Research Officer

JOB TITLE: Research Officer

POSITION SUMMARY:

Location: Ho Chi Minh City

Contract Type: Local, Full Time (100% FTE)

Duration: 1 year, with possibility of renewal

Application deadline 31 March 2020

ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION:

Friends for International Tuberculosis Relief (FIT) is a registered non-profit organization working in the field of tuberculosis (TB) prevention and care, service delivery, research, technical assistance and advocacy. FIT is a young, dynamic and growing organization. FIT now has over 30 office-based staff working across five cities in Viet Nam. We work in close collaboration with Provincial and National TB Programmes and other in-country partners to implement projects funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program, the Stop TB Partnership’s TB REACH initiative, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNITAID and Johnson & Johnson. We also have multiple active research partnerships, including with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK, the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, the KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation in the Netherlands, and Ceres Nanosciences and SureAdhere Mobile Technology in the United States. 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 was chosen to represent 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.

In collaboration with the National TB Control Program (NTP), FIT is helping to build a comprehensive Search-Treat-Prevent TB program across five cities in Viet Nam (Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Noi, Hai Phong, Can Tho and Hoi An). In the short term, we are aiming to 1) increase TB detection and treatment in key populations, such as household contacts, children and people visiting private healthcare providers; 2) provide social support and adherence monitoring options to improve TB treatment outcomes; and 3) scale up TB infection screening and treatment services. We hope these efforts will lead to declines in Viet Nam’s TB burden over the medium and long term.

This position will track and monitor our organization’s success in supporting TB patients by reducing their out-of-pocket costs.

Our organization is growing quickly and we are searching for a highly qualified, independent, experienced and motivated Research Officer to conduct patient cost surveys in Ho Chi Minh City. We are searching for an excellent communicator, who can make people with TB feel comfortable disclosing personal information while maintain strong relationships with government health staff. For additional information please refer to our website: www.tbhelp.org

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: 

1. Project preparation

• Prepare an institutional review board (IRB) application to assess patient costs, quality of life, stigma and gender via surveys;
• Draft protocols for surveys to meet donor requirements;
• Develop SOPs for conducting surveys;
• Draft research workplans;
• Prepare PowerPoint presentations outlining the research objectives, protocol and implementation plan for the quantitative surveys to be used internally or for external partners.
• Review data forms in ONA to ensure that all data are captured completely;
• Make edits to codebooks so data are captured completely.

2. Quantitative surveys

• Maintain strict standards of patient confidentiality and access to patient-identifiable information;
• Conduct trainings for FIT staff in survey method and project SOPs, particularly for staff working outside Ho Chi Minh City;
• Coordinate surveys across Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong and Ha Noi, ensuring that the organization is meeting targets for donors;
• Track eligibility for survey participation using lists from FIT’s M&E team;
• Monitor staff to ensuring they are following best practices for airborne infection control while conducting interviews;
• Directly recruit and enroll survey participants ensuring proper sampling in HCMC;
• Contact TB patients and arrange times and locations to meet for interviews;
• Conduct surveys according to the protocols approved in the survey protocol and IRB approval;
• Enter survey responses into an electronic database;
• Ensure high levels of data quality and completeness;
• Clean survey data if errors are found;
• Conduct data quality monitoring for surveys collected outside of Ho Chi Minh City;
• Prepare summaries of data errors from data collected in other cities;
• Mentor other research staff on completing data collection.

3. Qualitative research

• Lead qualitative interviews within the organization;
• Develop and/or provide feedback on topic guides;
• Prepare trainings for staff on how to conduct qualitative research;
• Prepare SOPs related to qualitative research studies;
• Recruit participants and conduct interviews;
• Coordinate transcription and translation of qualitative interviews;
• Assist with coding and analyzing qualitative data.

4. Program Support

• Attend weekly meetings for projects that are conducting surveys/interviews and provide an update on study recruitment in each of the cities of operation;
• Manage cash reimbursements for survey participants;
• Participate in operational research activities related to TB case detection;
• Track progress to targets;
• Produce regular and timely updates on study progress;
• Write reports and create PowerPoint presentations detailing status of the projects;
• Assist in meeting reporting deadlines for the donors;
• Other administrative tasks as needed.

REQUIRED EXPERIENE/SKILLS:

• BS / BA in Public Health, Economics, Social Development, Medicine, Pharmacy, or related field AND 2-5 years research experience

• MS/MA/MPH in Public Health, Economics, Social Development, Medicine, Pharmacy, or related field AND at least 2 years prior experience conducting research surveys;
• Fluent in Vietnamese
• Excellent working knowledge of written and spoken English;
• Strong computer skills, including familiarity and comfort with using Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and computer-based communications;
• Attention to detail;
• Good attitude, self-motivated, and ability to work well individually as well as in teams;
• Highly motivated, willing to learn, service-oriented and able to work under high pressure and within a limited time frame.

PREFERRED SKILLS:

• Experience in the healthcare sector;
• Knowledge of and implementation experience with qualitative data collection and analysis.

APPLICATIONS SHOULD INCLUDE:

• A cover letter
• A detailed Curriculum Vitae
• Photocopy of related certification
• Two employment references (Name, Phone Number, Email Address)

SEND APPLICATIONS:

• Addressed to Rachel Forse at hr@tbhelp.org
• Subject: ‘Application for Research Officer‘
• No later than 31 March 2020

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 will mean that your application has been unsuccessful.

FIT is an equal opportunity employer.

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