Community Partners International (CPI) is a U.S. nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering vulnerable communities in Asia to meet their essential health, humanitarian and development needs. Founded by U.S. doctors in 1998, the organization has grown to serve more than one million people each year. Community Partners International focuses on helping communities affected by conflict, violence, and displacement, in remote and hard-to-reach contexts, and marginalized by poverty and exclusion.
Research at CPI. Founded in 2016, CPI’s Research Unit aims to make CPI the go-to organization to generate evidence to inform health implementers understand the needs of target communities and the best ways to deliver services to meet those needs. The Research Unit builds on CPI’s extensive background in working side-by-side with partners to guide health reforms that respond optimally to the needs of underserved communities. It has delivered varied research, from large scale surveys and randomized controlled trials, to program reviews, implementation science and qualitative interviews.
Primary Responsibilities
- Conduct high-quality, high-impact research to support health programming and planning of CPI and its partners, across full range of CPI’s operating contexts
- Share research findings with stakeholders to support evidence-based health programs and policy-making
- Conduct research with partners who operate in rural, complex humanitarian and conflict-affected areas of Myanmar, Thailand and Bangladesh
- Development and document CPI’s participatory research model, drawing upon existing methods, and improving these models as the work progresses
- Serve as research and policy advisor for CPI’s existing (‘non-research’) service delivery and programs, with a specific focus on methods for data collection, analysis and interpretation that emphasize participation of local communities
- Write and submit grants and proposals for ongoing research and learning work
- Submit dedicated research proposals to donor agencies in line with CPI’s organizational priorities
- Supervise research manager(s) and coordinators in all their responsibilities, from technical research methods to the management of personnel, data and project finances
- Ensure policy lessons generated by CPI research or program activities are well documented and communicated to appropriate groups to ensure policy take up.
- Develop methodologies and facilitate realization of routine data collection to improve CPI and Programs understanding of our operational contexts in a changing, fluid environment.
Regular Responsibilities
- Provide technical inputs during proposal development
- Replicate the virtuous cycle of the proven partnered research model of CPI-CBOs and academia
- Document the Participatory Research process itself, with the goal of developing and publicizing a model for partnered learning adapted to the local health context of Myanmar
- Contribution to the design, conduct, analysis and reporting of qualitative and quantitative research/evaluation studies that will be conducted by CPI programs, including Institutional Review Board/Ethics Review Board applications and writing manuscripts for peer review
- Collaborate with external and internal partners on peer-reviewed publications and advocacy reports
- Identify opportunities to leverage existing CPI and partner data and programs to generate new knowledge through publication of secondary data analyses and the augmentation of existing data platforms
- Contribute to use of program data to respond to partners’ needs and to inform iterative cycles of continuous program improvement
- Work with the MEL team to develop data collection policies and practices and monitor uniform data collection compliance and quality across the organization, whenever necessary
- Ensure compliance with research project requirements for data collection and reporting
- Develop and prepare internal reports of status, progress and outcomes of evaluation activities
- Conduct research and analyses of issues as requested by CPI Senior Management Team, including preparation of reports, white papers and journal publications recommendations and other materials
Partner Support
- Increase capacity of community based organizations to participate in all aspects of partnered research, from problem identification to hypothesis generation to data collection, analysis, dissemination and incorporation into health policies and programs
- Ensure community members themselves are active participants in the research process
- Formalize training in partnered research approaches for staff at CPI and CBO partners
- Oversight, with appropriate CBO partner designee, of all research initiatives
- Assisting CBO partners with formation of advisory boards representative of local communities to ensure research priorities and findings are responsive to community priorities
- oversee a Research Fellowship program the leverages the skills of recent graduates of high quality academic programs to support CPI research projects and enhance the capacity of CPI partners
Capacity Building and Supporting Other Staff
- Technically support and strengthen the research and policy capacity of CPI staff, providing ongoing coaching, feedback and support to build their capacity to further improvement of the organization
- Regular supervision and mentorship of research and policy staff at CPI and partner organizations
- Formalize trainings in partnered research approaches for staff at CPI and CBO partners
- Coordination and communication with staff of CPI, CBOs and academic partners
Operations and Administration
- Ensure appropriate organizational policies and guidelines are followed
- Be part of the organization’s leadership team and contribute to the development and execution of strategic decisions
Organization Representation
- Maintain and strengthen relationships between CPI, local CBOs, academic partners and research funders
- Presentation of research findings at national, regional and international scientific meetings, in partnership with local CBO members
- Representation of CPI at regional and donor meetings related to planning health policies and programs and reporting of health program information
- Coordination and communication with staff of CPI, CBOs and academic partners
- Represent CPI at partner and donor meetings and events
How to apply
ESSENTIAL SKILLS
- Doctoral-level training and a proven track record of research and policy leadership and publication or
- Masters-level training and at least 8 years’ public health research or policy experience
- Experience of working in a multicultural, low-resource setting
- Excellent English Language especially in Speaking, Research Presentation and Academic Writing
- A burning passion for CPI’s mission, and a commitment to improve the health and well-being of people in Myanmar
- Ability to communicate technical information to both technical and non-technical audiences
- Ability to establish priorities in a time sensitive environment and meet deadlines with strong attention to consistency, detail, and quality
- Ability to provide technical assistance in all aspects of research design, policy support and implementation
Preferred:
- PhD or DrPH in a relevant field to CPI’s operations (eg. international development, public health)
- Experience working in Bangladesh and with forcibly displaced populations in Cox’s Bazar specifically or Myanmar in conflict affected areas
- Training in health economics and financing, equity metrics, cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) and related methods useful to communicate with policy-makers and priority-setting processes
- Multilingual in local languages or other demonstrated ability to work across cultures or engage communities
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
All interested and qualified candidates are requested to send an Application Letter, Curriculum Vitae to:
Email: recruitment@cpintl.org
- The closing date for application is 17:00pm, (3 May 2024, Friday), Bangkok, Thailand.
- Please clearly mention the Position and Location you are applying for in the email Subject Line.
CPI’s Value
- At CPI, we believe that all people have right to live their live free from sexual violence and recognized that there are unequal power dynamics across the organization. CPI does not tolerate discrimination and harassment under any circumstances and will take disciplinary action, which may include dismissal, against any worker who discriminates or harasses any worker. Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) is everyone’s responsibility and all staff are required to adhere to the Code of Conduct, that enshrines principles of PSEA, at all times (both during work hours and outside work hours). Familiarization with, and adherence to, the Code of Conduct is an essential requirement of all staff, in addition to related mandatory training. All staff must ensure that they understand and act in accordance with this clause.
- CPI is an Equal Opportunity Employer and considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin, age, marital status, or disability.
Note to Candidate
- Candidates are required to declare in advance should there be any relative or family member currently employed in CPI. Failure to do so can lead to termination of the employment contract even after successful selection.
- Because of the large volume of applicants, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
- Contract and position is contingent upon successful award of the project and final approval by the donor.