February 10th, 2021 at 07:59 am
- Company: Cocoa360
- Location: Ghana
- State: Accra
- Job type: Full-Time
Job category: Administrative/Secretarial Jobs in Ghana
Are you an experienced researcher with a passion for global health equity? Do you have experience analyzing data sets, writing and publishing high quality manuscripts? If so, we have good news for you – be our Research Manager! Reporting to the Executive Director, and the Principal Investigators and working closely with the entire Cocoa360 team, you will have the opportunity to help us in leveraging evidence for scaled impact. Your technical expertise, growth mindset, high level of attention to detail, and clear communication skills will be critical to advancing the mission of Cocoa360 to achieve universal health coverage through our community-driven, and sustainable efforts in education and healthcare delivery. Given the pioneering nature of Cocoa360’s model, this is a unique opportunity for the candidate to pursue their passions for research and leadership, while engaging in the life-changing gift of working alongside rural communities in Ghana to improve healthcare and education. You will lead our field research efforts to test and finetune our farm-for-impact model in our quest to inform national and global efforts on the role that communities can play in helping to achieve universal healthcare and education.
About Cocoa360
Farming is the primary occupation of rural Ghanaians. As the world’s second leading exporter of cocoa, Ghana generates approximately $2 billion in cocoa revenue annually. Yet, the average cocoa farmer earns less than fifty cents a day. Cocoa farmers and their children are trapped in cycles of generational poverty. The problem is widespread: Ghana is home to 1.6 million farmers in over 1,300 cocoa-growing communities who are facing dire health inequities due to lack of access to education and medical care.
In response to these challenges, Cocoa360 was established in 2015 and operates in Tarkwa Breman, which is in rural Western Ghana. Cocoa360 pioneered a new model of development that leverages existing community resources to improve health and education outcomes for Ghana’s cocoa farmers and their families. The “farm-for-impact” model is simple yet impactful: in exchange for tuition-free education and subsidized healthcare, community members must work on a community-run cocoa farm. With Cocoa360’s guidance, community members apply the farm’s revenues toward improving health or educational outcomes in a tiered manner. In the tiered funding allocation approach, farm revenues are spent in a gradual approach based on community prioritization of needs such as books, uniforms, medications, among others. By addressing access to both education and medical services, two major social determinants of health, Cocoa360’s model seeks to increase community members’ overall health and well-being in their daily lives.
Responsibilities
- Work with internal teams and external stakeholders to determine key research questions to be investigated.
- Select appropriate research methodology, develop protocols, train data collectors, analyze results and publish in peer-reviewed journals.
- Analyze, clean, and manage data from systems assessments and population outcomes.
- Oversee the implementation, planning, and supervision of studies on four levels of the data pyramid (systems assessments, population outcomes, program Implementation, and quality Improvement).
- Work with program teams to ensure that program design is built upon evidence, global best practices and findings from research studies.
- Lead (in collaboration with Principal Investigators) global level dissemination activities through Community Health Collaborators, Peer-Reviewed Publications, and Conferences
- Co-author (with Principal Investigators) and publish 2-4 articles per year in a peer-reviewed journal. You will be responsible for ensuring early stage draft of papers are completed.
- Work with Monitoring, Evaluation and Quality Improvement team to ensure that key performance Indicators are accurate and adequately focused on output and outcome measures.
Preferred Skills and Experiences
- Masters in epidemiology, biostatistics or implementation science
- Experience managing research projects from protocol development through publication in low-income countries
- A track record of publishing in peer reviewed journals
- Excellent attention to detail and ability to produce high quality deliverables on or ahead of deadline
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (written and spoken), with demonstrated ability to earn respect of colleagues and partners from diverse backgrounds
- Minimum 2 years of experience in relevant field
- Must be committed to social justice and to the fundamental rights of the poor
- English fluency required; French fluency desired
HOW TO APPLY
Closing Date : 25 Feb. 2021
