United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Research Advisor - Programs

Job Description

TITLE Research Advisor – Programs

LOCATION London

DEPARTMENT Technical Unit

REPORTS TO Director Health Policy & Practice

START DATE November, 2015

DURATION Permanent (after 3 months’ probation period)

Background

International Medical Corps is a leading international humanitarian agency who responds to the population’s health and psychosocial needs in humanitarian settings, while also supporting the recovery of systems and services in transitional and development contexts. Currently, the technical team provides leadership and advisory support across International Medical Corps HQ departments, contributes to global policy and practice and direct technical support to country program teams inclusive of: reproductive health, gender based violence, mental health & psychosocial support, water, sanitation and hygiene, and monitoring and evaluation. This is further enhanced by a nutrition and food security team who provide technical leadership and support to country programs. While we currently have operational research projects in selected sectors, we seek to expand and strengthen our technical expertise and delivery of research that will inform our approach and improve our evidence based practices in global programs.

Essential Job Duties/Scope of Work:

The Research Advisor will be responsible for developing International Medical Corps’ research portfolio in collaboration with the respective technical sector teams at HQ. S/he will work with field teams in developing and implementing research (operational, formative, etc.) studies, and contributing to the dissemination of research findings and publications.

Primary Responsibilities of this position

This position requires substantial technical knowledge, training experience, mentoring skills, and work experience in difficult circumstances and conflict areas as well as recovery and development settings.

Technical Program Support

• Identify research priorities in collaboration with HQ and field teams and liaise with relevant partners where relevant for complementary work;

• Develop the research protocols including the design and implementation strategy, and budget outline, and seek funding for research proposals;

• Provide onsite and remote support to IMC Missions in the implementation of research protocols;

• Coordinate the analysis, report/manuscript writing, and dissemination of research findings;

• Coordinate linking research agenda to program learning and IMC’s knowledge management strategy;

• Contribute to the dissemination of research findings from these projects, including presentations at local, national and international meetings and conferences, and preparation of scientific papers, peer-reviewed publications, and policy briefs;

• Work in collaboration with the Monitoring and Evaluation team to provide accurate quantitative data for reports.

Capacity Building

• Map capacities of HQ and field technical staff in relation to research capacities;

• Develop IMC’s technical staff capacity to plan and implement research studies.

Coordination & Communication

• Assist IMC country teams in developing research partnerships with other NGOs and academic institutions;

• Engage with relevant research forums and technical working groups to see out new research opportunities for consideration;

• Coordinate sector areas within IMC HQ and through the agreed modalities at field level, to support integrated multi-sector research where appropriate;

• Support the communication department in providing useful quantitative and qualitative updates for website and other International Medical Corps publications.

Experience and Knowledge Required

• At least 7 years post graduate work experience in designing, setting up, supporting, analysing and writing up research studies (operations, formative, etc), essential

• Knowledge of humanitarian and development research priorities, essential

• Experience working in international settings either in a humanitarian and/or development context, essential

• Excellent communication skills, including skills in presenting or communicating information to a variety of stakeholders, essential

• High level of English (written and oral), essential (French is a plus)

• Strong writing skills with publication experience, essential

• Experience in writing successful research proposals

• Demonstrated quantitative and qualitative analytical skills, including use of research software (STATA, SAS, or SPSS), methodologies, and Microsoft Office Package

• Proven ability to work independently, flexibly, create solutions or responses to problems in an autonomous way, and in insecure areas.

Qualifications

• Master’s or higher degree (PhD preferred) in health, anthropology, epidemiology or other related disciplines.

CLOSING DATE:Sunday, 18^th October 2015