Research Officer at KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP)

JOB PURPOSE: 

To contribute to the social science research agenda within the HSRE department, including empirical ethics and health policy and systems research in global health, with a focus on Kenya. Areas of this work are conducted as part of international research collaborations. The post holder will implement an area of work that looking at ethical issues in mental health research. This will include review of published and grey literature, and contribute to the planning, conduct and dissemination of findings of the stud and other social science studies (quantitative and qualitative) in relation to key areas of research in the department. The broad areas of departmental focus are global health research ethics and health policy and systems research. Empirical ethics research foci may include impact of COVID-19 on research, approaches to community engagement in research and concepts of vulnerability in research. 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• To review and summarise issues from the published scientific literature in ethical issues for involving people with intellectual disability in health research, with a particular focus on psychosis, ADHD and autism
• To review and summarise national and international guidelines or policy documents relevant related to this area; and to update this as needed over time.
• To undertake specific empirical ethics stud on ethical, social and cultural issues with mental health research, articulating how local and (inter-) national guidelines could best take account of these
• To contribute to the development and ethical conduct of specific areas of social science research at KWTRP, including planning, tool development and data collection and analysis for quantitative and qualitative research, and writing scientific papers and blogs around current areas of work.
• To contribute to the dissemination of information from the study, including through the preparation of reports, blogs and manuscripts for publication, making presentations at scientific meetings and feeding back to participants in the consultation exercise.
• Where indicated, provide training and support to other research team members / collaborating partners in areas within these responsibilities.
• And any other duties that may be assigned from time to time. 

QUALIFICATIONS:

• MA or MSc in relevant subject such as Social Science (related to health), Public Health, Anthropology, Bioethics,  Nursing, or equivalent.
• Bachelor’s degree in related areas such as Nursing, Social Science, anthropology or related fields.
• At least 3 years of health research experience, ideally including experience in collecting and analysing qualitative and quantitative research data.
• Experience in conducting qualitative and empirical ethics research on mental health research will be an advantage.
• Computer literacy with proficiency in Microsoft applications and software for quantitative and qualitative analysis.

COMPETENCIES:

• Demonstrate high levels of integrity and confidentiality  
• Excellent interpersonal, written, presentation and communication skills  
• Good analytical, problem solving and critical thinking skills;  
• Teamwork and ability to work with diverse teams  
• Strong Flexibility, adaptability, multi-tasking and attention to detail 
• Strong team coordination and Supervisory skills.  

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT:

• The workstation will be at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust’s office at Kilifi, with occasional travel to other locations in Kenya and internationally.
• Be available to work out of hours, if necessary.
• The work environment will include both office and field-based tasks.