Job Title:

Research Associate (field)

Function:

MIHM

Reports to position:

Research Director

Location:

Punjab (Jalandhar and Ludhiana)

Haryana (Faridabad)

Reportees to Position:

None

Band:

FT

Job Purpose

Responsible for development and overseeing of trial protocols, coordinating data collection, and supporting the team in other research activities such as data cleaning, analysis and writing manuscripts.

Job Outline

The Research Associate position provides an excellent opportunity to gain extensive hands‐on field research experience and significant management responsibility in a Tuberculosis care related project.

The Research Associate will be responsible for (i) overseeing implementation of trial protocols, (ii) overseeing collection of program data, (iii) training and managing survey teams, (iv) supervising logistics for field activities, (v) cleaning and analyzing survey data, (vi) assisting in the writing of project reports and policy memos,(vii) liaising with key government stakeholders and (viii) Monitoring and reviewing databases and rectifying errors or inconsistencies. The work will enhance your analytical and management skills and require your full commitment in a challenging environment.

About the project: A randomized control trial funded by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to study the impact of monitoring methods using digital technologies, such as 99DOTS, MERM and Refill Monitoring on TB treatment. The primary objective is to study how these monitoring methods impact the patient’s adherence and clinical outcomes. The trial will involve the implementation of specific interventions, collection of primary data (surveys and interviews) as well as secondary programmatic data, which will then be analyzed to estimate the impact of the interventions. The study will involve a Costing exercise to estimate the cost and a Time and Motion study to understand the processes and resource requirements of implementing different technologies. Qualitative research will be conducted to understand and explain the behavioral mechanisms driving the impact. The objective of the qualitative study is to explore the barriers and facilitators of TB care in the private sector, to understand how the monitoring methods influence adherence behavior, and to examine the experience of participants with the monitoring methods DAT interventions.

Job Specification

Knowledge / Education

Specific Skills

Desirable Experience

• Master’s degree in public health / economics / public policy / epidemiology / development studies / management with healthcare sector experience
• Graduates from other disciplines may also be considered if they have relevant experience and can demonstrate the relevant skills

1. Excellent project management and organizational skills

a. Meticulous attention to detail

b. Ability to plan tasks for teams, monitor progress, make corrections to plans

c. Strong budget management skills required

d. Ability to work independently and to carry out assignments to completion within parameters of instructions given, prescribed routines, and standard accepted practices

e. Capability to manage multiple tasks efficiently

f. Must be able to work under pressure and meet deadlines, while maintaining a positive attitude

2. Excellent verbal and written communication skills in (1) English, and (2) Hindi (3) Working knowledge of Punjabi desirable for Punjab location.

3. Strong knowledge of MS Excel required; programming and other technical knowledge is a strong plus

4. Demonstrated ability to manage relationships with partner organizations

5. Willingness to frequently travel within study sites

1. At least 2 years of work experience, preferably in healthcare

2. Candidates with prior experience with randomized controlled trials will be given strong preference

Job Interface/Relationships:

Internal

External

• MIHM Research and Admin team
• Other departments including Grants, Finance, Legal, and IT.

• Grantor research/programme team
• Vendors & Consultants
• Sub-grantees/data collection agencies
• IRB Boards, governments, other stakeholders

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and oversee compliance with RCT protocols
• Designing and implementing data quality assurance systems and protocols to ensure high-quality data collection
• Coordinating with internal and external stakeholders and supervising the data collection team to ensure smooth running of the trial
• Training, and managing the data collection team that will conduct the data collections
• Work with data sets, cleaning and running checks to spot errors, and generally preparing data for analysis using MS Excel
• Support the research team to analyze the data and interpret the findings
• Support in writing progress reports and other outputs
• Manage the budget including tracking all expenses to ensure costs are within project funds

Any Other Significant Input

Send an email to maxinstitute@isb.edu with subject line “Application for Research Associate 2023” with a copy of your CV and academic transcripts. Any evidence of written work and references by academics would be a strong positive. Applications will be reviewed until the position is filled. You will be contacted only in case you are shortlisted for an interview.