Associate Research Manager (FIT)

POSITION SUMMARY:

Location: Ho Chi Minh
Contract Type: Full time (100% FTE) individual consultant contract
Duration: 12 months (extension to be based on performance and availability of funds)
Start Date: Immediately
Travel requirements: Travel to other provinces for consensus building, training and monitoring missions
Application Deadline: Sun, 2024-03-10

BACKGROUND:

Friends for International TB Relief (FIT) is a registered non-profit organization working in the field of TB prevention and care service delivery, research, technical assistance and advocacy. FIT is a young, dynamic and growing organization. We work in close collaboration with Provincial and National TB Programmes and other in-country partners to implement projects funded by the Stop TB Partnership’s TB REACH initiative, USAID, US CDC, CDC Foundation and other donor agencies. We also have multiple active research partnerships with academic institutions, including with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK and the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. FIT staff have supported the implementation of other TB programs in South and Southeast Asia, and represented Viet Nam at multiple regional and international forums on TB technical assistance. Finally, FIT has represented civil society organizations from Viet Nam at regional events and at multiple events in the lead up to and during the United Nations High Level Meeting on TB in New York City. For more information, please visit www.tbhelp.org

PROJECT SUMMARY:

Start4All is a four-year research project funded by Unitaid. LSTM is the primary recipient, and there are implementing partners from seven countries (Bangladesh, Brazil, Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Viet Nam). Start4All aims to evaluate combinations of TB diagnostic tests that can be used in the community and at primary health facilities in order to increase the number of people diagnosed with TB and to ultimately improve linkage to treatment.

The project is split into two phases. Phase 1 will start participant recruitment early 2024 and will evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of different combinations of TB tests. Phase 2 will tentatively start in 2024-Q4 and will be multi-site cluster randomised controlled trial to assess the impact of the best combination of TB tests on time to diagnosis and treatment linkage, as well as socioeconomic outcomes.

In Phase 1, a total of 3,000 participants with suspected TB will be recruited across two provinces (Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City) and three participant populations (Community – Adults, Facility – Adults and Facility – Children). The study will be implemented in collaboration with the National Lung Hospital in Ha Noi and Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Associate Research Managers will primarily be responsible for implementing the Start4All project, under the supervision of FIT’s TB Clinical Specialist and Research & M&E Director. These positions will be responsible for the following activities:

Support consensus building about the Start4All project objectives, targets and implementation with hospital stakeholders in the Manager’s province
Collaboratively develop project recruitment and testing standard operating procedures (SOPs), in line with the IRB protocol approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Viet Nam’s National Lung Hospital
Provide feedback on the data collection and monitoring systems to ensure data quality and consistency
Conduct trainings for National/Provincial Lung Hospital and FIT staff on participant recruitment and data collection procedures
Coordinate and supervise the implementation of at least ten days of active case finding in order to recruit participants from the community in selected districts where the manager is located
Monitor participant recruitment (1,500 in Ho Chi Minh City) and use M&E reports to make data-driven decisions about targeted trainings and technical assistance provision
Conduct external quality assessment (EQA) testing of devices procured for the study
Collaborate with the study sponsor (LSTM) to optimize implementation and data collection
Analyze and interpret project data
Disseminate research findings via an end of project meeting and scientific publications, in collaboration with the study sponsor (LSTM) and other implementing partners
Write the acceptance report for the IRB at Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital
Support planning and regulatory approvals for the Phase 2
When time permits, support other diagnostic and clinical evaluations which are happening in the same facilities/geographies as the Start4All project
Other activities requested by FIT management

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS REQUIREMENT:

Essential

Detail oriented with exacting standards to maintain accuracy and impartiality in all work products
Strong verbal and written communications skills
Ability to work well in a team setting
Ability to balance numerous tasks simultaneously and meet tight deadlines
Experience working with diagnostic evaluations and health research, particularly for TB

Desirable

Proficient in a statistical software package (STATA, R, SPSS, or SAS)

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS:

A Bachelor’s degree in pharmacy, preventive medicine epidemiology, biostatistics/statistics, economics or related fields and at least one year of relevant work experience are required
A Master’s degree in epidemiology, biostatistics/statistics, economics or related discipline may substitute for the one year of work experience

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS:

Proficient in spoken English and able to communicate with researchers based in the United Kingdom

APPLICATIONS SHOULD INCLUDE:

A cover letter written in English
A detailed Curriculum Vitae
At least two employment references (Name, Phone Number, Email Address)

SUBMIT AN APPLICATION:

By e-mail to hr@tbhelp.org
Subject ‘Application for Associate Research Manager in Ho Chi Minh’
No later than 10 March 2024

Compensation will be commensurate with experience. Full benefits will be included in the compensation package. All applications will be carefully considered, but only short-listed applicants will be interviewed. If you do not hear from us within 21 days of the closing date, this means your application was unsuccessful.