Cohort Research Team Leader at ORIE Nigeria

Working to Improve Nutrition in Northern Nigeria (WINNN) is a United Kingdom Department for International Development (DfID) funded nutrition programme being implemented by a consortium of UNICEF, Save the Children and Action Against Hunger. The DFID-funded Operations Research & Impact Evaluation (ORIE) Project evaluates the impact of the WINNN programme and ORIE is being implemented by a consortium of four UK-based organisations led by Oxford Policy Management.

Members of the ORIE consortium are to undertake a cohort study of the nutrition, health and growth of young children in a cluster of villages in northern Nigeria near Katsina. The aim is to recruit about 1,000 young children and follow them for about 18 months to understand the context in which they grow and the factors that may contribute to malnutrition. This will be done by studying two cohorts - a large cohort that will be studied at two time points 18 months apart, and a small cohort that will be studied every 3 months. In addition a nested case control study at the end of the cohort study will be undertaken of children who have gained the least length; and up to four nested sub-studies lasting 6 weeks each of factors known to be associated with malnutrition will be done. The Principal Investigator (PI) of these studies, who leads the study design and will lead the study implementation with support from the Research Team Leader/Research Manager, is employed by Save the Children and acts as a consultant to ORIE. The study team may be housed in the office of Save the Children International in Katsina.

ORIE is recruiting to fill the position of:

Job Position: Cohort Research Team Leader

Location: Katsina
 
Job Specification
ORIE is seeking a qualified and experienced health researcher to lead a team of four research assistants in Katsina. The Research Team Leader/Research Manager (depending on qualifications and experience) will have the following responsibilities under the general guidance of ORIE National Team Leader:

• Identify project villages, obtain consents from the community for the study to be done, and maintain relationships with the community and community leaders throughout the study;
• Identify local guides in study villages to help staff to locate households and keep track of study children;
• Work with the Principal Investigator to develop data collection tools for the cohort studies, and the case-control study
• Work with the Principal Investigator, staff of WINNN and ORIE to identify topics for investigation during nested sub-studies and develop data collection tools;
• Test all data collection tools in the field and modify questions in consultation with the PI, WINNN and ORIE staff when appropriate;
• Work with a programmer to develop data capture programmes for hand-held devices;
• Help train and then lead the work of four Research Assistants to collect data on young children in the villages.
• Check the work of the four Research Assistants to ensure that high quality data are collected;
• Provide weekly updates on all activities and progress
• Import data from hand held devices into statistical analysis software
• Undertake basic data checking, labelling and analysis using statistical analysis software;
• Write basic reports on the analysis of data from the gap sub-studies and contribute to analysis and reporting of other data;
• Manage and supervise four fieldworkers and a driver;
• Maintain a small office in Katsina and supervise all minor payments and office processes;
• Communicate regularly by e-mail and Skype with the Principal Investigator (based in the UK) on all technical issues;
• Reports to the National Team Leader of ORIE on all administrative, security and logistics matters.

Qualifications and Experience
The following attributes are important:

• A Master’s degree in nutrition, public health, epidemiology or a relevant discipline
• At least 5 years of experience doing surveys, monitoring, evaluation or research studies
• Experience of analysing quantitative data using statistical software
• Fluent in English with a proven ability to write reports in English

The following attributes are desirable:

• Nigerian nationality with experience of working in northern states
• An ability to communicate in Hausa
• Understanding of and sensitivity to local culture in Northern Nigeria

Remuneration

• The position is based in Katsina. The contract is for a fixed term of 30 months with a gross annual salary of NGN4,400,000 - NGN5,200,000 (dependent on qualification and experience)

Application Closing Date
15th September, 2014.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should send a copy of their cover letter and CV as a single MS Word file to Dr. Vincent Ahonsi at: [email protected] with a copy to Aly Visram on: [email protected]

Note: Questions of clarification can also be sent to these email addresses. While we appreciate all applications, only shortlisted candidates shall be contacted.