Research Officer

Organization Name: Ministry of Health – Rwanda

Location: Kigali, Rwanda

Eligible Citizenship: Rwanda

Role Code: R05-Nat

Role Overview

The Research Officer will provide a wide range of advanced statistical expertise, guidance, and support to researchers, scientists, faculty, research teams, and managers engaged in research studies within the health sector. They will participate in the design, development, and reporting of research studies and clinical trials. The Research Officer will collect, analyze and interpret biological and health science data across multiple research entities in the Ministry of Health and respond to a broad range of complex statistical issues arising in a variety of clinical and health science research settings. They will collaborate with the M&E unit and other MOH departments to produce reports using databases such as DHIS2, electronic medical records, data warehouses, and demographic health surveys. The Research Officer will report to the Planning, M&E, and Health Financing Head of Department in the Ministry of Health (MOH).

Responsibilities

Data cleaning and analysis 

• Use a variety of advanced statistical software, methods, and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret research data in order to derive useful information for research; advise and assist in the development of inferences and conclusions, as appropriate

• Conduct epidemiological diseases data cleaning and variable coding

• Support day-to-day data analysis and cleaning in HMIS, EMR, DHS, and other health management information systems

• Apply new analyses to data from recent health sector evaluations

• Support the organization in the weekly data review meeting to maintain health data quality

Desk research 

• Review stakeholder requests of health data use in research projects

• Update documentation of recent health sector evaluation

• Review and summarize research relevant to health sector programs including but not limited to maternal and child health, TB, HIV, and malaria

• Work with the team to ensure that key learnings from the Health Strategic Plans evaluation are adopted

Planning and Design

• Plan and document computer data file structure; develop, program, manage, and maintain complex statistical databases; perform or supervise data entry

• Conduct situational analyses

• Draft research proposals with key performance indicators

• Plan or direct research studies related to life sciences

• Prepare statistical data for inclusion in reports

• Design surveys to assess health issues

• Design research studies in collaboration with physicians, life scientists, or other professionals

• Design or maintain databases of biological data

• Assist in the preparation of statistical related reports and other documentation linked to research, such as protocols, investigator brochures, scientific abstracts, peer-reviewed manuscripts, and responses to requests from regulatory agencies, local Institutional Review Boards, and other health authorities

• Monitoring and Evaluation

• Draw conclusions or make predictions based on data summaries or statistical analyses from HMIS and EMR systems

• Perform secondary analysis using DHS data

• Collect data through surveys

• Perform time series analyses to understand the impact of policy and other interventions

• Develop or use mathematical models to track changes in biological phenomena such as the spread of infectious diseases

• Review and analyze safety reporting, biomarker analyses and other aspects of clinical trial monitoring

• Review clinical or other medical research protocols and recommend appropriate statistical analyses

• Apply research or simulation results to extend biological theory or recommend new research projects

• Analyze clinical or survey data using statistical approaches such as longitudinal analysis, mixed effect modeling, logistic regression analyses, and model building techniques

• Conduct data triangulation using statistical software in order to identify consistency between indicators

Government representation

• Attend data review and planning meetings for all entities within MOH and its implementing partners and take charge of all recommendations

• Ensure the tools developed for M&E are complied with by health facilities and other relevant partners

• Support wider cross-government M&E work as required

Skills and Experience

Items indicated with an asterisk (*) are required

• Bachelor’s degree in biostatistics, epidemiology, public health, global health, mathematics or a related field*

• At least two years of experience working in health data management or a related field*

• Prior experience conducting analysis of health data for a research study*

• Experience writing academic papers or articles*

• Experience with statistical analytical software such as Stata, SPSS, R-Programming, or Eviews*

• Master’s degree or equivalent in biostatistics, epidemiology, public health, global health, mathematic or a related field

• Experience in data collection through observations, interviews, surveys, and/or biological samples to find the causes of sickness and disease

• Experience presenting research findings to health practitioners, policymakers, private organizations, and the public

• Experience developing policy briefs

• Working proficiency in Kinyarwanda and French

• Experience working with or in a government or public health context, ideally in Rwanda

• Knowledge of data management principles and regulatory requirements for clinical trials and medical research*

• Willingness to travel

• Ability to operate with minimal supervision and on tight deadlines

• Team player, results oriented, innovative, and committed to continuous learning

• Ability to use advanced analytics practices to delve deeper into trends and patterns in the data

• Ability to communicate technical solutions to non-technical people

• Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

• Strong attention to detail

• High problem-solving ability

• Strong communication and presentation skills

• Proactive and forward-thinking

About the Organization

The Ministry of Health provides and continually improves health services to the Rwandan population through the provision of preventive, curative, and rehabilitative healthcare, thereby contributing to the reduction of poverty and enhancing the general well-being of the population.

The monitoring and evaluation (M&E) unit was created in 2019 to improve monitoring and evaluation of health sector-related activities.

Role Function: Data Analysis / Statistics, Monitoring, and Evaluation / Quality Improvement, Research

Issue Area: Health System Strengthening, Healthcare Access, Primary Health Care

Stipend, Benefits, and Logistics

Click here to learn about the stipend, benefits, and logistics associated with the GHC fellowship.

Note: these vary depending on placement country and citizenship.