RESEARCHER - HEALTH SYSTEMS STRENGTHENING
TextDeadline: January 15, 2025
The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) is a premier research-to-policy institution, generating evidence, strengthening research and related capacity in the African research and development ecosystem, and engaging policy to inform action on health and development. APHRC seeks to drive change by developing strong African research leadership and promoting evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM) across sub-Saharan Africa.
APHRC seeks to recruit a Researcher to work in the Health Systems Strengthening Unit within the Health and Wellbeing Theme. This new role, arising out of our tremendous growth, is part of our five-year strategic plan and focuses on enhancing our health systems strengthening (HSS) portfolio through targeted health systems research projects.
Duties/Responsibilities
Lead the designing, implementing, and managing health systems strengthening research within the Center, including study conceptualization, design, project management, obtaining ethical approvals and research permits, recruiting and training field interviewers, supervising fieldwork, data management, analysis, and report writing.
Collaborate in co-designing and testing interventions with stakeholders to inform health systems policy and practice.
Lead and contribute to the financial sustainability of the unit through fundraising and cultivating relationships with key donors and partners.
Lead and contribute to scientific paper writing, policy briefs, and other publications on health systems research outcomes.
Supervise, mentor, and train early career researchers in the unit and across the Center.
Lead policy engagement, knowledge translation, and communication to appropriate audiences.
Participate in strategic planning for the unit and contribute to regular unit reports.
Qualifications, Skills, and Experience
PhD (preferably in a health-related field such as Public Health, Epidemiology, Health Systems, or Clinical Medicine).
Post-doctoral experience in research on health systems in sub-Saharan Africa.
Experience in developing proposals and attracting research grants, particularly in health systems.
Demonstrated experience in managing research teams and partnerships.
Strong qualitative and quantitative analysis skills (managing, analyzing, and interpreting data), with extensive familiarity with quantitative statistical packages (e.g. STATA, SAS, or SPSS).
Excellent communication skills and a good record of publications on relevant areas in sub-Saharan Africa.
Excellent interpersonal and organizational skills, with the ability to work in a culturally diverse team and understand working among vulnerable populations such as urban slums and rural areas.
Desirable
Expertise/experience working with healthcare workers, caregivers, and policymakers.
Expertise in the design of community-based cluster randomized trials and quasi-experimental studies.
Expertise in qualitative methods, including familiarity with qualitative analysis software packages (e.g. NVivo).
The successful candidate may be appointed at Associate Research Scientist (3-5 years after PhD), Research Scientist (6-11 years after PhD), or Senior Research Scientist (12+ years after PhD) levels, depending on experience and track record. These positions are classified under Internationally Recruited Positions (IRP), Grades III to VI in our scales.
Application Process
Interested candidates are invited to submit their application in English through the Researcher-HSS portal, including:
A letter of application.
A statement of research interests and goals (1-2 pages).
A CV with contact details of three referees.
Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Shortlisted candidates will be required to have a Police Clearance Certificate.
Special Notice
APHRC is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. All employment decisions are made on the basis of qualifications and organizational needs. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process.
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The African Population and Health Research Centre
The African Population and Health Research Centre is the continent’s premier research institution and think tank, generating evidence to drive policy action to improve the health and wellbeing of African people.
As a progressive African-led global research center invested in creating legacy impact, our work is centered in three integrated programmatic divisions:
Research: Our teams orient their research agendas to global and continental development priorities bringing independent evidence to the forefront of decisions supporting improved growth and development in the region. The center’s research priorities fall within six thematic units: Aging and Development; Education and Youth Empowerment; Health and Systems for Health; Maternal and Child Wellbeing; Population Dynamics and Sexual Reproductive Health and; Urbanization and Wellbeing in Africa. Anchoring the six is our Data, Measurement and Evaluation Unit providing internal support for robust data systems and outward looking technical assistance in program evaluation and data use.
Research capacity strengthening: Through strategic partnerships, the Center strives to nurture African research leadership by building a critical mass of researchers to meaningfully engage with policy actors in developing, reviewing and implementing policies and programs relevant to the continent’s development.
Policy engagement and communications: The Center builds relationships with key decision-making bodies at the national, regional and global levels to encompass engagements with government and non-government entities, as well as academic, advocacy and research institutions: all in service to our agenda of ensuring contextual, relevant and localized knowledge as a driver of change. Our goal is to become a continental model for robust, policy-oriented, rigorous research that emphasizes synergy and collaboration.
