About the job

JOB POSTING: Senior Research Associate

Project: Developing an educational intervention for parents to promote preschool child safety in Nepal (Published 20th June 2024) 

We are hiring a Senior Research Associate (18 months from – 1st August 2024)

Background:

This study aims to develop an intervention to improve the knowledge and skills of parents in rural Nepal to reduce injury hazards in and around their homes. To explore the social, cultural and health education systems that influence how parents make decisions about safety, we will work with families and stakeholders who are interested in child health and development to co-produce the intervention. 

A senior research associate (SRA) post is available for the project. The SRA will guide and work with a research associate (RA) during the data collection phase of the project and will be involved in the collection, management and analysis of data for the “Developing an educational intervention for parents to promote preschool child safety in Nepal” project. 

The project supports the development of early career researchers in Nepal, by providing them with opportunities to deliver research and participate in training and educational activities. Successful candidates will be based in the Nepal Injury Research Centre (NIRC) with injury prevention researchers working on other projects, and have the opportunity to learn with, and from, each other. 

This project will be conducted in Sunkoshi rural municipality, Sindhupalchok district, to develop an intervention ready for testing in a trial and suitable for taking to scale should it be successful in improving child safety. The main objectives of project are to: 

• Co-produce a theory of change for the proposed intervention that incorporates underlying assumptions, barriers and facilitators, and the role of context. 
• Co-produce an educational intervention that supports parents in rural Nepal to identify and reduce the number of home injury hazards for preschool children. 
• Test the feasibility of delivering the intervention and prepare a protocol for a pilot and main trial. 

Co-production will involve potential recipients (parents of children <5 years), deliverers (FCHVs), and local decision-makers (municipality authority), and will be supported by a community stakeholder advisory group, thereby maximising the potential that the intervention will be perceived as relevant and desirable at a local level.

Roles and responsibilities for the SRA:

• Develops intervention design, delivery methods, and intervention evaluation with support.
• Develops a research plan and coordinates with stakeholders for research field activities.
• Develops ethics applications and plans for data collection, data management, and data analysis.
• Conducts a systematic review of qualitative studies with support and guidance.
• Is available and willing to visit and stay overnight on occasions in Sunkoshi Rural Municipality for research activities.
• Conducts various meetings with FCHVs, mother’s groups, and other stakeholders.
• Conducts interviews, surveys, focus groups, and workshops as part of data collection.
• Manages data, analyses data, and writes up research for interim reports and publications.
• Assists the research team in identifying and evaluating relevant policy documents.
• Translates documents from Nepali into English when no translation is available and translates study documents from English into Nepali when necessary.
• Assists transcribers and verifies the transcribed interviews and focus group transcripts.
• Willing to be involved in relevant NIRC injury prevention studies beneficial to the SRA.

Skills & qualifications required:

• Interest in the research topic of the project (childhood home injury prevention).
• Excellent in both written and spoken Nepali and English.
• Master’s degree in a relevant subject e.g. health sciences, public health, social sciences.
• Reliable and efficient in work.
• Excellent interpersonal communication and social skills.
• Good basic computer skills.
• Ability to run meetings, workshops, and research studies, and to take initiative where appropriate.
• Able to organize workload to meet the needs of the project and to prioritize work, with support where required.
• Able to write reports of research and to contribute to outputs, publications, and presentations from the project.
• Ability to work alone as well as in a team.
• Actively participates as a member of the project and the NIRC team.
• Had some experience in community-based study, including project management, data collection, and analysis.

About the job posting:

The SRA will be based in the NIRC which was established through a partnership between Kathmandu Medical College (KMC) and the University of the West of England, Bristol (UWE). The study is funded by Medical Research Council (MRC), UK. The SRA will work in coordination with the research team from both Nepal and the UK under the supervision of a principal investigator and programme directors. The post is full time.

Duty station:

Nepal Injury Research Centre,

Kathmandu Medical College (KMC),

Duwakot, Bhaktapur, Nepal.

https://nirc.org.np 

Duration:

18-month fixed-term position starting from 1st August 2024.

Remuneration:

The salary of the candidate will be as per NIRC rules. Government rules apply.

Application procedure:

Applications are invited from a range of relevant disciplines. Interested candidates are requested to send a letter of interest stating ways in which they meet the skills and qualifications required for the post, along with their curriculum vitae (CV) by email to Prof. Dr. Sunil Kumar Joshi at: [email protected] and Dr Santosh Bhatta at: [email protected] by 5th July 2024 (Subject: Application for Senior Research Associate – Preschool child safety study). Late applications will not be accepted. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview.