Project Coordinator - Urban Surveillance - Kenya

Contract Grade: B

Contract Length: 2 years

Date Needed By: August 2012

New Post or Replacement: Replacement

Accompanied / Unaccompanied: Accompanied

Exact Job Location: Nairobi with travel to programme areas

Reports To: Programme Coordinator, Food, Income and Markets

Responsible For: None

Liaises With: Other staff within Concern Kenya

Job Purpose: The Food, Income, and Markets Programme established an operations research project in 2010 to define and test indicators of humanitarian crisis in urban informal settlements.

This was borne out of the need to monitor conditions in urban slums and be able to identify and target populations in crisis with humanitarian support.

The first two years of the project has collected extensive evidence for the performance of various indicators and resulted in an indicator framework which the project is now seeking to operationalize and scale-up in major urban centers.

The Project Coordinator will therefore lead the design and development of the research as well as manage all aspects entailed in its roll-out/implementation as the project looks to expand its coverage and partnerships.

Recognizing the key technical competencies in research design and implementation, the Project Coordinator will also act as an advisor for all operational research being undertaken in Concern Kenya.

Specific responsibilities will include:

• Lead the development and roll out of the indicator framework including research design, implementation and dissemination
• Work with other partners to adopt and test the indicators framework in their working areas to create an urban surveillance system and provide technical support to these partners across Kenya.
• Establish and guide technical expert panel to advise on overall approach and specific research queries related to the work
• Ensure all necessary ethical and official clearances obtained/extended in a timely manner
• Develop and manage partnerships with appropriate research institutions as well as NGOs/CBOs involved in the work
• Co-chair the technical working group on assessment and measurement under the Urban Vulnerability Forum taking a leadership role in coordination, partnership building, and raising the profile of the project.
• Lead the data management and analysis process for the surveillance system
• Oversee the process of indicator refinement and revision with partners and other stakeholders as necessary
• Document findings and learning for dissemination
• Prepare articles for publication in peer reviewed journals, conferences and other appropriate forums
• Participate in appropriate technical working groups at national and international levels, feedback on surveillance activities to these bodies

Main Duties & Responsibilities:

• In addition to the above, provide technical guidance and oversight to all Concern Kenya operation research, directing research design, selecting lead investigators and reviewing results.
• Build the capacity of the relevant staff within the FIM Programme on analysis and management of data aimed at enriching and directing the urban programme, including informing learning documents
• Be the custodian of the Concern Kenya Research Plan reporting progress at biannual Country Management Team meetings
• Develop within the Concern programme staff tools and techniques in evaluation and learning
• Undertake any other duties as may be assigned by the Assistant Country Director
• Written reports for quarterly assessments and evaluations
• Where required, power point presentations on results for dissemination to partners, government, etc.
• Capacity building of staff in various assessment, analysis, and data collection techniques including training in appropriate software
• Articles for submission to peer reviewed journals

Education, Qualifications & Experience

Required:

• A Master’s Degree or PhD in relevant field (Humanitarian studies, Public Health, Nutrition, Biostatistics, Food Security, etc.)
• Training in ethical principles of research, statistical analysis and complex survey design and analysis
• Working knowledge of SPSS, Stata, SAS, EPIINFO, ENA softwares

Experience

Required:

• Experience in designing and implementing evaluations and operational research, using both quantitative and qualitative methods Experience developing articles for publication
• Experience working in an urban slum environment and working with government partners Experience in early warning/surveillance
• Experience with design, management and analysis of large-scale datasets

Desirable:

• Experience in early warning/surveillance
• Experience of digital data gathering technology and software

How to apply:

All applications should be submitted through our website at https://jobs.concern.net by closing date…. CV’s should be no more than 4 pages in length.

All candidates who are short-listed for a first round interview will be notified via email after the application deadline OR Due to the urgency of this position, applications will be short listed on a regular basis and we may offer posts before the closing date.

Closing date: 13 Jun 2012