Consultant for Short-Term Technical Assistant

Position Title: Consultant for Short-Term Technical Assistant

Department/Program: WASH

Level: TBD

Reports to: Chief of Party with technical r/p to the Research Advisor

Based in: Addis Ababa

Required number: One

Duration of contract: Five months

Remuneration: As per organization pay scale plus other PSI/Ethiopia staff benefits.

Application Deadline: May 3, 2024 

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. We are a $560m enterprise based in Washington, DC, operating in the private and public sectors in more than 65 countries. 

Join us!

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. 

PSI/Ethiopia wants to reimagine healthcare, put the consumer at the center, and whenever possible, bring quality care to the front door.  We achieve health impact in Ethiopia by working with both government and private partners and harvesting technology innovation to bring quality care closer to communities, schools, and homes.   We empower consumers by including them in the design of healthcare solutions, offering them more healthcare choices, and helping them to have a voice in influencing national priorities.  We work with all market actors in the health system to understand their needs, designing and delivering solutions so that market systems can sustainably serve consumers for the long term, helping to support the Government of Ethiopia in achieving Universal Health Coverage.  

We are looking for a dynamic and result-oriented Consultancy of Short Term Technical Assistant with strong research review and dissemination, communication, partnership and facilitation skills for the WASH sector learning and dissemination engagement with universities and professional associations. He/she is responsible to provide support for the overall research review and dissemination activities PSI/E is implementing with the universities and professional associations.  

Sounds like you? Read on!

Your contribution: 

·      Review the overall research design and provide feedback to make for critical changes or adjustments, if need be (e.g., sampling, contextualization- say urban/rural, settled/ nomadic pastoralist, developed/marginalized communities, normal/ emergency times-if time and resources permit).

·      Review research reports and provide concrete feedback together with PSI WASH team, Research Advisor and the research reviewer team to help ensure the quality of the research reports (also providing feedback to help ascertain the research questions are adequately answered and conclusions and recommendations speak to the data and findings) 

·      Support the follow up and the training of data collectors and supervisors with universities and professional associations (e.g., reviewing draft data collection instruments, question-data collection technique match, triangulation, fulfilling administrative and or ethical requirements).

·      Support the follow up of the status and help PSI and the review team to ensure the quality of the research with universities and professional associations (following the data collection methods, tools/techniques, research questions v/s data collection questions, and data organization and analysis). This needs scheduling regular but flexible technical review meetings between assigned PSI staff and the short term technical assistant.

·      Attend regular meetings every month with the universities and professional associations to provide inputs to facilitate smooth and successful progress and delivery of the research activities across the chosen topics.

·      Support the Research Advisor to assure universities and professional associations are implementing the research according to the approved protocol and standard.

·      Support the PSI Research Advisor and the review team follow up and check the quality of data both in the field and office every week.

·      Attend the research progress on the regular TAG meetings with the view to make valuable contributions (reflections, advice, suggestions, etc.)

·      Assist the PSI Research Advisor and other concerned staff to organize consultative meetings with TAG and universities/professional associations.

·      Assist the PSI Research Advisor and other concerned staff to organize and lead two or three research results dissemination workshops.

·      Assist the PSI Research Advisor and other concerned staff to ensure that the research activities on the different topics are innovative, critical, developmental and informed by complexity theory and system thinking as much as possible.

·      Assist the PSI Research Advisor and other concerned staff to reduce the chance that the six research topics do not unnecessarily duplicate one another so that at the end research activities are eventually fewer than those carried out.

·      Assist the PSI Research Advisor and other concerned staff that research results do not merely recycle pre-existing knowledge and insights in the sector (need for cutting edge and thrilling findings though critical thinking and problem analysis for effective decision making). This however should not mean the research portfolios do not rely on pre-existing knowledge but when these do, there is a need for looking them from new analytic outlooks and repacking them anew to result in fresh understanding and perspectives)

·      Provide advice and technical assistance to the PSI Research Advisor and other concerned staff on ways how to streamline the collaborating universities and professional associations with the aim of having these institutions serve as hub of knowledge generation, learning and sharing for WASH and MBS delivery and expansion during and beyond the termination of the contracts of this research portfolio.

·      Provide advice and technical assistance to the PSI Research Advisor and other concerned staff to track, document and assess the viability of the new partnership model, also making some course corrections, if need be, and making recommendations to adjust the modality for phase II intervention and beyond.

·      Provide advice and technical assistance that research recommendations are of priority importance and prioritized and actor informed, time and place sensitive, reasonably acceptable and implementable and not mere listing of activities and good intentions 

·      Provide technical support to develop research results dissemination plan (media, format, dissemination strategy) through different innovative and mixed platforms that may go beyond the research project period, including workshops, policy briefs, OP-EDs, High Level Discussion Forums, radio programs, press releases, journal articles, especial journal edition, edited book volumes, visual/audio abstracts etc through the collaborating universalities and professional associations.      

·      Help develop a simple strategy to sense, measure or evaluate the impact of the research results decimation work after the project period.      

Your Background

Qualification and Experience:

·      PhD or master’s degree in public health, epidemiology, demography, anthropology, sociology, statistics, and other related fields with a good understanding of the WASH sector.

·      Minimum of ten years experience in research and research review preferably in the WASH sector. 

What would get us excited? 

·      Previous experience in research, research review and dissemination

·      Previous experience in working with universities and professional associations.

·      Able to work independently while being a strong team player.

·      Demonstrated ability to communicate, assume leadership, and make rational decisions.

·      Ability to perform multiple tasks and adhere to deadlines.

·      Excellent knowledge about the Ethiopian WASH sector