and make progress toward global, national, and subnational health goals.
• HP+ has been engaged by the USAID Nigeria Office to conceptualize and design activities to improve sustainable financing for Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and tuberculosis (TB) programs at the national level and in two USAID priority states – Lagos and Kano. As part of its activities related to HIV, HP+ has been asked by USAID to conduct a study to assess the frequency, magnitude, and variations of out-of-pocket costs (OOP) in HIV prevention, care and treatment services faced by people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Nigeria.
• The study is expected to inform development of relevant policies to reduce these OOP costs, with the aim of minimizing their negative effects on care-seeking and adherence behavior among PLHIV.

Responsibilities  
Working in close collaboration with the HP+ HIV and TB Activity team and research firm(s) or other entities that may be contracted by the project, the Senior Research Associate will provide technical support including, but not limited to:

• Monitoring the progress of a data collection firm during the data collection period for the user fee assessment, including providing support to address issues encountered by the firm during the data collection period;
• Support to reviewing data submissions by the data collection firm;
• Support to data cleaning activities;
• Support to data analysis;
• Other tasks assigned by HP+ Senior Activity Manager.

Requirements

• A Master's degree in Economics, Statistics, or other related discipline. Bachelor’s degree with extensive research assistance experience will be considered in lieu of a Master’s degree.
• At least three (3) years of relevant work experience in data analysis or research. Experience in health or health financing preferred.  
• Experience managing or implementing data collection or data collection firms highly advantageous.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (MS Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc).
• Analytical, attention to detail, results focused, and ability to meet tight deadlines.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Strong English writing, oral communication, and reporting skills
• Flexibility, adaptability, and resourcefulness. Ability to take initiative and/or respond independently to situations