District Research Assistant (x5) at Baylor College of Medicine Childrens Foundation

Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation – Malawi (BCM-CFM) is a not-for-profit organization working in partnership with the Malawi Government in the health sector. Our Mission is to provide high-quality, high-impact, highly ethical pediatric and family-centered health care, health professional training and clinical research, focused on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, malnutrition and other conditions impacting the health and well-being of children and families worldwide.

The Baylor-Tingathe program developed in 2008 initially responded to suboptimal uptake of PMTCT and pediatric HIV services in Malawi and has grown over the past 15 years to support the full cascade of HIV care and treatment services. The current CORE programming seeks to support the Malawi Government in achieving epidemic control, by providing client focused care to People Living with HIV from the time of diagnosis to linkage and full engagement in care. BCM-CFM’s CORE programming is funded by USAID and is currently operating in 6 districts in Malawi. BCM-CFM is seeking qualified candidates to fill the position of a District Research Officer.

Project description: Baylor Tinagthe is conducting an NIMHD-funded implementation science study, VITAL Start for adolescents living with HIV (VS4A). Through this grant, we aim to ; adapt the theory-based adherence intervention VITAL START to an adolescent population (VS4A), compare HIV outcomes including viral suppression between the VS4A and standard arms and  implement VS4A to scale, if proven successful.

POSITON : District Research Assistant (5)

REPORTS TO             : District Research Officer

CONTRACT               : Contractual

DURATION                : 1 Year

LOCATION                : Balaka/ Machinga

Position Description: The RA is responsible for data collection at study sites (health facilities). Given that teen clubs are on Saturdays, this position will require you to work during the weekend.  The position holder is responsible for appropriately engaging study participants to ensure their positive participation in the study. They will identify eligible participants (adolescents and their guardians and health workers) and provide accurate information that will lead to obtaining informed consent and successful completion of enrollment process. RA will be responsible for collecting data from participants and ensuring that all study recruitment and data collection targets are met.

Duties and responsibilities:

• Conduct study sensitization at the study site
• Consent adolescents and their guardians, and health workers
• Manage workflow at study sites
• Collect high quality data in a timely manner, including adolescents and their guardians, and health workers surveys, adolescent clinic records from registers
• Develop strong collaborative relationships with facility-level leadership
• Support the Research officer with organizing workflow as needed
• Proactively identify and share challenges encountered in the study sites and develop solutions
• Populate, organize, and maintain other information files, both electronic and paper
• Other research-related tasks as assigned

Qualifications

We are looking for a highly organized results-oriented individual with experience as a data collector. Desired qualifications include:

• 3+ years’ experience data collection on Survey CTO, ODK or similar tablet-based program
• Academic Diploma (e.g. DipPH, Scs. Diploma in Community Development, etc.)
• Flexible to travel during the weekend to sites throughout the district.
• Mature, trustworthy, good sense of judgment and confidentiality.
• Good knowledge of and comfort with information technology appliances, such as tablets.
• Flexible working adolescents and young people.
• Detail-oriented, able to work with minimal supervision under pressure and meet deadlines.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with strong listening skills
• Good interpersonal skills with ability to properly work within a team.
• Ability to adhere to good clinical practice.

Work Environment

• Balaka/Machinga district program implementation sites
• Frequent travel to health facilities (study sites) for participant enrolment and data collection
• Multi-cultural work environment

Method Of Application

To apply log into Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation career page: https://apply.workable.com/tingathe/?lng=en

Closing date: 23^rd August,2024