Research Assistants & Team Leaders

Makerere University College of Health Sciences, School of Public Health (MakSPH) in partnership with TASO under the Global Fund intend to conduct a study titled “Impact of a community-level advocacy intervention on HIV, TB, and malaria-related knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) among most-at-risk populations in Uganda.” The main objective of the study is to assess the impact of a community-level advocacy intervention on the uptake of HIV, TB and Malaria prevention services among the most-at-risk populations in Uganda.

The study will be conducted in the districts of Buyende, Kaliro, Serere, Apac, Dokolo, Amolatar, Buikwe, Buvuma, Kalangala, Katakwi, Kumi, Pallisa, Pader, Oyam, Nwoya, Masaka, Rakai, Mpigi and Butambala, and the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area.

MakSPH seeks to recruit responsible, qualified and competent individuals who can work with minimum supervision to join its team as Team Leaders and Research Assistants to support data collection. Applications are therefore invited to fill the following positions:

Team Leaders (3)

Report to: Study Coordinator

Key duties and responsibilities

• Properly sample households and identify eligible respondents for interview
• Obtain administrative clearance from the selected district and sub counties prior to data collection
• Answer questions that the area authorities may ask before, during or after the course of data collection
• Ensure that the research assistants comply with the set data collection and ethics guidelines at all times
• Lead the assigned team in conducting field data collection, including assigning households for interviews, and ensuring that the required number of respondents is covered
• Lead data collection and participate in data management processes including validation to ensure quality data collection
• Provide the Study Coordinator with daily updates on the work done by his/her team. This includes progress on the work done, any challenges experienced, and suggestions (if needed) in field data collection schedules, among other aspects

Minimum qualification and experience

• Possess a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in a health-related discipline such as Environmental Health, Medicine, Nursing and Public Health OR Social sciences or Statistics. Possession of a Master’s degree in Public Health, Social Sciences or Statistics will be an added advantage.
• Evidence of being a team leader on at least 2 research projects
• Must have a certificate of Good Clinical Practice (GCP) or Human Subjects Research
• Proven experience in working with key populations is mandatory
• Should have atleast three years’ experience in collecting quantitative and qualitative health research
• Proficiency in English and at least one of the local languages (Acholi, Lusoga, Langi, Luganda, Ateso (both spoken and written)
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Prior experience in using mobile data collection applications (ODK, Kobo collect or Survey Monkey)
• Must have an android phone of version 10 and above and should be willing to use it for data collection
• Must be willing to work beyond official working hours in the field

Research Assistants (15)

Report to: Team leader

Key duties and responsibilities

• Carry out data collection in accordance with the study protocol
• Answer questions that the respondents may ask during the course of data collection
• Ensure prompt submission of data to the server
• Participate in data validation to ensure that quality data is collected
• Transcribe qualitative research interviews and participate in qualitative data analysis where applicable
• Provide daily updates on field work including interviews completed and any other important information on field data collection
• Perform any other duties as assigned by the Team Leader

Minimum qualification and experience

• A bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences such as Environmental Health, Public Health, and Nursing, OR Humanities or Social sciences, Quantitative Economics
• Proficiency in English and atleast one of the local languages (Acholi, Lusoga, Langi, Luganda, Ateso (both spoken and written)
• Must have a certificate of Good Clinical Practice (GCP) or Human Subjects Research
• Previous experience in working with key populations is desirable
• Experience in both qualitative and quantitative data collection is mandatory
• Prior experience in using mobile data collection applications (ODK, Kobo collect or Survey Monkey)
• Prior experience in collecting qualitative and quantitative data
• Excellent communication, organizational and interpersonal skills and ability to follow study specific procedures and guidelines reliably
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision and observe deadlines

Terms of service: This is a short-term position of four weeks

How to apply: Interested persons should send on email their applications, scanned copies of their academic documents with a current Curriculum Vitae (C.V) (addressed to the Dean School of Public Health) to communityledadvocacystudy@gmail.com, indicating the language of preference, two referees and their active (24hour) phone contacts.

Deadline: 11th November 2022, 17:00 hrs.