Senior Research Officer I at icipe - African Insect Science for Food and Health

Overall Purpose of the Job

The Senior Research Officer I will take the lead in evaluating the contribution of new agricultural approaches on nutrition and food safety towards a One Health Approach. The candidate is expected to develop, coordinate and implement longitudinal studies to assess household determinants of nutrition and quality of life. The candidate will design protocols and data collection tools based on the study objectives and ensure that all study arms are well examined. He/she will report directly to Lead Investigator (Human Health) within a one-health multisectoral project team and is expected to take the lead in strategy development to assess human health determinants within this structure.

In particular, the Senior Research Officer I is expected to have a well-established background in nutrition, the potential values and habits that drive families’ nutrition priorities, dietary assessment and food security measures. The candidate will have excellent social science skills. He/she will be responsible for planning and overseeing the implementation and productivity of enumerators and interviewers, will provide team training on qualitative survey tools and ethical conduct of research, and will lead qualitative data compilation and analysis using NVivo software, prepare reports and manuscripts, and present research findings through various forums.

Specific Duties

•  Liaising with the lead investigator (Human Health) to develop a research implementation plan and community engagement strategy based on proposed research objectives.
•  Develop protocol for ethical approval from KEMRI SERU and NACOSTI.
•  Lead in developing and refining research protocols, data collection tools and translations for ethics approval from KEMRI SERU and NACOSTI.
•  Develop guides and tools for the implementation of qualitative surveys.
•  Implement surveys to assess food availability on dietary diversity.
•  Identify the role of household decision-making on dietary diversity.
•  Identify household determinants of nutrition, health, quality of life and subjective well-being in households practising different farming systems.
•  Link anthropometric measurements assessing growth and development for infants, children adolescents and adults with farming systems and household decision making.
•  Lead the development of behaviour change interventions and women empowerment strategies based on formative work to enable agricultural technologies to have an impact on nutrition and well-being.
•  Manage field research activities and supervise field teams.
•  Help with ensuring meeting audio files are transcribed and translated.
•  Qualitative data management, data analysis and report writing.
•  Contribute to manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals.

Requirements/Qualifications

•  Masters’ Degree in Nutrition with a Public Health or Global Health context.
•  At least 5 years of research experience at the intersection of nutrition, agriculture and health.
•  Experience in the identification and measurement of health and livelihood indicators.
•  Conversant in gender-informed dynamics in household metrics.
•  Proficient in designing and implementing mixed methods research, including developing and applying empirical social science tools, and facilitating activities.
•  Highly experienced in conducting thematic analysis using NVIVO software and publishing data output.
•  Training in behaviour change intervention and communication strategies.
•  Skilled in stakeholder analysis and mapping.
•  Training in responsible research conduct, ethics and safeguarding.
•  Excellent written and oral skills in English and Kiswahili.
•  Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
•  Excellent team player willing to work in a multicultural and transdisciplinary research team.

Other Desirable Attributes

•  Enjoys field work even under challenging conditions.
•  Outgoing individual who is happy to contribute to other projects outside the main responsibility.
•  Self-driven individual who recognizes the importance of completing work within timelines and budget. Accountable.

Reporting

• This position reports to the Lead Investigator, Human Health Theme and Overall Project PI.