Research Officer At Concern Worldwide

Job Title: Research Officer

Reports to: Programme Manager

Job Location: North Horr Sub County, Marsabit County (Candidates must be legally entitled to work in Kenya at the time of application – National Position)

Contract Details: Fixed Term One and half (1.5) Years Contract, subject to availability of funds and performance

Job summary :

Lead the field level technical and operational implementation of Nutrition research aimed to generate evidence on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of integrating the Family MUAC approach into standard Community Health Volunteer (CHV)-led screening and referral for acute malnutrition in North Horr of Marsabit County.

Main duties & Responsibilities

Programme Management and Development:

• Guiding the development of the research work plans in coordination with the project teams
• Liaising with the local and county level with SHMT, Marsabit County Officials, and Health Facility Management Teams to enhance coordination and collaboration in project implementation and sustainability.
• Provide technical assistance in the implementation of Family MUAC research, linking it with surge model scale up in Marsabit County
• Participate in quarterly strategy review and planning meetings with the Project research team consisting of the Principal and Co-Principal Investigators, HQ Technical Backstop, Research Partners and the Health and Nutrition Coordinator

Implementation of Operations Research

• Contribute to the overall operation research design development; design of data collection tools, including surveys and qualitative interviews
• Ensure ethical standards are upheld throughout research project
• Translate research findings into policy and programme recommendations and suggestions for the use of Family MUAC
• Document the research process as an integral part of the operations research

Representation and Dissemination

• Draft technical documents based on the research findings for submission to the nutrition specialist and HQ Technical Backstop as needed
• Contribute to research dissemination through involvement in technical working groups, global networks, conferences, and with other key stakeholders
• Lead the drafting of manuscripts for submission to peer-reviewed journals
• Represent Concern in County and National level technical meetings and any other forums as necessary.

Training/Mentoring

• In partnership with the program team, contribute to capacity building of MoH and partner agency staff members.
• Assist in the planning and coordination of trainings associated with the intervention of study

Monitoring and Reporting

• Monitoring the progress against objectives outlined in the program plans.
• Preparing high quality written reports for Concern and donors (monthly, quarterly and annual) and others as required.
• Conduct frequent field visits for monitoring to ensure effective research and programme implementation.

Responding to Emergencies:

• Participate and contribute as necessary towards Concern’s Emergency response as and when necessary
• Comply with Concern’s health, safety and security guidelines during emergency

Concern Code of Conduct & Associated Policies:

• To adhere to the standards of conduct outlined in the Concern Code of Conduct & Associated Policies
• To support and promote the standards outlined in the Concern Code of Conduct & Associated Policies to their team, partner organisations and beneficiaries, and be committed to providing a safe working environment.
• To contribute to the establishment of preventive measures to reduce the potential for abuse in Concern programme

Accountability:

• Promote and ensure compliance with the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) commitments and quality criteria
• Ensure that all staff are familiar with the principles underpinning accountability, safeguarding and Concern’s Complaints and Response Mechanism (CRM) and ensure that information about Concern’s commitments on accountability and safeguarding are disseminated among programme participants and communities
• Ensure that the CRM is functional, effectively implemented and accessible in all programmes’ locations, enabling safe reporting of both programmatic and sensitive complaints, including safeguarding concerns ensure that complaints are welcomed, managed and responded to in a timely, fair and appropriate manner; ensure that sensitive complaints, including safeguarding concerns, are handled with utmost confidentiality and that the safety of the complainants and those affected is prioritized at all stages.

Education, Qualifications & Experience Required:

• BSc in Nutrition or related field (Masters in Public health, Health Statistics or related field is an added advantage)
• At least three (3) years’ experience in Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition programming with experience of public health or nutrition or research methods, and/or operations research.
• At least two- years demonstrated work experience in research related positions or projects and/or programmes.
• Proven track record of collecting and analysing quantitative and qualitative data.
• It is highly desirable that candidate will be able to demonstrate experience in one or more of the following areas:

  i) Experience and knowledge of MOH systems, particularly at County and sub county level

ii) Child health and nutrition, specifically the diagnosis of undernutrition

Skills:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English;
• Interpersonal skills;
• Creative thinking and solution building abilities;
• Strategic thinking and operational planning capabilities;
• Administrative and organisational abilities, including an eye for detail;
• High-level statistical analysis and statistical software package (e.g. SPSS, STATA, R) experience;
• Ability to work autonomously and in teams, and in a multi-cultural work environment;

Competencies

• Aware of self and adapts and uses abilities to work well with others.
• Systematically develops plans, makes clear, informed and timely decisions.
• Acts to inspire others, supports them to achieve excellent results.
• Engages with others inside and outside the organisation, gathers and shares a wider knowledge of issues relevant to Concern’s work
• Focused on continual improvement; seeks out, develops and successfully implements new ideas

Concern Code of Conduct and its Associated Policies

Concern has an organizational Code of Conduct (CCoC) with three Associated Policies; the Programme Participant Protection Policy (P4), the Child Safeguarding Policy and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Policy. These have been developed to ensure the maximum protection of programme participants from exploitation, and to clarify the responsibilities of Concern staff, consultants, visitors to the programme and partner organization, and the standards of behaviour expected of them. In this context, staff have a responsibility to the organization to strive for, and maintain, the highest standards in the day-to-day conduct in their workplace in accordance with Concern’s core values and mission. Any candidate offered a job with Concern Worldwide will be expected to sign the Concern Staff Code of Conduct and Associated Policies as an appendix to their contract of employment. By signing the Concern Code of Conduct, candidates acknowledge that they have understood the content of both the Concern Code of Conduct and the Associated Policies and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these policies. Additionally, Concern is committed to the safeguarding and protection of vulnerable adults and children in our work. We will do everything possible to ensure that only those who are suitable to work or volunteer with vulnerable adults and children are recruited by us for such roles. Subsequently, working or volunteering with Concern is subject to a range of vetting checks, including criminal background checking.

Concern’ is the trading name of ‘Concern Worldwide’, a company limited by guarantee, registered number 39647; registered charity number CHY 5745, registered in Ireland, registered address is 52-55 Lower Camden Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. Follow Concern online: www.concern.net