Helen Keller International
JOB ANNOUNCEMENT
Research Coordinator & Analyst,
Assessment and Research on Child Feeding (ARCH) Project
(US and Dakar, Senegal)
We are currently seeking a Research Coordinator & Analyst to manage research activities and analyze the data for HKI’s Assessment and Research on Child Feeding (ARCH) project. The expected duration of the employment is three-years and requires residency in Dakar, Senegal for the data collection period of approximately one year, after which the location is flexible.
Background
With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the ARCH project is researching how commercial food products are promoted and utilized for infant and young child feeding. Using findings from Cambodia, Nepal, Indonesia, Senegal, and Tanzania, ARCH is advocating for and advising on policies to regulate promotion and improve child nutrition during the essential first 1,000 days of life. HKI is seeking a Research Coordinator/Analyst to support research activities in Senegal for the third phase of this multi-country project (2019-2022).
Functional Relationships
This position reports directly to and works closely with the Senior Research Advisor on the ARCH project (based in London, England), and will have a dotted line to the Senegal Country Director. The Coordinator & Analyst will also work closely with colleagues at all levels of the organization, particularly the HKI Senegal project team, Africa regional office staff, another Coordinator/Analyst based in another study site location, and the ARCH leadership team.
Outside HKI, the Coordinator/Analyst will represent HKI at meetings of advisory committees, made up of government, non-governmental and UN agency partners.
HKI has a matrixed reporting structure that respects both the line management and authority within geographical hierarchies; and the accountability and oversight duties of subject matter experts and multi-country program managers wherever they are located. Regular communication and a spirit of teamwork among colleagues, both hierarchically and laterally, are essential to make this structure thrive.
Scope of Position
The Research Coordinator/Analyst will manage research activities for a study on unhealthy diets and nutritional outcomes among young children in urban Senegal. The position will work closely with colleagues on study preparations (including design and tool development) and data collection. After data collection, the Research Coordinator/Analyst will be responsible for data management and analysis, as well as write-up of study findings in the form of manuscripts for submission to peer-reviewed journals. The employment period is expected to be three years.
Specific Responsibilities
• Provide inputs to study design and contribute to the development of study protocols and tools.
• Manage study implementation. Responsibilities include: overseeing development of IRB
applications, adapting protocol to local settings, leading formative research to inform
survey design, contributing to sampling strategies, developing training materials for
interviewers, overseeing field team training, managing data collection, and ensuring data
quality throughout.
• Manage data entry, cleaning, and developing analysis plans. Responsibilities will
include: development of the electronic questionnaire and ensuring database back-up,
entry of all paper-based dietary recall forms, data checks to identify data entry errors,
and development of syntax for data management and cleaning.
• Analyze data according to identified research questions and write up study results in
manuscripts for publication.
• Lead or support writing of a country report, technical and policy briefs, or other materials for dissemination of results.
• Work with country project staff and advisory committees to ensure project findings are
translated into meaningful policy and programmatic actions.
• Provide in-country assistance to ensure research activities are technically and
operationally sound.
Qualifications & competencies
• Master’s in Nutrition, Public Health, or a similar field, and 2+ years related work
experience, or a doctoral degree in Nutrition, Public Health, or similar field; or an
equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Strong analytic skills and an understanding of research design required, including:
experience in protocol and tool development, data analysis and interpretation, and
manuscript development. Experience analyzing large-scale dietary datasets a plus.
• Demonstrated experience in undertaking and supporting quantitative data collection.
Experience with household surveys, dietary 24-hour recalls, anthropometric measurements.
• Proficiency in data analysis software required, preferably STATA. Experience with
qualitative data collection and analysis, including the use of relevant software (ATLAS,
nVivo), a plus.
• Experience with fieldwork in developing country settings.
• Seeking someone with strong interpersonal skills, attention to detail, and who is a team player. Self-initiative and ability to work independently will be needed at times, but also necessary to work collaboratively with the Senegal team and wider ARCH team.
• Strong communication and language skills. Excellent oral and written English and
French. Additional Wolof language skills a plus.
• Ability and willingness to undertake fieldwork– approximately one year based in Dakar,
Senegal will be required.
To Apply
Qualified candidates should submit a cover letter and resume to HKI.Recruitment@hki.org
noting the job title in the subject line. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.
Helen Keller International is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, disability, or protected veteran status.
We are committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual with a disability and need to request an accommodation during the application or interview process, please contact us at the email above or:
Tel: 646-356-1789; Fax: (212) 532-6014
Co-founded in 1915 by Helen Keller, Helen Keller International is dedicated to saving the sight and lives of the world’s vulnerable. We combat the causes and consequences of preventable blindness, malnutrition and diseases of poverty with more than 120 programs in 20 African and Asian countries, as well as in the United States. Renowned for its reliability, efficiency and high level of technical expertise, Helen Keller International promotes the development of large-scale, sustainable solutions to some of the most pressing issues in public health. We deliver scientific rigor and effectively leverage donor dollars with our hallmark characteristics of grit, compassion and integrity. If you share these characteristics, we invite you to apply to open positions at Helen Keller International.
