Director, Community Engagement at International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI)

Position Summary: 

Are you passionate about Clinical Research and eager to make a difference in a mission-driven organization?

IAVI is seeking an experienced Director, Community Engagement who will implement Good Participatory Practice (GPP) throughout African clinical research centers (CRCs) involved in IAVI clinical research.  Working with sites from Formative research, through post-trial engagement, the Director, Community engagement will partner closely to develop and implement strategies that enhance community engagement, while building strong relationships with diverse stakeholders. 

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and execute a comprehensive community engagement strategy to support GPP implementation in clinical research at IAVI.
• Establish metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of community engagement initiatives, regularly assessing and reporting on the impact of community engagement efforts on clinical trial recruitment and retention.
• Supervise community engagement staff, including regular check-in meetings, overseeing training and career development, and assessing performance and addressing areas for development.
• Accountable for determining resource needs for current and projected studies and hiring qualified staff. 
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate community engagement into the overall clinical research development process.
• Oversee the development and implementation of study-level GPP Plans including determining key deliverables, budgets and timelines and providing this input to management and study teams and reporting back on progress against plans, deliverables, timelines, and budgets regularly.
• Oversee development of study level plans and implementation including assessment of CRC’s GPP implementation readiness and plans to address GPP implementation needs.
• Oversee input in the protocol management plans (PMP) relevant to GPP implementation for each study.
• Oversee facilitation of protocol and informed consent form review and input by Community Liaison Officers (CLOs)  and Community Advisory Boards (CABs).
• Oversee facilitation of 2-way communication between IAVI and CRCs, study participants, the wider community, CAB, and escalate concerns and issues to study team and management as appropriate.
• Oversee development of research literacy materials for specific indications and trial populations to support effective GPP implementation, research literacy and to address concerns as needed.
• Oversee effective study results dissemination to study participants, communities, and other relevant stakeholders as needed, working closely with the IAVI study team and CRCs.
• Co-ordinate networking of CLOs across CRCs through quarterly calls to further knowledge sharing amongst peers and build capacity.
• Organize annual CLO Forum to ensure cross-site engagement, sharing of best practices and lessons learned among program participants and to provide training to CLOs as needed.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with advocacy groups, healthcare providers, community leaders, and other key stakeholders.
• Write abstracts, articles, reports, publications and newsletters on GPP and Community Engagement for internal IAVI and external purposes (e.g. conferences) and involve CLOs in co-authoring of abstracts, articles, reports, publications.
• Identify and lead process improvement efforts including developing, reviewing, and providing input on SOPs to ensure adherence to guidelines for GPP.
• Stay up to date on required trainings, including identification of changes in US, EU and other applicable regulations and best practices with regards to clinical trial conduct and GPP. 
• Contribute to grant proposals and other fund-raising activities as needed.
• Act as back up when a community engagement team member is temporarily unable to fulfill role (e.g. leave, illness, or pregnancy).
• Other duties as assigned.

Education and Work Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in public health, social sciences or another relevant field is required.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in vaccine or infectious disease clinical trials in Africa and community engagement and GPP in support of clinical trials is required.

Qualifications and Skills:

• Expert knowledge of community engagement and Good Participatory Practices is required.
• Strong understanding of clinical trial processes and regulations is required.
• Ability to lead community engagement strategy is required.
• Ability to deliver assigned tasks within deadlines is required.
• Proven ability to successfully lead teams and mentor others is required.
• High level of interpersonal skills and ability to work effectively with outside vendors, collaborators, subordinates and functional peer groups at various management levels is required.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills is required.
• Ability to translate key scientific and research concepts into layman’s terms is required.
• Ability to work collaboratively with people of diverse educational and cultural backgrounds and maintain a high standard of professional conduct as a representative of IAVI is required.
• Ability to develop and manage budgets is required.
• Excellent computer skills with software tools needed to fulfill the responsibilities of position is required.