Job title: Reproductive Health Research Advisor
Department: FP/RH
Based in Washington, D.C.
Up to 25% international travel Reports to the FP/RH Deputy Director
Who we are
We’re Population Services International (PSI), the world’s leading non-profit social marketing organization. We work to make it easier for people in the developing world to lead healthier lives and plan the families they desire by marketing affordable products and services that range from mosquito nets to contraceptives to HIV testing.
There are over 9,000 “PSI’ers” around the world. It’s a diverse group of entrepreneurs and professionals with an unusually wide range of backgrounds – from the medical industry to the music business – all with unique skills we bring to the job.
Join us! PSI’s Family Planning (FP) & Reproductive Health (RH) Department focuses on the launch & scale-up of high?quality FP/RH services, built on a strong base of FP programming and integrated with other health areas where appropriate to achieve maximum health impact. We protect our clients’ sexual & reproductive health rights by ensuring informed choice, voluntarism, client confidentiality & privacy, client safety and continuity of care, and safe abortion.
We are looking for a Reproductive Health Research Advisor to provide strategic leadership to the department’s research portfolio. Technical research advisors are health area specialists with expertise in research. The Reproductive Health Research Advisor is a skilled, creative and dynamic candidate with demonstrated experience in FP/RH research. He or she has historical success in designing and managing research studies and using evidence for decision-making. The Reproductive Health Research Advisor will lead and advise the department in answering pertinent research and programmatic questions for both external audiences and internal operational needs at headquarters and in-country programs. He or she will serve as an important link between research and programs, making research results understandable and usable to increase health impact of PSI’s in-country programs.
Sound like you? Read on.
Your contribution
The Reproductive Health Research Advisor leads the vision and technical oversight of PSI’s FP/RH research and provides technical leadership to PSI’s headquarters health research activities. The Reproductive Health Research Advisor is responsible for the design of core-funded research studies as well as quality assurance and programmatic, administrative and financial management along with support to business development to new reproductive health programming. The Reproductive Health Research Advisor in partnership with and Deputy Director ‘EFI’ research and Regional Researchers, will also provide strategic/technical leadership to country-level reproductive health research activities. The Reproductive Health Research Advisor** supervise and manage the Reproductive Health Analyst.
You will: Provide Research Technical Leadership and Oversight
- Provide leadership and strategic research guidance for key studies in the following areas: modern contraceptive use, reproductive health integrated service delivery, social franchising, barriers to service provision, abortion and post-abortion care.
- Work with New Business Development and the FP/RH? technical team to provide technical inputs in conceptual design, research, and M&E planning for reproductive health proposals and fundraising initiatives. Ensure that the FP/RH research developed and proposed at PSI is technically sound, appropriately resourced, current and relevant.
- Provide research technical guidance and support in partnership and through Regional Researchers to country-level researchers conducting core-funded family planning and reproductive health research, including formative research, surveys, qualitative studies, program evaluation , longitudinal studies, etc.;
- Build capacity in the use of research findings for decision-making within PSI. Serve as a resource and catalyze information sharing of internal and external FP/RH research findings between PSI network members across the globe.
Manage new and existing family planning research
- Propose, design, and implement new operations research on PSI core-funded projects, including the Women’s Health Project and SIFPO ;
- Develop indicators and research activities to measure them for FP/RH projects, including core-funded projects. Lead study design, study questionnaire development/piloting, IRB approval processes, data collection methodology, data quality checks, analysis plans, reporting and dissemination.
- Oversee research budgeting, contracts, and reporting for all core-funded grants;
- Improve family planning and reproductive health research capacity at country level, by creating and supporting research management systems, research toolkits, workshops, and other capacity-building outputs;
- Engage with other PSI evidence functions (strategic research and evaluation, program analytics and evidence for implementation) to ensure technical quality, coherence and consistency in the design, collection and dissemination of FP/RH research.
Oversee Data to Decision-Making Initiative within the FP/RH department
- Collaborate with Regional Researchers, M&E advisor and other evidence teams to improve the use of data for strategic, programmatic, and country-level decision-making
- Collaborate with Global Business Systems teams to oversee development/implementation of tools to improve data to decision-making capacity
Communicate evidence to PSI and its stakeholders
- Author research briefs, articles and publish in peer-reviewed journals; present at conferences and meetings; and document lessons learned for internal and external stakeholders
- Disseminate PSI research findings at international conferences and meetings and coordinate conference abstracts to highlight research at country, regional and organizational levels
- Identify opportunities for collaboration and information sharing with key stakeholders and represent PSI’s family planning research strategies in internal and external interdisciplinary working groups, conferences and technical meetings, as needed ;
What are we looking for? The basics**
- You have a PhD and 3+ years of professional experience OR master’s degree and 5+ years of professional experience in public health, epidemiology, demography, statistics or related field.
- You have at least 2 years of experience managing people, budgets and health projects. Experience managing other research staff will be preferred.
- You have extensive experience in the design, data collection, analysis, and dissemination of quantitative and qualitative research in low and middle-income countries.
- You have demonstrated expertise in applying major conceptual frameworks to the design and measurement of reproductive health interventions.
- Familiarity with statistical analysis software (Stata, R, SPSS, or SAS); preference for individuals with proficiency in Stata
- You have experience in and are passionate about building research and data use capacity in an applied research setting.
- You are fluent in English and French.
- You have experience developing research proposals, data collection instruments, and workplans
- You have extensive familiarity with monitoring and evaluation systems and tools, including
- You have a solid understanding of human subjects protections in research.
- You have excellent written, verbal and inter-personal communication skills. Must be highly organized with strong attention to detail and thorough follow-through. Must be a leader and a do-er.
- References will be required.
- Must be authorized to work in the United States. B. PSI will not consider work visa sponsorship for this position.
What would get us excited?
International Field Experience. You have field experience in conducting family planning and reproductive health related research.
Technical Expertise: You have specific experience working on safe abortion related projects.
Strategic Thinker. You can see where the reproductive health field is going in the net 5-10 years and what implementation science and operations research is needed to be a thought leader in the field.
Successful Research Background. You have successfully completed/fielded research studies from start to finish and can work independently.
Creativity. You’re able to tackle questions and problems from a different angle and are flexible in your approach.
Strong Communicator: You communicate effectively with researchers and non-researchers along a variety of learning curves and needs.
STATUS
PSI is an Equal Opportunity Employer and encourages applications from qualified individuals regardless of actual or perceived race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, personal appearance, matriculation, political affiliation, family status or responsibilities, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, childbirth, related medical conditions or breastfeeding, genetic information, amnesty, veteran, special disabled veteran or uniform service member status or employment status.
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