TITLE: Director of Strategic Information and Research

LOCATION: Nairobi, Kenya with travel

POSITION SUMMARY:         

ICAP at Columbia University (CU) works with the Government of Kenya and other in-country partners to strengthen and scale up comprehensive HIV prevention, care and treatment programs in Kenya.  ICAP is seeking a Director of Strategic Information (SI) and Research for Kenya who will direct and coordinate all routine monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and research activities within ICAP Kenya.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Overall coordination of ICAP-Kenya  routine M&E activities across programmatic areas,  including HIV care and treatment, PMTCT, TB/HIV, counseling and testing programs, palliative care, cervical cancer, prevention in care and treatment settings, and adherence support.  This includes strengthening paper-based and electronic M&E tools at all levels (facility, district, and national), developing and implementing data management and quality assurance procedures at all levels, ensuring timely and efficient flow of data from facility to regional office to central office and to the ICAP/CU-New York SI Unit, and strengthening data analysis and regular feedback to the technical and leadership team and the ICAP regional teams and sites.
• Provide technical direction for and supervise the SI team in the Nairobi office, and co-supervise SI staff at regional office to implement routine M&E activities, which will include developing and revising M&E plan(s) and staff workplans, and ensuring adequate allocation of resources for facilities and regional offices.
• Lead efforts to build capacity of provincial, district, and facility teams to improve national M&E systems including the national DHIS, using data for program improvement and timeliness of reporting.
• Oversee adaptation and implementation of DHIS as ICAP’s internal aggregate database.  This includes ensuring all M&E staff are trained to use the system; overseeing database customization, data entry, quality assurance and development of useful outputs from the database including charts, graphs and pivot tables.
• Ensure all ICAP reporting obligations are fulfilled, including the generation of semi annual and annual progress reports, training reports and other reports as assigned.
• Generate and track ICAP-Kenya targets for facilities and regions.
• Perform data analysis and presentation for presentations and reports and coordinate the writing of abstracts and scientific papers
• Manage all ICAP research activities including developing concept sheets and proposals for new research projects, developing protocols and data collection instruments; project tracking; hiring and training of research staff including study coordinators, interviewers, and data entry clerks; obtaining CU, local and other ethical approvals; developing analysis plans, and as appropriate, conducting analyses and drafting publications
• Routine communications with key stakeholders, such as Ministries of Health, CDC, USAID and other implementing partners on M&E related issues.
• Represent ICAP/CU-Kenya in national and international for meetings related to monitoring and evaluation

EDUCATION:

• Masters level degree in public health, (epidemiology, biostatistics, health services, maternal and child health) or any other relevant social science required (PhD/MD preferred).

EXPERIENCE, SKILLS & MINIMUM REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• At least 5 years professional experience planning, evaluating and implementing health programs, HIV program and research activities.
• Program development, project management and research experience.
• Field-oriented and comfortable with a team approach to program implementation and able to manage multiple major activities simultaneously.
• High-level computer skills, including ability to rapidly process and analyze data using MS Excel and statistical packages
• Leadership and management skills
• Proven communication and negotiation skills

EXPERIENCE, SKILLS & PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Medical degree an advantage
• Excellent writing skills and communication abilities in both English and Swahili
• High-level computer skills, including ability to rapidly process and analyze data using a standard statistical package.
• Advanced knowledge of electronic medical records systems and deployment of database systems for patient monitoring.

Note:  This is a local hire position and the successful candidate will be an employee of ICAP-Kenya and subject to the local terms and conditions of employment which includes a competitive salary and benefits package.

Applicants should send their application letter and CV by email with a subject title ‘Director of SI and Research’ to icap-jobs-kenya@columbia.edu. Please do not attach any certificates when submitting on line. Only short listed applicants will be contacted. Please do not attach any certificates when submitting on line.

Columbia University is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. It does not discriminate against employees or applicants for employment on the basis of race, color, sex, gender, religion, creed, national and ethnic origin, age, citizenship, status as a perceived or actual victim of domestic violence, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, status as a Vietnam era or disabled veteran, or any other legally protected status.