Based in Nairobi, Kenya; Johannesburg, South Africa or Cape Town, South Africa with ability to work remotely
Up to 30% international travel
Reports to Director, HIV/TB Department
Who we are
With over 50 years of experience, working in over 40 countries, Population Services International (PSI) is the world’s leading non-profit social marketing organization. PSI is reimagining healthcare, by putting the consumer at the center, and wherever possible bringing care to the front door. We are working to fix market failures, shape future health markets and shift policy and funding to better support consumer empowered healthcare.
There are over 5,000 “PSI’ers” around the world. We are a diverse group of entrepreneurial development professionals with a wide range of backgrounds and experience. All with unique skills that we bring to the critically important work that we do.
Bring your science for something good!
PSI seeks a Health Area Research Advisor (HARA) for our Global HIV & TB Department. The HARA is a vital link between the Department, our projects on the ground, and PSI’s Strategic Research & Learning Team, helping to ensure that we’re building strong technical learning into everything we do. The HARA helps advance PSI and PSIers as thought leaders, through the development of rigorous research projects, as well as various products resulting from that research: peer-reviewed papers, presentations, case studies and more. S/he will serve as PSI’s HIV and TB research resource, with a focus both on contributions to the strategic evidence agenda for HIV and TB, as well assistance to PSI’s network members in the design, execution, and dissemination of HIV- and TB-related studies.
PSI’s research centers around a few key areas:
Formative insight through qualitative and quantitative research to improve the design of interventions;
Implementation science to better understand how to deliver existing interventions more effectively;
Health economics to determine the true cost of interventions;
Market analysis to understand the broader context of health issues and responses.
The Research Advisor need not be an expert in all these areas but will bring deep knowledge of research within the HIV and TB fields to bear in collaborations across the organization. This a tremendous opportunity for a sharp, early-career researcher looking to shift from academia to a more hands-on, implementation-focused environment. PSI is fun, fast paced, and rapidly changing. Our HIV/TB team is small but mighty and you will play a central role in demonstrating the value and impact of our life-saving work on the ground.
Sound like you? Read on.
Your contribution
Support the PSI network to design, execute and promote research related to HIV and TB
Provide strategic guidance across the PSI network on research and program evaluations in areas like:
HIV testing; voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC); pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV; HIV and TB treatment and activities to make those interventions more patient-friendly and effective.
Support consumer insights research and research collaborations using both qualitative and quantitative methods, such as ethnography, structured interviews, surveys that support various kinds of segmentation, and digital research tools.
Evaluate effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of HIV and TB interventions. Methods can include non-experimental, quasi-experimental or experimental designs, leveraging implementation science frameworks and operations research approaches.
Provide technical assistance, supervision and quality assurance in developing logical frameworks/theories of change, study designs, data analysis, and manuscripts.
Build capacity among researchers at the regional and country level, particularly for strategic research studies, including consumer-insights research, cost-effectiveness analyses, population size estimation for key populations, operations and implementation science research, program evaluation, and dissemination of research findings.
Elevate PSI’s global HIV and TB thought leadership
Document and disseminate research findings and translate research findings into policies, best practices, and minimum standards within PSI and externally:
Lead on the development and implementation of learning agendas, research utilization plans, and evidence synthesis activities to ensure the data PSI collects inform program improvement, policy influence, and future funding;
Develop concept papers, toolkits, and training materials to increase PSI’s internal research capacity;
Present at international conferences and meetings and coordinate conference abstracts to highlight PSI’s research at country, regional, and organizational levels;
Develop and disseminate research briefs and publish in peer-reviewed journals;
Help us expand partnerships and win new awards
Collaborate with external institutions and researchers to meet and share research findings, policy implications and best practices.
Support new business development by contributing to the drafting and review of HIV and TB-related proposals.
What are we looking for?
The candidate we hire will embody PSI’s corporate values:
Measurement: You use hard evidence to make decisions and guide your work.
Pragmatism: You’ll strive to deliver the best possible result with the resources available. You won’t be paralyzed by a need to make things perfect.
Honesty: You own your mistakes and are open about your shortcomings – it’s the only way you’ll learn and improve.
Collaboration: You’ll quickly establish a mental map of whom you can rely on for what, on your team, at headquarters, and in our country offices – if you try to do it all yourself, you won’t succeed.
Trust: You accept limits to your sphere of control and give colleagues the benefit of the doubt.
Commitment: You are in it for the long-haul and want to grow with the organization, just like PSI serves its consumers and partners with host-country governments through thick and thin
The basics
PhD in public health, epidemiology, social science, health economics, or a related field;
4+ years professional experience in the design, analysis, dissemination, and management of research pertaining to HIV and TB interventions in developing countries;
A strong record of publication in peer-reviewed journals, ideally with several first-authored papers;
Management of multiple research studies and demonstrated experience in building capacity of junior research staff;
Experience working with implementors or health programs to translate research findings into actionable solutions;
Extensive knowledge of a statistical analysis program (SPSS, STATA or SAS); strong analysis skills;
Ability to develop research training tools and materials for a variety of contexts, learning curves and needs;
Ability to travel up to 30% of the time both domestically and internationally;
Excellent written, verbal, and inter-personal communication skills.
What would get us excited?
Experience designing qualitative studies and analyzing qualitative data;
Proficiency in French, Spanish or Portuguese;
Experience designing research embedded within ongoing HIV or TB programming.
HOW TO APPLY
Please send a motivational cover letter and CV to [email protected] by 23 September 2021. Due to high volume of applications, only finalists will be contacted. PSI is an equal opportunity employer. PSI reserves the right to withdraw the advert at any time once the ideal candidate has been identified.