HIV SENIOR RESEARCHER

TITLE:  HIV SENIOR RESEARCHER/PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

DEPARTMENT:  HIV DEPARTMENT

DATE: MAY 2008

Population Services International (PSI) is a non-profit public health organization, operating in more than 60 low and middle income countries.  PSI creates demand for essential health products and services using public and private sector techniques and innovative communications campaigns. On the supply side, PSI works with the commercial, non-profit and public sectors to increase access to these products and services to low income and vulnerable populations. With a strong orientation towards measurable health impact, PSI provides and promotes products and services for malaria control, family planning, maternal and child health, and the prevention of AIDS and other diseases.

PSI provides HIV prevention products, services and communications in numerous countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America.  Products include social marketed and free male and female condoms, STI treatment kits, lubricant and a basic care prevention package for HIV positives. Services include HIV counseling & testing, STI diagnosis & treatment, male circumcision, post-test support services, and family planning for HIV positives.  Communications range from branded product and service delivery franchise promotion to non-branded sexual risk communications on concurrent sexual partnerships, cross-generational sex and reduction of stigma and discrimination.

PSI‘s HIV Department, based in Washington, DC, provides technical assistance to country programs and their host governments, on a range of HIV prevention issues including implementing national scale condom promotion programs, HIV counselling and testing programs and communications campaigns to reduce HIV risk behaviours in the community. Each PSI country program has a research department with technical capacity and experience to carry out large scale qualitative and quantitative research, monitoring and evaluation with support from regional researchers and a global Research & Metrics Department. For more information, please visit: www.psi.org and www.psi.org/hiv and www.psi.org/research.

PSI Research & Metrics seeks an HIV Senior Researcher/Principal Investigator to be seconded to the HIV Department based in Washington, DC or possibly in a mutually agreed location in Africa. The HIV Senior Researcher/Principal Investigator will support PSI research relating to HIV interventions, either that conducted directly, via other PSI researchers, or through outside agencies.  The goal and purpose of the position is to increase the use of epidemiological and programmatic evidence in HIV prevention decision making at field and international levels using quantitative and qualitative research strategies relevant to intervention development, monitoring and evaluation.  Ultimately, our aim is to produce an ongoing systematic review of programmatic effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and equity of PSI’s HIV prevention interventions, and the determinants of HIV risk behaviors to guide communications and service delivery development. The position will require extensive travel (about 30% of time) and reports to the HIV Director and the Vice President, Research & Metrics.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provide country programmes with technical assistance, supervision and quality assurance in developing logical frameworks, study designs, and questionnaires;
• Develop and apply qualitative techniques to develop multi-item scales and intervention concepts and to pre-test communications;
• Support the measurement of quality of care through providers. Design and monitor management information systems aimed at measuring service provision and measurement of the market for HIV prevention products and services using geographic information systems and other techniques to measure service delivery coverage and quality;
• Estimate programmatic effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and equity of HIV prevention interventions using repeated cross sectional, control group, and experimental designs;
• Provide capacity building support to research teams at regional and country platform level;
• Improve the measurement of the determinants of HIV risk behaviors, using multi-item latent variables and exposure to relevant intervention components;
• Identify, document and disseminate best practices and minimum standards via the Research Toolkit program, providing technical assistance in study design, analysis, stakeholder reporting, use of evidence for intervention and program decision making, presenting evidence at conferences and through www.psi.org/research and www.psi.org/hiv publishing results in peer reviewed journals and other media;
• Increase the capacity of PSI HIV research through formal training and the production of statements of best practice relating to study design, analysis and use of evidence;
• Provide technical assistance to PSI stakeholders as requested; and
• Raise funds for research.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:  MSc. or PhD in public health, behavioral sciences, population studies, psychology, communication, or a related field plus 5+ years of professional experience in the following areas:

• Design, analysis, dissemination, and management of behavioral research pertaining to public health interventions in developing countries;
• Management of multiple studies and teams in different countries;
• Design and implementation of operations research and population-based surveys; and
• Specific methodologies and analyses which may include: behavioral studies, multivariate analysis, structural equation modeling, GIS, tracking surveys, mapping studies, multi-item scaling.

The successful candidate will have a record of achievement in:

• Research relating to populations and service delivery systems;
• Metrics development using management information systems;
• The use of monitoring and evaluation information for decision making;
• HIV epidemiology; and
• Program and project management.

The successful candidate will also have:

• Extensive knowledge of a statistical analysis program (SPSS, STATA or SAS);
• Experience designing different types of qualitative studies and analyzing qualitative data (in Ethnograph, Atlas TI, or similar program);
• Ability to train, manage, and develop capacity with country-level staff;
• Strong analysis and written and verbal communication skills;
• Ability to work with  decision makers to generate actionable research;
• Excellent interpersonal skills; and
• Proficiency in French, Spanish and/or Portuguese is desirable.

Preference will be given to candidates with work experience in low and middle income countries, knowledge of public health issues and social marketing products and familiarity with the international donor development community (USAID, DFID, KFW, etc.).

Please apply online at www.psi.org.  No calls or emails please. Closing date: June 30, 2008

PSI is an Equal Opportunity Employer and encourages applications from qualified individuals regardless of race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation or disability.