Research Manager At Vital Strategies

Vital Strategies, headquartered in New York City, is an international public health organization. Our programs strengthen public health systems and address the world’s leading causes of illness, injury and death. We currently work in 73 countries, supporting data-driven decision making in government, advancing evidence-based public health policies and mounting strategic communication campaigns. Vital Strategies’ priorities are driven by the greatest potential to improve and save lives. They include non-communicable disease prevention, cardiovascular health promotion, tobacco control, road safety, obesity prevention, epidemic prevention, overdose prevention, environmental health, vital statistics systems building and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis treatment research. Our programs are primarily concentrated in low- and middle-income countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific; the Overdose Prevention Program is our first initiative in the U.S. Please visit our website at www.vitalstrategies.org to find out more about our work.

Vital Strategies offers highly competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits. Vital welcomes and supports a diverse, inclusive work environment. As such, our commitment is to promote equal employment opportunities (EEO) for all applicants seeking employment.

Job Purpose:

The Research Manager will be responsible for managing social and behavior change (SBC) and policy research and evaluation activities for the PAC division of Vital Strategies. Reporting to the Vice President, Global Policy and Research in the Policy, Advocacy and Communication division, the manager will work closely with global programs in tobacco control, food policy, road safety, among others, to coordinate global research activities, which may be implemented in multiple countries across continents, to ensure that the research is of high quality, standardized in approaches, and provides meaningful insights to programs that seek to improve health outcomes through policy change and social and behavior change.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Develop social and behavior change (SBC) research and evaluation protocols, using qualitative and quantitative research methods.
• Design research instruments, for qualitative and quantitative studies, with minimal supervision, including protocols, questionnaires, sampling plans, implementation plans.
• Conduct literature reviews and desk research.
• Oversee project implementation, liaising with agencies in programming countries to ensure the appropriate implementation of research plans, trouble shooting and maintaining frequent communication with all necessary staff to ensure implementation of projects of high quality.
• Maintain quantitative and qualitative datasets for ongoing projects and papers.
• Conduct analysis as directed, using multivariate statistical approaches.
• Maintain frequent communication with Vital Strategies colleagues, particularly campaign staff to ensure the relevance of the research.
• Prepare reports, presentations, and drafts of academic papers.
• Present findings to Vital Strategies staff and external partners.
• Liaise with external partners, particularly researchers in the field.

Qualifications:

Education and Degree –

• Master’s degree in international development, behavioral economics, sociology, or other related field.
• PhD is a plus.

Skills & Abilities –

• Strong communication skills, including demonstrated verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills, is necessary. Fluency in English and local language.
• Strong interest in social issues and/or public health.
• Must be detail oriented and highly organized.
• Flexibility, and ability to work in diverse, international teams.
• Self-starter with good follow-through and resourcefulness.
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team, self-directed, strong work ethic and adherence to deadlines.
• Knowledge of statistics and quantitative research methods, required: must be expert in using data analysis software like SPSS, STATA, NVivo or Atlas.

Experience:

Required –

• 7 to 10 years of experience in monitoring and evaluating social and behavior change campaigns; experience of USAID’s SBC approach is a plus.
• Experience managing research projects from start to finish.
• Experience conducting barrier analysis, gap analysis.
• Previous experience with or existing networks with Africa-based bi/multilateral institutions, public health institutes or universities.