Specialist / Manager, Community Engagement at International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI)

POSITION SUMMARY:

• IAVI is seeking experienced, dynamic and ambitious Community Engagement professionals to help advance the mission of making a positive impact in global health!  The Specialist or Manager, Community Engagement will coordinate, monitor, and implement Community Engagement Programs. The Community Engagement expert will facilitate and implement Good Participatory Practice (GPP) at clinical research centers (CRCs) engaged in IAVI research studies across Tuberculosis, HIV, and other emerging infectious diseases. Key aspects of the community engagement work includes training site community liaison officers (CLOs), building research literacy materials and stakeholder engagement for research, as well as writing and implementing GPP plans, and facilitating networking across CRCs.

 KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Develop trial specific GPP plans for clinical trials as assigned including determining key deliverables, budgets, and timelines.
• Train and support community liaison officers (CLOs) and other CE staff at CRCs on GPP, research and vaccine literacy and other related concepts.
• Facilitate networking and cross learnings of CLOs and other CE staff across partner CRCs through quarterly calls and annual meetings.
• Provide technical support to CRC staff in writing and strengthening implementation of GPP plans.
• Coordinate monitoring and evaluation and reporting of activities within the community engagement portfolio according to IAVI and donor requirements.
• Support the process of on-boarding /training of new hires.
• Support the development of and reporting on IAVI’s community engagement budgets.
• Facilitate of two-way communication between community CRC and IAVI and escalation of concerns / issues raised by CLOs and CABs to study team and management as appropriate.
• Develop research literacy materials for the specific indication / trial / population to support effective GPP implementation
• Support CRC partners in study results dissemination to study volunteers and communities as needed, working closely with the IAVI study team
• Act as Community Engagement Lead, provide community engagement updates to project team meetings and donor reports.
• Provide input on the protocol management plans (PMP) relevant to GPP implementation for the study.
• Develop community engagement related processes, including SOPs, work instructions and tools/templates, under the direction of the Associate Director, Community Engagement.
• Work with IAVI and CRC staff to write abstracts, reports, publications and newsletters on GPP and Community Engagement for internal IAVI and external purposes.
• Stay up to date on required trainings, including identification of changes in of applicable regulations and best practices with regards to clinical trial conduct.
• Other duties as assigned.

EDUCATION AND WORK EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field is required.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience for Specialist OR Minimum of 8 years of experience (for Manager) in clinical trials, community engagement and GPP support of clinical trials is required.

OTHER KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Experience working on clinical research in LMICs, particularly Africa preferred.
• Certificate of training in GPP is required for Manager;  highly preferred for Specialist.
• Expert knowledge of community engagement and Good Participatory Practices is required.
• Outstanding verbal and written communication skills, including PowerPoint and use of other presentation tools is required.
• Ability to translate key scientific and research concepts into layman’s terms is required.
• Ability to deliver on assigned tasks within assigned deadline is required.
• Ability to work independently, under minimum supervision and take initiatives is required.
• Ability to adapt to diverse educational and cultural backgrounds and maintain a high standard of professional conduct as a representative of IAVI is required.
• Travel 15-30% is required.
• Strong organizational and project management skills are highly desirable.