Research Officer

VACANCY

JOB TITLE: Research Officer

POSITION SUMMARY:

Location:                      Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City
Employment Type:         Fulltime (100% FTE)
Duration:                      01 year (extension to be based on performance and availability of funds)
Travel requirements:      Frequent travel to districts within Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City

BACKGROUND:

This position will work for community programs of two sister-organizations who have registration in Viet Nam: IRD VN and Friends for International TB Relief (FIT)

IRD VN is a locally registered social enterprise with the mission of improving public health by alleviating the societal and individual burden caused by infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases. IRD VN works on the endTB and endTB-Q projects which have introduced and evaluated delamanid- and bedaquiline-based regimens for treatment of MDR-TB in Viet Nam. In addition, IRD VN has been implementing mobile chest X-ray screening campaigns in key populations, such as the elderly and isolated island communities. For more information please refer to our website: https://ird.vn/

FIT VN is a registered non-profit organization working in the field of tuberculosis (TB) prevention and care, service delivery, research, technical assistance and advocacy. FIT is a young, dynamic and growing organization. FIT now has office-based staff working across five cities in Viet Nam. We work in close collaboration with Provincial and National TB Programs and other in-country partners to implement projects funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program, the Stop TB Partnership’s TB REACH initiative, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNITAID and Johnson & Johnson. We have also had multiple active research partnerships, including with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK, the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, the KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation in the Netherlands, and Ceres Nanosciences and SureAdhere Mobile Technology in the United States. FIT staff have supported the implementation of other TB programs in South and Southeast Asia and represented Viet Nam at multiple regional and international forums on TB technical assistance. Finally, FIT was chosen to represent civil society organizations from Viet Nam at regional events and at multiple events in the lead up to and during the United Nations High Level Meeting on TB in New York City.

In collaboration with the National TB Control Program (NTP), FIT is helping to build a comprehensive Search-Treat-Prevent TB program across five cities in Viet Nam (Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong , Hoi An, Can Tho) and several island and remote communities. In the short term, we are aiming to 1) increase TB detection and treatment in key populations, such as household contacts, children and people visiting private healthcare providers; 2) provide social support and adherence monitoring options to improve TB treatment outcomes; and 3) scale up TB infection screening and treatment services. We hope these efforts will lead to declines in Viet Nam’s TB burden over the medium and long term.

Our organization is growing quickly, and we are searching for a highly qualified, independent, experienced and motivated Research Officer to support our project activities. For additional information please refer to our website: www.tbhelp.org

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

Main activities

• Engage with relevant stakeholders at the Community to provincial levels, study participants and contacts.
• Solicit support from local stakeholders to recruit and train community health workers (CHW) in the wards in which study participants reside for treatment and follow up support throughout the course of the study.
• Follow-up and manage the screening activity for all participants eligible with the study inclusion criteria.
• Obtain first-level consent from eligible candidates prior to referring to provincial Lung Hospital and National Lung Hospital.
• Monitor pre-/screening, testing procedures and referral of participants from community level to provincial Lung Hospital and National Lung Hospital
• Support to schedule follow-up visits for study participants and remind them to visit physically at sites prior to the day visit.
• Support to conduct remote contacts with study participants to access TB symptoms/signs via phone call, text, or application or web-based computer apps.
• Coordinate with health care workers at all levels to ensure follow up visits will be conducted within the window visits.
• Monitor all study activities to ensure minimal protocol deviation.
• Support treatment follow-up and missed visits should be notified within 24 hours to DTU study and site coordinator.
• Update all the study data into the data management software systems.
• Weekly and monthly report as required.
• Support other work as required by the study and site coordinator.

JOB REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor’s degree in a field related to health, epidemiology, development, or management is required
• At least 2 years’ experience in working in non-profit organizations, preferably for health-related programs/projects
• Experience effectively engaging with government health entities
• Experience engaging with community healthcare workers
• Experience managing vaccine studies
• Strong organizational and work prioritization skills, attention to detail
• Strong verbal and written communications skills
• Good attitude, self-motivated, and ability to work well individually as well as in teams
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office software
• Fluency in Vietnamese is required
• Some knowledge of English is preferred, but not required

APPLICATIONS SHOULD INCLUDE:

• A cover letter
• A detailed Curriculum Vitae
• At least two employment references (Name, Phone Number, Email Address)
• All applicants are requested to highlight their experience managing and motivating teams of people either in their CV and cover letter.

SUBMIT AN APPLICATION:

• By e-mail to [email protected]
• Subject: “Application for Research Officer_[City - HN or HCMC]”
• No later than 31 Dec 2021

Compensation and the final position grade will be commensurate with experience. Full benefits will be included in the compensation package. All applications will be carefully considered, but only short-listed applicants will be contacted and interviewed. If you do not hear from us within 21 days of the closing date, this will mean that your application has been unsuccessful.

FIT and IRD VN are equal opportunity employers.