Data Manager
and Project Co-ordinator
TAZAMA HIV
Cohort Study, NIMR, Tanzania
Department of
Population HealthWe
have an exciting and challenging vacancy for an experienced person with both
data management and project co-ordination skills to maintain and develop our
work in Tanzania. LSHTM is a
partner in the TAZAMA project, which monitors a population in a rural area of north west Tanzania. Information is collected on the
demography of the population, and their vulnerability and response to the HIV epidemic.
Based
at the National Institute for Medical Research, Tanzania (Mwanza
branch) , the postholder will be a member of the LSHTM team that supports the TAZAMA
HIV cohort study conducted in the Kisesa cohort study. The work is funded through a grant from the
Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM) and held by NIMR.
The postholder
will provide technical support for all aspects of the TAZAMA HIV cohort study
conducted in Kisesa ward. This will
include the organisation and supervision of sero-survey activities, together
with the data management tasks associated with the production, implementation,
processing, archiving and distribution of sero-survey data. S/he will contribute to the analysis and
writing up of the sero-survey findings.
The workload
will be demanding. The successful
applicant will have strong data management and practical project-coordination
skills, experience of managing, training and mentoring staff, and the ability
to apply those skills creatively in a developing country
The post is full-time, on Grade 6 of the
professional support scale, with a starting salary between £35,661 and £40,499
per annum. The post is available immediately and is
funded until 31st
August 2015 with the
possibility of extension to March 2016 if further funding is available.
Applications should be made on-line via our website
at http://jobs.lshtm.ac.uk and should
include a CV and the names and e-mail contact details of two referees who can
be contacted immediately if shortlisted.
The reference for this post is BZ10. Any queries regarding the application process
may be addressed to jobs@lshtm.ac.uk. Please quote
reference BZ10. The closing date
for receipt of applications is 10pm on
Thursday 18 October 2012.
The London School of Hygiene
& Tropical Medicine is committed to being an equal opportunities employer.
FURTHER
PARTICULARS
THE SCHOOL
The London School of Hygiene
& Tropical Medicine is one of Europe’s leading
schools of Public Health and a leading postgraduate institution worldwide for
research and postgraduate education in global health.
Part of the University of London, the London School is the
largest institution of its kind in Europe with a
remarkable depth and breadth of expertise encompassing many disciplines. The
School was ranked one of the top 3 research institutions in the country in the
Times Higher Education’s 'table of excellence', which is based on the 2008
Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). In
2009, the School became the first UK institution
to win the Gates Award for Global Health.
The School’s environment is a rich
multicultural one: there are almost 4000 students from 100+
countries following 22 taught masters courses delivered either in London (~650)
or through distance learning (~2700), and undertaking research degree training
(~400). Over 40% of these students are from non-European countries. The largest growth has been in distance learning students
(>40% over 3 years), though the London-based student population (where
accommodation limits growth) is at its highest level ever. Alumni are
working in more than 180 countries. The School has about 1500 staff drawn from
over 60 nationalities.
There are research collaborations with
over 100 countries throughout the world, utilizing our critical mass of
multidisciplinary expertise which includes clinicians, epidemiologists,
statisticians, social scientists, economists, molecular biologists,
immunologists, ophthalmologists, anthropologists, virologists, pharmacologists
and nutritionists. At any one time around 100 School staff are based overseas,
particularly in Africa and Asia. We have a
strong commitment to partnership with institutions in low and middle income
countries to support the development of teaching and research capacity.
The School has expanded greatly in
recent years. Its research funding now exceeds £67M per annum, much of it from
highly competitive national and international sources. The commitment of staff
to methodological rigour, innovative thinking and policy relevance will ensure
that the School continues to occupy a leadership position in national and
global health, adapting quickly to new challenges and opportunities.
Mission
To improve health and health equity in the UK and worldwide; working
in partnership to achieve excellence in public and global health research,
education and translation of knowledge into policy and practice.
THE FACULTY
The Faculty of Epidemiology & Population Health (EPH) houses a large group of epidemiologists, demographers, statisticians
and nutritionists working on issues of major public health importance in the UK
and globally. EPH has approximately 330 staff members organised into four
research departments.
- Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology
- Department of Medical Statistics
- Department of Non-communicable Disease Epidemiology
- Department of Population Health
The Faculty has a teaching programme consisting of ten MSc courses:
Epidemiology, Demography and Health, Medical Statistics, Public Health in
Developing Countries (run jointly with the Faculties of Infectious &
Tropical Diseases and Public Health & Policy), Nutrition for Global Health,
Reproductive & Sexual Health Research, Veterinary Epidemiology (run jointly
with the Royal Veterinary College), Global Mental Health (run jointly with
Kings College London - Institute of Psychiatry) and the Distance Learning
courses in Epidemiology and Clinical Trials. The Faculty also has approximately
149 research students studying for an MPhil, PhD or DrPH degree. The Head of
Faculty is Professor Laura Rodrigues.
THE
DEPARTMENT
The Department of Population Health (DPH) aims to increase global
access to effective treatments and public health interventions, and is a centre
of excellence in the measurement and analysis of global consequences of
population change. DPH is home to 5 major research groups: Nutrition Group: addressing major nutrition and food-related
problems that affect human development, with expertise in under-nutrition,
immunity & infection, nutritional genetics, nutrition-related chronic
diseases, and agriculture & health; Global
Mental Health: conducting research and capacity building in policy,
prevention, treatment and care for people living with mental, neurological
& substance use disorders; Maternal
& Child Health Intervention Research: conducting intervention trials to
improve maternal, new born & child survival, and child growth development; Clinical Trials Unit: a fully
registered CTU under UK Clinical Research Collaboration, co-ordinating and
conducting clinical trials in low, middle and high income countries; Population Studies Group: conducting
research in reproductive & sexual health, the demographic impact of AIDS in
Africa, family demography, health & ageing, and methodological work on
measurement of health and technical demographic analysis.
DPH hosts the network for Analysis of
Longitudinal, Population-based data on HIV/AIDS in Africa (ALPHA), the Cochrane
Injuries Group, and the Transport & Health Group, and has strong
links with many overseas research groups. DPH provides world-class opportunities for
postgraduate training; offering four masters courses: MSc Nutrition for Global
Health, MSc Demography & Health, MSc Reproductive & Sexual Health
Research, and the new MSc Global Mental Health.
The Head of Department is Dr
Phil Edwards.
THE
POST
JOB
DESCRIPTION
Post: Data Manager and Project Co-ordinator, TAZAMA
HIV Cohort Study, NIMR, Mwanza
Responsible to: Jim Todd, Senior Technical Advisor, TAZAMA
Grade: PSP
6
Faculty: Epidemiology&
Population Health
Department: Department
of Population Health
Start date: ASAP
Hours: Full-time
Location: Mwanza, Tanzania
Duration: 36 months to 31 August 2015 in the first instance, with the possibility of extension to 30 March 2016 subject to the availability of funding
This post,
which is based in Mwanza, Tanzania, is part of the LSHTM team that supports the Kisesa cohort study at the
Tanzanian National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), Mwanza branch.
The post-holder will provide technical support for
all aspects of the TAZAMA HIV cohort study conducted in Kisesa ward, Mwanza
region, Tanzania. S/he will work
closely with other Mwanza-based LSHTM Department of
Population Health colleagues: Chifundo
Kanjala (who is responsible for abstracting data from the Kisesa survey for use
in the ALPHA network pooled dataset) and Alex Vanobberghen (responsible for
setting up a data archive for scanned images of historical data). S/he may
receive advice on technical matters from an IT consultant, Dr David Beckles,
who helped set up the data systems. On local administrative and financial
matters s/he will liaise with Mark Urassa, NIMR, director of the cohort study
and holder of the main GFATM grant.
S/he will be responsible for
all data management tasks associated with the production, implementation,
processing, archiving and distribution of sero survey data. The data are stored as a mix of SQL, Access
and CSPro files, and the post holder will be expected to be competent in these
packages, and to develop expertise in the packages used for analysis, such as
Stata. The data manager will be
responsible for all aspects of the life cycle of all the data associated with
the sero survey (including questionnaire data, lab data, clinical data and
administrative data) and will need to participate in the design of all data
collection instruments. This will include reviewing the documents for logical
error, aiding in formatting and laying out the documents, preparing the
document s for printing with serial numbers and documenting them in DDI. After the data collection instruments have
been finalized the sero data manager will be responsible for developing the
data entry and processing system. This will entail developing edit
specification documents, creating data dictionaries, data entry applications
and a batch editing applications. The
sero-survey data needs to be linked to the demographic data, and it is the data
manager’s responsibility to ensure this is done by producing the required
clinic registers and invitation slips.
The post-holder will also be responsible for accounting for and managing
the lab testing protocol, including developing systems for managing and
ordering confirmatory tests, selecting quality control samples. The management of
the lab data will also include cleaning lab identification numbers to ensure
that they link to questionnaire data.
On the project
co-ordination side, the post-holder will take responsibility for organising,
supervising and maintaining all activities to do with the sero surveys. S/he will ensure all Standard Operating
Procedures and guidelines are written for field, data and lab activities, and
will develop timetable for these activities, and organise staff and logistics
(lab supplies, drugs, etc) for field work for sero surveys. During fieldwork s/he will liaise with the
lab staff to ensure that all specimens and samples from the sero surveys have
been correctly accounted for and tested.
Finally, s/he will contribute to the analysis and writing up of the
sero-survey findings, and will liaise with statisticians, data analysts and
other users of the sero survey data, including London-based LSHTM staff, to
ensure completion of agreed tasks.
Job Description:
General
1.
To coordinate all
activities for the Sero surveys, including planning for new sero surveys,
ensuring the quality and timeliness of the data and lab results for the current
sero surveys and the use and analysis of the past sero surveys
2. To
manage the work of the IT support teams for the sero-survey, demographic
surveillance studies, and Kisesa clinic-based studies
3. To
represent the TAZAMA study at the IT technical meetings within NIMR and within
external scientific networks
4. To
advise LSHTM and NIMR staff in Mwanza on problems in the general area of Data
Management
5. To
participate in the corporate work of LSHTM
6. Any
other relevant duties as may be assigned by the TAZAMA program director or the
LSHTM co-PI on the TAZAMA project.
7. Managing,
training and mentoring staff.
Data Management
1. To
manage and document the existing data resources of the Kisesa HIV cohort study,
and make data sets available as required by statisticians and researchers
involved in data analysis
2. To
integrate new data from ongoing sero surveys and associated clinic and lab data
into the existing data base, developing edit specifications to ensure that new
data are clean and properly indexed
3. To
supervise and document all programming activities of the data team, including
version control of all procedures developed, documentation of all project data
forms, and providing advice and guidance to data managers working on other
databases maintained by the TAZAMA project in NIMR.
4. To
update and maintain all the software used by the cohort study
5. To
archive and maintain the past datasets from the sero surveys, possibly through
the use of DDI or similar.
6. To
identify and train staff involved in data management, and to mentor Tanzanian
data managers working in NIMR.
Project co-ordination
1.
Take responsibility for
organising, supervising and maintaining all activities to do with the sero
surveys.
2.
Ensure all Standard
Operating Procedures and guidelines are written and followed for field, data
and lab activities.
3.
Timetable activities for
future surveys, and the analysis of past data from sero surveys.
4.
Develop the materials
(questionnaires, forms, and checklists) for sero surveys, and ensure that all
scientific advisors to the TAZAMA project receive copies of these materials.
5.
Organise staff and
logistics (lab supplies, drugs, etc) for field work for sero surveys.
6.
Check data processes for
all sero surveys activities (forms, questionnaires, lab results).
7.
Liaise with the lab staff
to ensure that all specimens and samples from the sero surveys have been
correctly accounted for and tested.
8.
Contribute to the
analysis and writing up of the sero-survey findings.
9.
Liaise with
statisticians, data analysts and other users of the sero survey data to ensure
completion of agreed tasks.
10. Attend meetings and conferences and present work and
results from the Sero surveys.
Person specification
Education
1. Higher
degree in demography, epidemiology or statistics
2. First
degree in computer science, statistics or other quantitative subject
Experience,
essential
1. Substantial
experience of data management at a demographic surveillance site at a senior
level with overall responsibility for stewardship of data resources
2. Advanced
use of data management software, including data base programming
3. Advanced
use of operating systems software and office applications software
4. Experience
with preparing data sets for analysis
5. Experience
of managing, training and mentoring staff
Experience,
desirable
6. Basic
understanding of Geographic Information Systems
7. Experience
of CSPro or SQL query language
8. Familiarity
with field epidemiology studies in Africa
(especially HIV studies)
9. Ability
to speak and understand basic Swahili (or willingness to learn)
SALARY AND CONDITIONS OF
APPOINTMENT
The appointment is available immediately, and is
currently funded until 31st
August 2015, with the possibility of extension
to 31 March 2016 subject to the availability of funding. The appointment will be made on
LSHTM’s Professional Support Post Grade 6 scale - £35,661
to £40,499) per annum. The post will be subject to the LSHTM terms and conditions of service.
Membership of the USS Pension Scheme is available.
APPLICATIONS
Applications should be made on-line at our website
at http://jobs.lshtm.ac.uk. The closing date is Thursday 18 October 2012 and the reference for this post is BZ10.
Online applications will be accepted
by the automated system until 10pm of the closing date. Any
queries regarding the application process may be addressed to jobs@lshtm.ac.uk. Please quote reference BZ10.
The supporting statement section should set out how
your qualifications, experience and training meet each of the selection
criteria. Please provide one or more paragraphs addressing each criterion. The
supporting statement is an essential part of the selection process and thus a
failure to provide this information will mean that the application will not be
considered. An answer to any of the criteria such as "Please see attached
CV" will not be considered acceptable. Please note that if you are
shortlisted and are unable to attend on the interview date it may not be
possible to offer you an alternative date.
The London School of Hygiene
& Tropical Medicine is committed to being an equal opportunities employer.
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