The US Presidents Malaria Initiative (PMI) Impact Malaria project is PMI’s flagship global malaria service delivery project, helping to improve the quality and increase the delivery of malaria diagnosis and treatment services in up to 27 countries around the world. PMI Impact Malaria is a USAID contract hosted and led by PSI as the prime contractor.
PMI Impact Malaria works with national malaria control programs to help tackle these challenges by:
- Closing the gaps in malaria service delivery to get the right medicine, with the correct diagnosis, to patients in need, in the timeliest manner.
- Unlocking the potential of key drug-based approaches, by helping countries to introduce, implement, and scale-up proven innovations to move countries forward in their elimination efforts, according to each country’s unique malaria situation.
- Strengthening malaria health systems and the use of data for decision-making to link operational research and country-led dialogue with global technical leadership for the means of accelerating service delivery improvements and advancing key learnings.
The PMI Impact Malaria (IM) team is a results focused, multi-disciplined and multi-cultured team, based out of Washington DC, working through PSI country offices as well as through our partners Jhpiego, MCDI and UCSF.
We are looking for an Operational Research (OR) Program Manager to provide administrative, operational, financial and program management support on PMI Impact Malaria (IM) department. The OR Program Manager will lead on administrative and logistics support of IM’s operational research and will work with project staff and partners at all levels both in Washington and overseas. The position requires attention to detail, flexibility, ability to meet deadlines and ability to coordinate various stakeholders. This position is based in Washington, D.C. and reports to the Surveillance, Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor
The position will be part of the IM’s M&E/OR team supporting all OR activities across all countries and will be expected to interact regularly with the project field offices, as well as other departments in. The ideal candidate is someone who will pro-actively plans an coordinates various aspects of operational research activities, can juggle multiple, competing priorities, and will enthusiastically ensure smooth and timely flow of work.
- Manage the administrative and logistical support of IM operational research (OR) and therapeutic efficacy study (TES) activities, including program management and backstopping duties, in close collaboration with IM Surveillance, Monitoring, and Evaluation (SME) Advisor and Principal Investigators, co-investigators, collaborators and research staff of partner organizations, local subcontractors, and funding agencies, as well as in-country study managers,
- Responsible for coordinating, shepherding, and tracking protocol development and finalization, in close collaboration with IM Surveillance, Monitoring, and Evaluation (SME) Advisor and Principal Investigators, co-investigators, collaborators and research staff of partner organizations, local subcontractors, and funding agencies.
- Responsible for tracking IRB submissions led by partner organizations that are required for study approvals
- Responsible for drafting scopes of work with inputs from IM technical leads, IM SME Advisor, IM stakeholders and IM subcontractors.
- Responsible for coordination, oversight, and review of IM OR and TES budget preparation by IM subcontractors.
- Responsible for monitoring progress, work, and deliverables of local implementing subcontractors from backstopping perspective, working with local IM managers on the ground and IM HQ Compliance Manager.
- Responsible for attending all OR and TES related meetings and keeping IM technical leads and IM SME informed and updated.
- Complete contractual paperwork for OR and TES as requested of IM and under the guidance of IM HQ Compliance Manager.
- Working with IM SME Advisor, IM M&E Officers and Data Analyst to prepare and analyze data generated from IM OR and TES studies.
- Coordinate the development and review of post-OR and TES outputs, such as briefs, reports and other documents as required.
The candidate we hire will embody PSI’s corporate values:
- Collaboration: You can work independently, but thrive within a team.
- Trust: You trust that your manager and team will have your back and care deeply about gaining that same trust from your teammates
- Pragmatism: You dive in and maintain momentum even when things are ambiguous and you don’t let perfect get in the way of good enough.
- Honesty: You aren’t afraid to speak up and speak your mind.
- Measurement: You set clear and challenging goals and hold yourself accountable to driving measurable results.
- Commitment: You’re independent and a free thinker, but you’re ready to buy in to the direction of the team and commit to its success.
The basics
- Graduate degree
- Demonstrated 5 years’ experience of conducting epidemiological studies in developing countries, based in the field, preferably with malaria or other infectious diseases.
- Exceptional organizational and program management skills; attention to detail
- Experience with designing, managing, and/or leading operational research studies, especially those with multiple partners
- Experience with budgeting for research studies
- Intermediate to Advanced skills in Excel
- Strong ability to work with and build consensus with various stakeholders to produce outputs.
- Adept at managing multiple, competing priorities and sorting through complex problems.
- Ability to work independently (a self-starter who takes initiative) as well as part of a team.
- Comfortable with matrix management.
- French language skills highly desirable.
- References will be required.
- Must be authorized to work in the United States. N.B. PSI will not consider work visa sponsorship for this position.
- The successful candidate will be required to pass a background check.
What would get us excited?
- Can hit the ground running: You have substantial hands-on experience in operational management of health research studies. You are networked in the sector and may even have networks within PSI that you will be able to harness once you start.
- Pragmatic: You understand both the realities of the field and the donor-implementer relationship. You can find practical, cost-effective and creative solutions to the challenges.
- Passionate: You have an intrinsic motivation to work in this sector and want your career to count for something. You are excited about the contribution the project can make to the field.
- Balanced: You are confident in your own abilities and know that if this works out well it will lead to other opportunities. But you are humble and self-aware enough to admit your mistakes and reach out to others for support.