Research Assistant - Midwife-led Enterprises Assessment

Sydani Group · 2 months ago
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Employment Type
Contract

Job Summary


Job Title: Research Assistant - Midwife-led Enterprises Assessment

Organization: Sydani Group


Location:  Nigeria (Abia, Lagos and Abuja)

               Kenya (Nairobi, Nyeri, Kisumu, Trans Nzoia and Kiambu)

               Uganda

               Senegal

               Bangladesh


Travel: Up to 50%

Contract Type: Short term contract

Only apply if the Job location is your current Country and state of residence


Job Description


The “Midwife-led Enterprises Assessment” project aims to assess the viability of private, midwife-led enterprises in improving access and uptake of maternal and newborn health services across Africa and Asia.  Through a mixed-methods landscape analysis, the project will identify scalable business models, evaluate financial sustainability, and explore how these enterprises enhance women’s economic empowerment and integrate with national health systems.


The study will employ mixed methods including facility surveys, costing tools, qualitative interviews, discrete choice experiments (DCEs), quality audits, and client exit surveys across selected facilities. Research Assistants will support primary data collection activities under the supervision of the Country Lead and the central research team.


The Research Assistant will support field-based data collection for the Midwife-led Enterprises Assessment. The role involves administering quantitative and qualitative research tools, supporting facility- and community-level data collection, ensuring adherence to ethical standards, and contributing to high-quality, complete, and timely datasets.

The position is suited to candidates with prior experience in health or social research, particularly in maternal and newborn health, health systems, or private sector service delivery.


Job Responsibilities


Data Collection and Fieldwork

  1. Administer structured and semi-structured data collection tools, including:
  2. Facility surveys and operational assessments
  3. Key informant interviews (KIIs)
  4. Focus group discussions (FGDs)
  5. Client exit surveys and discrete choice experiments (DCEs), where applicable
  6. Support time-motion observations and quality audits at selected midwifery enterprise sites.
  7. Conduct data collection at health facilities, enterprises, and community locations in line with the approved research protocol.

Ethical Compliance and Participant Engagement

  1. Obtain informed consent from all study participants in accordance with approved ethical protocols.
  2. Ensure confidentiality, privacy, and respectful engagement with all respondents.
  3. Escalate any ethical concerns, adverse events, or field challenges promptly to the Country Lead.

Data Quality Assurance

  1. Ensure completeness, accuracy, and internal consistency of collected data.
  2. Review tools daily for errors or omissions and address issues in real time.
  3. Participate in daily or weekly field debriefs with supervisors to resolve data quality issues.
  4. Adhere strictly to data management, anonymization, and security protocols.

Coordination and Reporting

  1. Work closely with the Country Lead and field supervisors to plan and execute field activities.
  2. Provide regular updates on field progress, challenges, and risks.
  3. Submit completed data, field notes, and documentation according to agreed timelines.


Job Qualifications


  1. Bachelor’s degree in public health, social sciences, nursing/midwifery, health economics, development studies, or a related field.
  2. At least 2 years of experience supporting field-based research or data collection, preferably in health or development research.
  3. Demonstrated experience administering surveys or conducting qualitative interviews.
  4. Familiarity with maternal, newborn, and reproductive health or health service delivery contexts is an advantage.
  5. Fluency in English and at least one relevant local language spoken in assigned study locations.


Job Competencies and Skills

  1. Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to engage respectfully with health workers, enterprise owners, and community members.
  2. Attention to detail and commitment to high data quality.
  3. Ability to work independently and manage time effectively in a field-based setting.
  4. Comfort handling sensitive topics and commercially sensitive information with discretion.
  5. Basic proficiency in digital data collection tools (e.g., tablets, mobile data platforms) is an asset.
  6. Willingness and ability to travel to field sites, sometimes on short notice.


Job Reporting and Supervision


  1. The Research Assistant will report directly to the Country Lead or a designated Field Supervisor.
  2. Technical oversight will be provided by Sydani’s central research team.

Job Engagement Terms


  1. This is a short-term, field-based consultancy engagement for the duration of data collection.
  2. Compensation will be provided in line with project rates and based on agreed deliverables or days worked.
  3. Selected candidates will be required to participate in mandatory training prior to field deployment.


Only apply if the Job location is your current Country and state of residence