National Consultant - Research Officer at Malaria Consortium

Project Background

• Malaria remains a significant public health challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa, which bear the brunt of over 90% of the 250 million infections globally, and over half a million deaths each year. Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) are a well-proven method to reduce the chances of malaria infection, accounting for 68% of the cases averted between 2000 and 2015. Thanks to massive national distribution campaigns in these countries access to ITNs in many regions is high. However, there is still a significant gap between access to and use of ITNs - even when people have them, they don’t always use them.
• This is a complex behavioural problem. Previous studies have highlighted barriers to mosquito net use such as concerns about chemicals, difficulties in hanging nets, and discomfort during use, and lack of relative risk perception from malaria. These barriers prevent full use of ITNs even when available. This requires a behaviourally informed approach to better understand and address these issues through targeted interventions.
• This research activities which draws from insights from our earlier qualitative exploratory study addressing barriers and facilitators, as well as the development of final interventions from the low and high-fidelity prototypes testing which all primarily adopted a qualitative approaches and methodologies. In this phase of the study, we will pilot the two interventions, which employ different behavioural mechanisms, in a real-life setting.
• Each intervention will be piloted in a separate location and with separate communities.

Purpose of the Assignment

• The purpose of this assignment is to coordinate and supervise field and other activities for quantitative and qualitative research to test the two behaviourally informed and final interventions designed to increase insecticide treated nets (ITNs) in selected areas of Osun state in Nigeria. 
• The Research Officer (Consultant) will take the lead on supervision of research assistants as well as mobilization and conduct of quantitative and qualitative components of the study.
• Each intervention will be implemented in a cohort of around 150 households, forming a community or group of contiguous communities. The two interventions will be evaluated separately.
• The study will employ both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection to provide measures of operational feasibility, acceptability among users and intermediaries involved in delivering the intervention, and the cost of the intervention. 
• The quantitative sample is expected to be representative of the demographic characteristics of the population residing in the location selected. 
• The study will employ the framework developed by Bowen et al. which proposes eight areas of focus that a feasibility study may address: acceptability, demand, implementation, practicality, adaptation, integration, expansion, limited-efficacy.
• The qualitative and quantitative (mixed methods) work to be conducted under this service contract agreement includes but is not restricted to the following components:
  • 4 household surveys
  • 12 focus group discussions
  • 6 interviews
  • 5 observations
  • 1 cost analysis.

Scope of Work

• The Research Officer (Consultant) will take the lead on supervision of research assistants as well as mobilization and conduct of quantitative and qualitative components of the study.
• The main purpose of this role is to coordinate and support research and other field activities for the Pilot Phase of the Be In A Net project in Nigeria. 
• The Research Officer will work with the Project Manager, and other technical staff at country and head office level to plan and coordinate the project-related research activities, ensuring timely and high-quality delivery of appropriate outputs.
• The role will also involve supporting research field work, M&E, data collection and analysis, as well as community engagement and research uptake.

Specific Task
Specific tasks for Research Officer:

• Provide technical oversight for implementation of both the qualitative and quantitative aspect of the study in compliance with the research protocol.
• Support the translation and back translation of topic guides to the local language (Yoruba).
• Support preparatory activities for training and for field data collection.
• Support the preparation and logistics of distribution of items related with the research, including social signaling items and mosquito nets, and any materials supporting data collection.
• Contribute to all the training activities for conducting the data collection process, including step-down training for interviewers.
• Support the organization of all community engagement and other advocacy activities, liaising with local leaders and ensuring complete and smooth communication.
• Liaise with the project manager to obtain and utilize necessary research tools.
• Promptly raise any methodological question arising during the data collection process which may affect adherence to the research protocol.
• Coordinate the identification and recruitment of short-term research assistants for FGDs, KII and surveys.
• Lead the scheduling of FGDs, KII, Surveys and other research activities.
• Coordinate the organization of FGD, KII, and other sessions.
• Ensure that all recording devices are accounted for.
• Oversee the recording, transcription and translation by supervision of all research assistants.
• Check the data for any quality issues during data collection and data processing.
• Supervise field activities of data collection teams on the household survey.
• Monitor the progress of collection of survey data and flag any anomalies and data quality issues.
• Collate and report daily issues and challenges to the Project Manager and the Principal Investigator.
• Take responsibility for compliance with confidentiality and security procedures to ensure respondent privacy is protected.
• Supervise the application of the safeguarding policy during field activities and provide guidance on safeguarding to anyone involved.
• Promptly report any safeguarding risks or incidents.

Person Specification(s)
Qualifications and experience:
Essential:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Public Health, Sociology, Demography, Biological Sciences, or any related disciplines, epidemiology, international health, international development, or a related field.
• Experience with and understanding of research protocols, good research practice and research ethics.
• Robust experience of research data collection, both qualitative and quantitative, and data analysis.
• Considerable experience of implementing research or M&E field activities.
• Fluency with the mother tongue (Yoruba) of the host communities.

Desirable:

• Master’s Degree in related field such as public health or demography.
• Certification in M&E or experience in research-related project implementation.
• Experience in research reporting.

Work-based skills:
Essential:

• Good knowledge of research methods.
• Good understanding of the role of research and M&E in public health programmes.
• Familiarity with public health programme research design.
• Good facilitation, training and advocacy skills.
• Familiarity with digital data collection platforms, especially Survey CTO (or ODK with a willingness to develop skills in SurveyCTO).
• Proficiency in data management and data cleaning, quality checks.
• Organisational and project management skills.
• Computer literacy, with strong command of Microsoft Office software package.
• Proficient in professional level of English.

Desirable:

• Understanding and application of concepts epidemiology and statistics (e.g. study design methods, hypothesis testing).
• Good quantitative data analysis skills.
• Qualitative data analysis skills.
• Familiarity with quantitative data analysis software, especially Stata.
• Familiarity with qualitative data analysis software, e.g. NVivo.
• Extensive knowledge of malaria prevention and control programmes.
• Familiarity with the context of Osun State.

Quality Assurance:

• Please note that you may be contacted or invited by the Malaria Consortium’s Project Technical Team to discuss progress of activities, deliverables and timelines as related to this assignment.

Conditions

• Place of work: Osun State, Nigeria
• Type of contract: Short-term individual consultancy (National Consultant)
• Fees: Professional fees will be paid based on agreed rate upon completion of work