Job Description
Background
Chad, located in the Sahel region of Africa, is grappling with severe food insecurity and high malnutrition rates, stemming from interrelated determinants of poverty, political instability, conflict and displacement, chronic food shortages, and climate crises such as frequent droughts and floods. As of mid-2024, the population was experiencing extreme food insecurity, with 1.75 million children under the age of five suffering from acute malnutrition. Currently, estimates are that Chad is facing a historic period of food insecurity with a record 3.4 million people facing acute hunger in the 2024 lean season, which increases the risk of inadequate food consumption and acute malnutrition in children and pregnant and lactating women (PLW). The situation is exacerbated by inadequate infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices, limited access to essential services, and the inability of many households to afford nutritious diets, leaving a significant portion of the population in a vulnerable state.
In response, the World Food Programme (WFP) has been providing nutritional assistance through specialized nutritious foods (SNFs) for the treatment and prevention of moderate acute malnutrition. However, logistical challenges in delivering SFFs have hindered their effectiveness. As a result, WFP has introduced cash-based transfer (CBT) approaches to improve food security and nutrition, targeting vulnerable groups through cash and social behavioral change (SBC) interventions. The CBT program, referred to as Cash for Prevention (C4P), is expected to be implemented on a widespread basis across Chad for the next several years.
Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health is working with the WFP to evaluate the effectiveness of the SNF and C4P interventions on women’s and children’s dietary quality and wasting prevention in four states of Chad.
Job Summary
Under the joint leadership and guidance of the Baltimore-based JHSPH and the Ndjamena-based WFP research focal point, the Research Coordinator will provide technical advice and implementation support to the evaluation. The Research Coordinator will be responsible for day-to-day oversight of the evaluation activities, including leading the training of enumerators, negotiations and planning with implementing partners, coordination of data collection, preparation of the data collection logistics, supervision of data collection, communication and reporting with WFP and JHSPH research team.
The research coordinator will be hired through the Johns Hopkins University. The position is based in WFP office either in Ndjamena or in the states where the study will take place, with travel to the evaluation sites. The position is part time for the duration of one year starting indicatively October 1, 2025.
Responsibilities
- Coordinate the evaluation activities and ensure high-quality research is designed and implemented in line with the evaluation objectives and timeline.
- Lead the preparation and implementation of the data collectors training, including development of the agenda and the session content, delivering the training with support of WFP and JHSPH faculty, ensuring logistics for the training and the pilot, and coordinating inputs from WFP and JHSPH.
- Lead the evaluation implementation to ensure timely, high-quality data collection according to the research protocol. This includes logistics and planning, pilot testing and refinement of data collection tools and procedures, oversight of data collectors, interface with WFP implementing partners and coordination with WFP team.
- Design and coordinate data reporting and quality assurance with JHSPH faculty and ensure that all data are collected and uploaded according to protocols and agreed procedures.
- Monitor the implementation of the evaluation and ensure continuous and timely communication with WFP and JHSPH teams.
- Contribute to data analysis and interpretation in collaboration with JHSPH team.
Job Requirements
Required Qualifications
- *** Chad national hires only ****
- A master’s degree or higher in public health, development, statistics, nutrition, applied sociology, anthropology, or other relevant subjects.
- At least three years relevant and progressively increasing field experience in research, design and evaluation, in development and/or humanitarian settings, preferably 1) including both university/research institution and international non-governmental organization (iNGO) or United Nations experience; and 2) experience working in the areas of nutrition, food security, cash transfers or safety net programs or resilience.
- Strong conceptual knowledge about food, and nutrition security indicators, monitoring and evaluation, data collection, data quality assurance, data utilization, gender and protection integration into monitoring and evaluation.
- Demonstrated leadership skills and prior experience managing quantitative data collection, with a preference for candidates that also have experience managing qualitative or mixed-methods research. Strong data management skills, including ability to oversee and manage electronic data collection and conduct real-time data quality reviews.
- Proven ability to communicate successfully through writing and speaking, with fluency in French and English.
- Ability to take initiative, work autonomously, and achieve high quality results via the application of strong critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills and good relationship management and communication skills.
Preferred Qualifications
- Prior qualitative research experience, including design, implementation and/or analysis and synthesis.
- Experience in humanitarian program research and evaluation, including peer-reviewed journal publications from these contexts or on related subjects of nutrition, food security, cash transfers, livelihoods, recovery and/or resilience.
Application process
- Interested candidates should send their CV and a cover letter in English to Dr. Emily Lyles at humanithealth@jhu.edu. Please indicate in the subject “Chad Research Coordinator”.
- Please provide two references in the CV.
- Shortlisted candidates will be contacted to schedule an interview with the JHU and the WFP teams. Please note that the interview will be conducted remotely (via zoom) and will take place in English and French.
- Deadline for application is September 15, 2025.
