The Armauer Hansen Research Institute (AHRI), a biomedical and clinical research facility under the Federal Ministry of Health in Ethiopia is seeking a candidate for the position of National Principal Investigator for a VALUE-TB survey. AHRI’s research interests have traditionally encompassed Tuberculosis, Leprosy, Leishmaniasis, and more recently HIV, meningococcal and other infectious and non-infectious diseases. The Institute got its name from the Norwegian physician, Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen, who first described the leprosy bacillus (Mycobacterium leprae). AHRI has long been funded by the Governments of Norway and Sweden; and recently the Institute has received considerable grant support from US and European agencies as partners in international consortiums, and is now receiving generous funds from the Ministry of Health.
The day-to-day management of the cost collection is the responsibility of the data collection co-ordinator who may be a Ministry of Health staff member or someone from an external organisation. The data collection co-ordinator should report to the PI. The main work of the data collection co-ordinator is managing the implementation of the cost collection. If possible, this person should be actively involved in the design of the study.
The data collection co-ordinator supervises the work of research assistants who collect the data. For this to happen, there needs to be close collaboration between the data collection co-ordinator and the research assistants in the field via either direct supervision or regular reports from the staff or online cost collection tool that allow for quality control. The work of the data collection co-ordinator can be substantial, and the position may need to be half time or more.
Roles and responsibilities:
· Establishes contact with facilities sampled for the study and facilitates the welcoming of the research assistant and the key information providers within each facility.
· Oversees the day-to-day management of the data collection
· Assists in the design of the data collection
· Adapts training manual and cost collection materials
· Prepares standard operating procedures
· Trains research assistants before data collection and provides retraining if mid-term review identifies such a need
· Supervises the work of data collection research assistants through on-site visits or through periodic reports
· Monitors the operational implementation of the survey
Key tasks:
· Coordinates overall implementation of cost collection in the field
· Plans the field implementation and required training, including preparation of training materials as appropriate
· Together with the PI, contacts and coordinates with local authorities
· Ensures quality assurance processes are implemented according to the protocol
· Supervises implementation in the health facilities and laboratories
· Plans and co-ordinates data collection monitoring visits comprising all partners involved in data collection implementation
· Oversees the provision of supplies and required materials
· Involved in the analysis of the results
· Organizes the writing of activity reports and the final report
· Plans the detailed budget of the cost collection and periodically reports to funders on funds utilisation (as per contract)
· Provide any logistic support for the cost collection team
· Arrange pilot-testing and its evaluation
· Liaise with the PI on a regular basis, and provide the PI with updates
· Liaise with local officials in the health care facilities and laboratories (during pre-cost collection visits and actual field work)
· Report without delay any major problems in preparation, execution or data management of the cost collection
Qualifications:
· BSC with Preferably at least 3 years of research experience in the field of public health
· Strong managerial and coordination skills
· Knowledge of public health research and health economics
· Knowledge of TB
· Expertise in field work
· Experience in planning and conducting cost data collection or health facility data collection