The Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) is a world-leading institute in global health with a particular focus on low- and middle-income countries. Associated with the University of Basel, Swiss TPH combines research, services, and education and training at the local, national and international level. Over 800 people from more than 70 nations work at Swiss TPH focusing on infectious and non-communicable diseases, environment, society and health as well as health systems and interventions. We are looking for a

Public Health Project Associate
Swiss TPH Kigali Office

1. Key Responsibilities:

With a strong experience in experience in sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and nutrition; the project associate will provide technical support and expertise to implementation and research project; current projects focus on sexual and reproductive health, child health, and nutrition portfolio of the Swiss TPH Kigali office.

• Provide technical and administrative support to the SRH, child health and nutrition projects of the Kigali office.
• Participate in project activities including training, materials development, translation, and finalization.
• Support project management, coordination of activities, logistics and planning
• Support research activities including protocol development or amendment, recruitment and training of enumerator teams, data collection, coordination and supervision (as needed) in the field on behalf of the project coordinator.
• Support data cleaning, analysis and quality assurance. Support report writing. Quantitative and qualitative research analysis skills an asset.
• Participate in meetings with UN, donor and government stakeholders in order to advance and improve implementation of the projects.
• Assist in the dissemination of research findings.
• Support in the acquisition of new mandates in Rwanda, in the Great Lakes region and beyond as necessary.
• Other administrative support work on request.

Internal and external relations

• The position is situated the Kigali Office of Swiss TPH/SCIH; frequent travel to the Western region can be required
• The jobholder is directly answering to the aforementioned supervisors
• The jobholder interacts with other units within SCIH and other Swiss TPH departments, experts and local (country level) SCIH representatives
• In consultation with the supervisor, the jobholder interacts with partners and clients of SCIH, namely UNFPA, SDC, the Ministries of Health and local partners
• The jobholder interacts with other institutions and organizations with which Swiss TPH collaborates
• Attends external events in consultation with supervisor
• Recognizes and refers potential conflicts in a timely manner

Guidelines

• Manual for Employees
• SCIH handbook for collaborators
• Swiss TPH Strategy 2021-2024; SCIH Strategy / Business plan 2021-2025
• Direct discussions with persons in charge of main tasks

Minimum requirements for current position

• Advanced university degree in public health or related health field; experience in adolescent health, SRH or nutrition is an important asset
• At least 3-5 years of experience working on national and internationally funded public health implementation and or research projects
• Demonstrated experience working with a project team in the field; experience and comfort with community based research and implementation activities an asset.
• Ability to work independently and take responsibility for a task to completion
• Ability to communicate and write well in English. Speaking and writing in French is an asset.
• The project have a dual location in the Western region, and Kigali. Willingness to travel internally within Rwanda for extended period is required.

Professional competencies

• Demonstrated integrity, competence, and commitment to the vision, mission and goals of Swiss TPH
• Strong spirit of team work and initiative, and ability to work with professionals in multi-cultural context
• Commitment to results-based management and reporting
• Proven networking, team-building, organizational and communication skills
• Computer skills including Word, Excel, PowerPoint. Experience with analysis software such as Stata, SPSS, Nvivo and Atlas TI (or other qualitative analysis software), and survey software such as Survey Monkey, RedCap or Qualtrics an asset.
• Language skills: the candidate has to be fluent in English, and Kinyarwanda. French would be an asset

Soft Skills

Constantly works towards the following ideals:

2.1 Social Competence

• Contributes own potential into a group for a common goal without aspiring dominance
• Builds and maintains good relationships within the team, clients and supervisor
• Handles different opinions, points of view and perceptions in a constructive way
• Focuses on the needs of the clients and staff
• Communicates constructively and frankly without being offending
• Maintains appropriate discretion
• Listens actively and even learns by listening to others

2.2 Self Competence

• Is reliable in every sense to perform all tasks constantly, diligently and precisely
• Has the courage to take risks; assumes responsibility, thinks critically, and manages difficult decisions based on one’s own best sense of what should be done (is not only guided by orders and guidelines)
• Makes use of all opportunities given, and shows initiative
• Copes easily and effectively with new and/or unfamiliar situations
• Ability to cope with pressure and incertitude
• Can cope with failures
• Ready to take responsibility even with difficult tasks and able to complete these tasks successfully with drive and aptitude
• Actively searches for new ideas in order to improve processes/quality of results
• Uses feedback in a constructive way and is capable of self-criticism
• Committed to higher ranking objectives and interests without thinking about individual goals

Swiss TPH an equal opportunity employer committed to excellence through diversity.