Research and Knowledge Management Specialist at Malaria Consortium

Job purpose

The Research and Knowledge Management Specialist will support the implementation of the organisation research strategy and knowledge development objectives. The Research Specialist will lead the inception, design, management, and implementation of selected research projects, within the themes and scope of the research strategy. He/she will provide methodological oversight to research projects through technical assistance, technical involvement, mentoring, and developing and maintaining research guides and tools, with a particular focus on quantitative methods and analysis. He/she will provide technical support in the conduct of research projects and technical support to increase their potential for research uptake. He/she will also ensure that lessons learnt/insight from implementation, evidence and programmatic achievements are effectively communicated and disseminated to strengthen Malaria Consortium’s profile, position and brand.

Key accountabilities

Technical (40%)

• Act as a resource point in the Country team for technical issues related to knowledge and research
• Work with the project managers and teams to capitalize on synergies related to research activities, including effective coordination between projects and the promotion of cross-project learning
• Work with project managers to support the routine capture of learning from projects, documenting and sharing draft lessons learned with key staff, including the Senior Learning Specialist in the UK
• Provide technical support to the Ministry of Health, other authorities, and partners, where appropriate through active participation in relevant national technical working groups
• Develop training materials as well as information tools and materials (print and multi-media communication materials)
• Lead in the implementation of country level formative research and other research within the organization in collaboration with the Senior Country Technical Coordinator and other project teams to fill priority gaps in evidence
• Conduct regular supportive supervision visits with project managers and ensure research and capacity building related activities are carried out in a timely and efficient manner
• Design and implement effective learning activities – in collaboration with other Malaria consortium country team members
• Work with the Senior Country Technical Coordinator to scope and implement appropriate and effective knowledge capture and sharing activities

Documentation & External Relations (50%)

• Develop and implement a country programme external relations plan to position Malaria Consortium Nigeria with key national stakeholders, increasing the visibility of the project and outcomes in-country
• Collaborates with staffs across a Project to share best practices in programme implementation
• Work with project managers to ensure project-specific documentation plans are developed and coordinated, and that plans include clear communication outputs for visibility and knowledge sharing
• Support the project managers to embed learning activities into project planning  
• Work with project managers and Senior Learning Specialist in the UK to support learning/knowledge capture and dissemination processes and ensure effective and timely sharing of achievements, evidence, successes  
• Working closely with the External Relations team (especially the publications sub-team) in the UK, lead on the production of material that highlights projects’ activities and successes for print (i.e. brochures), media (i.e. press releases and ensure regular flow of content for high quality publications and outputs.
• Coordinate the writing, production, and dissemination of project learning/technical outputs (learning briefs, research briefs, technical briefs)
• Oversee all external communications activities, materials, reports, and presentations to ensure they conform to Malaria Consortium house style and quality standards in terms of presentation, consistency, grammar, and formatting
• Ensure a consistent visual brand for publications and conference materials, leading the Creative Designer in refreshing templates and developing new designs/visual formats
• Oversee and guide the organization in copyright licensing and other legal requirements
• Manage processes to commission external copyeditors and translators, to ensure quality and consistency standards are met
• Monitor the online publications database, working with the Senior Publications Officer and Communications Officer to continuously improve its design, user journey and content
• Oversee good practice on publications dissemination and work with communications staff to maximize outreach to all external audiences

Strategic contributions (10%)

• Participate in the Public Health Communications Internal Community of Practice to integrate best practices in country level programming and to strengthen Malaria Consortium’s technical approach to Programme implementation
• Participate in identifying opportunities for research work and in writing proposals to expand the organization’s research visibility, and capabilities.
• Participate in relevant national meetings and international conferences
• Lead in the development of Programme reports and other documents such as abstracts and articles for publication.

Person specification

Qualifications and experience:

Essential

• PhD, or MSc with extensive experience, in Public Health, Global Health, Epidemiology or a related research discipline with a substantial quantitative research component.
• Substantial experience in quantitative and qualitative research design and management; experience in operational and/or implementation research
• Experience securing large research grants or multiple research funding
• Experience providing technical and programmatic leadership in research
• Substantial experience in publishing work in peer-reviewed journals, writing strategies, briefing papers, press releases, concept notes, use of social media etc.
• Experience and understanding of working with Ministries of Health in policy and strategy formulation related to research
• Experience of designing and/or implementing research uptake strategies
• Experience in designing, planning, implementing, and evaluating research project within the public health space in Nigeria
• Direct experience in developing training materials delivering capacity building strategies
• Knowledge of the Nigeria health and/or development sector
• Foundational knowledge of public health approaches

Work-based skills and competencies:

• Excellent skills in quantitative and qualitative research methods including operations and/or implementation research.
• Ability to synthesize key concepts and convey messages to diverse audiences
• Strong analytic, strategic thinking and planning skills
• Handon experience in the use of data analysis packages both quantitative and qualitative (SPSS, R program, SAS, STATA, Atlas ti, NVivo, QDA Miners etc)
• Excellent computer skills (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, or other design software)
• Excellent academic/scientific publication writing skills
• Good presentation and facilitation skills
• Ability to take initiative and manage assignments from conceptualization to completion
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple research projects with conflicting time frames
• Able to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences inside and outside the organisation
• Able to provide remote support to research teams
• Excellent personal and time management skills
• Meticulous attention to detail and accuracy
• Problem solving attitude
• Positive work attitude
• Interpersonal skills
• Flexibility, and able to work under pressure and to tight deadlines