Translators - English to Kiswahili, Kalenjin & Dholuo at University Research Co (URC)

Position ID: 12/20/2016; FY2016. Translators

Hours: Consultant, part time; Eligible for Overtime (total 17 days with possible extension, if required)

Location: The job does not require physical presence at USAID ASSIST Kenya Office

Salary: Commensurate with required experience and qualifications

Reports to: Senior QI Advisor, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child Health (RMNCH) and Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) technical Unit and Chief of Party of USAID ASSIST Project in Kenya

University Research Co. LLC (URC): URC is a global company dedicated to improving the quality of health care, social services, and health education worldwide.

With a non-profit affiliate, the Center for Human Services (CHS), URC manages projects in over 45 countries, including the United States.

Established in 1965, URC offers a range of technical assistance to strengthen health and social systems and service quality by empowering communities and health workers to identify and scale up locally appropriate solutions to critical problems.

Internationally, we expand access to and improve the quality of services addressing maternal, newborn, and child health; infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria; reproductive health and family planning; food and nutrition; and vulnerable children and families.

In the US, we focus on improving communication related to issues like substance abuse, with a particular focus on reaching underserved populations.

URC’s mission is to provide innovative, evidence-based solutions to health and social challenges worldwide. Please join us in carrying out our mission (http://www.urc-chs.com/).

Division & Project Overview: The USAID Applying Science to Strengthen and Improve Systems (ASSIST) Project is a new project dedicated to improving health, population and nutrition services through technical support to service delivery institutions, country Ministries of Health, USAID country missions, and cooperating agencies.

The new project carries on the work of the USAID Health Care Improvement Project (http://www.hciproject.org) in global advocacy, development, and promotion of cost-effective methods to design and improve health care services and systems in low- and middle-income countries.

An important global objective of the ASSIST Project is knowledge management: to facilitate documentation and sharing of evidence for improvement of specific care processes, based on the work of individual QI teams, large-scale improvement efforts, and/or research, and to make this information readily available through Web technology.

The ASSIST Project is managed by URC’s Quality and Performance Institute (QPI). Through QPI, URC has implemented quality improvement and operations research programs in health care since 1981 and continues to be at the cutting edge of health care improvement work in countries around the world.

ASSIST project is tasked to develop universal survey tool and assess the quality of care in Malawi, Kenya, Uganda and Burma.

The universal survey tool, that will be developed in partnership with WHO, will enable to generate comparable evidence on quality of RMNCH+A care in EPCMD countries.

The assessment will be also helpful to support prioritization for addressing quality gaps and informing future programming (national/donor) in selected countries.

 Scope of Work: Translate consent forms for client interviews for RMNCH+A assessment in Kenya from English into Kiswahili, Kalenjin and Luo.

Performance under this Agreement shall be subject to the technical direction of Tamar Chitashvili and supervision by assessment coordinator.

Length and cost of the consultancy: Services provided within the consultancy should not exceed 3 working days per translation in each language. Depending on the number of languages known, the consultancy may vary from 3 to 9 days. Cost of the consultancy will be based on number of words translated.

Required Experience & Qualifications 

• Excellent knowledge of English and at least two out of three following languages Kiswahili, Kalenjin and Luo
• Good knowledge of medical terms and terminology.
• Bachelor’s Degree and masters in research related field.
• Excellent knowledge of English, Kiswahili, Kalenjin and Dholuo languages, writing and typing skills.
• Excellent skills in research work and translation of documents and tools such as questionnaires, informed consent documents, assessment of understanding tools, protocols
• Proven experience in translations from English to Kiswahili for clients such as research institutes or other translation users.
• Good Knowledge of HIV and AIDS terminologies
• Is able to showcase evidence of the documents translated before
• Experience of working with the Kenya public health system especially in HIV and AIDS
• Excellent writing, analytical and communication skills
• Good inter-personal and computer skills.

Desired Experience & Qualifications 

• Clinical content expertise in Maternal newborn and child health is highly preferred.

Please note: Only candidates who are eligible to work in the United States for an indefinite period without a need for sponsorship will be considered for this position.