Research Manager (Madagascar) / Post Doctoral Research Fellow (Harvard Medical School)

Title: Research Manager/Post Doctoral Research Fellow
Reports to: Research Advisor/National Director
Location: Ranomafana, Madagascar
Percentage Effort: Full-time
Key Words: Global health, implementation research, epidemiology, capacity building
Start Date: June 1^st, 2018
Expected Commitment: Minimum of 2 years

Organizational Profile

PIVOT (www.pivotworks.org) is a global health care NGO guided by the principle that all people have intrinsic worth and deserve to live healthy and productive lives. As a social justice organization working in a setting of extreme poverty and disease, our core objective is to address social inequity by advancing universal access to quality healthcare, while creating a health care system that can serve as a model for the country of Madagascar. Since 2014, we have partnered with the government of Madagascar to strengthen the health system and create a model health district in Ifanadiana district, adjacent to Ranomafana National Park and 11 hours from the capital. The district has a catchment area of 200,000 people, more than 75 percent of whom live in extreme poverty. PIVOT collaborates directly with the Madagascar Ministry of Health (MoH) to strengthen a district hospital, 20 health centers, and community health programs. Our model is advanced across three major components: 1) horizontal readiness (e.g. infrastructure, supply chain, personnel), 2) vertically integrated clinical programs (e.g. maternal and child health, malnutrition, tuberculosis), and 3) data systems and research. Currently PIVOT is a 180-person organization with 6 international staff in Madagascar, and a United States-based headquarters.

We see the research space in which we work as a unique “crucible” for science and innovation in an ecologically important environment with a distinctive constellation of academic partners working in a broad range of scientific disciplines. We promote implementation research of interest to the MoH that can inform health programs or produce lessons for replicating and scaling-up of the model. We also support scientific research on underlying social, economic, and environmental drivers of disease. As a data-driven organization, PIVOT counts as its data flagship an ongoing longitudinal cohort study to track the population-level effects of our intervention. In addition, our Monitoring and Evaluation team tracks key indicators of every program implemented by PIVOT over time on a regular basis. This provides an opportunity to evaluate programs and address scientific questions with an unprecedented level of detail for a non-governmental health systems organization.

Position Overview

The research manager will work closely with PIVOT’s leadership to launch and coordinate implementation science initiatives to evaluate PIVOT clinical programs and health systems initiatives (including quality of care, data improvement, and universal health coverage). S/he will also serve as the central coordinator for PIVOT’s local and international research partnerships. This person will work to build both internal organizational and national capacity for conducting field-based public health research in Madagascar. He/she will be expected to organize trainings, provide frequent mentorship to Malagasy students and work closely with PIVOT Managers to help them evaluate their programs. 

PIVOT’s research vision is shaped in partnership with the site by co-founder and current co-CEO Dr. Matt Bonds, an economist-ecologist and Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School who studies the role of health care and health systems in breaking cycles of poverty and disease (www.bondslab.com). For this reason, the position will be combined with a joint postdoctoral fellowship appointment in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. The successful candidate can expect rigorous mentorship by both the onsite research advisor and Dr. Bonds. In addition to leading PIVOT’s implementation science agenda, there will be ample space for the candidate to pursue research projects of interest to his/her career development.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate research projects, including data collection and project management. Create systems and infrastructure for supporting long- and short-term operational and scientific research initiatives and partnerships.
  
• With the PIVOT team and partners, identify opportunities and topics for new operational and clinical research projects. This includes support for the M&E team in the selection of key indicators to be used for program evaluation, collection of additional data for research purposes, as well as data analysis and dissemination of results through policy channels and international scientific journals.
  
• Elaborate Annual Plan for research in harmony with PIVOT’s work planning processes.
  
• Manage and report on set pieces of the organization’s site-based research budget.
  
• Assist in the development of grant proposals to support PIVOT research/synergistic partnerships.
  
• Liaise with key partners at the Ministry of Health, Institute of Statistics, national universities and other Malagasy institutions, as well as international research partners.
  
• Spearhead internal capacity building for research, engaging with staff to provide close mentorship in the execution of research, from study design through to publication.
  

Qualifications and Competencies

• Master’s degree in epidemiology, biostatistics or other public health related field; PhD preferred.
• At least 2 years of experience living and working in a resource-poor, international setting.
• Demonstrated track record in operational research or field epidemiology, including study design, data collection, analysis, and publication.
• Experience in mentorship and capacity building.
• French and English language proficiency (reading, writing and conversing) required.
  
• Malagasy language ability an extraordinary asset, as is experience in Madagascar or working with the Malagasy public health system.
  
• Commitment to living and working in rural Madagascar.
  
• Flexibility and aptitude for managing projects across multiple domains. Beyond implementation and clinical research, PIVOT’s broad research vision requires a willingness to work with researchers across disciplines, methods, and approaches, including but not limited to: clinical infectious disease, epidemiology, economics, ecology, mathematics and statistical modeling, and GIS.
• Demonstrated commitment to global health and social justice. It is important that the Research Coordinator sees themselves as part of a social justice organization, believes strongly in the work we do, advocates on behalf of the patients we serve, and sees research and data as key to fulfilling our mission.
  

This is an excellent opportunity for a dynamic, driven and passionate individual to be part of an exciting global health organization that links access to quality health care to research in an ecologically important context.