Zambia Ministry of Health Recruiting Now – January 2017

The main role of the Senior Research Associate will be to provide support to the Research Unit of the Ministry of Health headquarters in Zambia. The fellow will participate in activities designed to develop a functional national health research system. This includes helping to build the capacity to undertake health research activities and develop effective strategies for communicating research findings. The fellow will report to the Principal Surveillance and Research Officer at the Ministry of Health and help coordinate various research activities, including research monitoring, grant writing, and dissemination activities.

Job Title:  Senior Research Associate

Responsibilities:

• Review of Proposals: review proposals for clearance to ensure they are in line with the national guidelines
• Grant Writing: prepare letters of intent for grant application and participate in proposal development
• Conduct and coordinate research and provide timely reports including:
  • Initiate research by actively exploring research questions
  • Analyze research findings to facilitate decision making
  • Organize research dissemination activities for the unit/directorate
  • Develop policy briefs and memos for meetings
  • Conduct literature review on topical issues as required
  • Participate in monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of ongoing health research to assess outcomes and facilitate the identification of remedial interventions.
  • Prepare activity and M&E reports as required and submit research activity reports to the Head of the Research Unit
• Data Management and Reporting: maintain an accurate and up-to-date database of all health research activities in the country and provide timely reports on the status of each activity
• Capacity building and policy engagement programs: participate in the conceptualization, design and implementation of capacity building and policy engagement programs
• Additional: participate in other activities as requested by supervisor

Desired Skills and Experience:

Items indicated with an asterisk (*) are required

• Bachelor’s degree*
• Preferred: Master’s degree is an added advantage
• Strong research background, including data analysis and report writing skills*
• Proficient scientific writer
• Experience in grant management
• Familiarity with health research ethics
• Experience in data management software like SPSS, STATA, MS Access or NVivo
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills
• Experience with proposal development and grant writing
• Experience with capacity building initiatives
• Experience with data analysis
• Ability to work in a multidisciplinary and multicultural environment
• Commitment to professional integrity and confidentiality