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Consultancy: ARIDA Study Coordinator located in UNICEF Nepal Country Office, Kathmandu

Kathmandu

  • Organization: UNICEF - United Nations Children’s Fund
  • Location: Kathmandu
  • Grade: Consultancy - International Consultant - Internationally recruited Contractors Agreement
  • Occupational Groups:
  • Closing Date: Closed

The Innovation Unit with UNICEF Supply Division, Copenhagen is looking for a Consultant - ARIDA Study Coordinator to be located in UNICEF Nepal Country Office, Kathmandu for the duration of 6 months.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Consultancy Title: ARIDA Study Coordinator

LOCATION/DURATION:

Duration: 6 months, Full time

Location: UNICEF Nepal Country Office, Kathmandu.

Start Date: May 2017

Reporting to: Project Officer, UNICEF Supply Division, Copenhagen. Strong dotted reporting-line to Health Specialist, UNICEF Nepal

BACKGROUND:

Pneumonia is the leading infectious cause of death among children under 5 years of age globally. Many pneumonia deaths result from late care seeking and inappropriate treatment due to misdiagnosis of symptoms. Diagnosis remains largely presumptive or is made by counting the respiratory rate (RR) in children with cough or difficulty breathing, to assess whether the RR is higher than what is considered normal. However, counting RR is difficult, even for trained health workers. Misclassification of an observed rate is common, which often leads to incorrect diagnosis and consequently inappropriate treatment.

The United Nations Children's Fund's (UNICEF's) Acute Respiratory Infection Diagnostic Aids (ARIDA) project aims to introduce automated RR counting aids for use by frontline health workers in resource limited community settings and health facilities. These RR counting aids aim to offer improved accuracy, effectiveness and acceptability compared to current practices for counting and classifying RR to detect fast breathing pneumonia.

The ARIDA research study aims to provide evidence for the most appropriate and suitable ARIDA products for scale up in low resource settings, environmental extremes common in regions of UNICEF interest, the hands of frontline health workers and appropriate age groups. Ethiopia has been selected as the first trial site. ARIDA Field Trial protocols have been developed and now the team are looking to begin planning for implementation the next country - Nepal. 

The general aim of the controlled accuracy study is to understand whether the ARIDA device accurately measures RR in children under 5 years of age with cough and/or difficult breathing.

It is a cross-sectional, prospective study in a controlled setting comprising three types of device evaluations:

  1. The accuracy of the ARIDA test device in measuring RR in young infants 0 to <2months, children 2 to <12 months and 12 to 59 months when compared to a video panel reference standard will be established through the first evaluation.

  2. The consistency of  the ARIDA test device will be established by determining the level of agreement between the measures of RR for two ARIDA test devices when used on the same child at the same time in those aged  2 to <12 months and 12 to 59 months through the second evaluation.

  3. A third evaluation on a different group of normal-breathing children aged 2 to 59 months will assess RR fluctuation over time due to ARIDA test device attachment.

The study will run for 6 months, with a start date in May 2017.

The proposed consultant will coordinate with UNICEF Supply Division (SD), UNICEF Programme Division (PD), UNICEF Nepal Country Office (NCO), Malaria Consortium and Implementing Partner to complete the controlled accuracy trial in Nepal.

OBJECTIVE:

The objective of this consultancy is to support the implementation of the controlled accuracy trial in a hospital of Nepal. The study will run for 6 months, due to commence in June 2017. The proposed consultant will coordinate with UNICEF Supply Division (SD), UNICEF Programme Division (PD), UNICEF Nepal Country Office (NCO), Malaria Consortium and Implementing Partner to complete the controlled accuracy trial in Nepal.

DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT:

Under the supervision of the Project Officer, Supply Division, with a joint reporting line to the Health Specialist, UNICEF Nepal, the ARIDA Study Coordinator's duties and responsibilities will be as follows: An individual national consultant will collaborate with UNICEF SD, UNICEF PD, UNICEF NCO, Malaria Consortium, implementing agency and hospital participating in the study for following activities:

  • Coordinate with UNICEF supply colleagues at SD and NCO to ensure timely ARIDA device and Amoxicillin DT availability in country. Activity includes registration and customs clearance of the ARIDA device in Nepal and decisions related to purchasing of Amoxicillin DT.
  • Coordinate with implementing partner and Malaria Consortium in hiring of research teams for the controlled accuracy study
  • Coordinate the national kick off meeting with National stakeholders and hospital staff for the research project
  • Coordinate with implementing partner to conduct a survey of the hospital site selection to understand patient flow and processes
  • Coordinate with implementing partner and Malaria Consortium to build the capacity of the hospital staff and research team for the research set up including research team training, pre-test and debrief of the controlled accuracy trial
  • Coordinate with implementing agency and Malaria Consortium to build the capacity of the research team on patient enrollment and consent process and data collection
  • Coordinate with UNICEF country office to support the readiness of the hospital for managing pneumonia and severe pneumonia
  • Coordinate with implementing agency and Malaria Consortium on data management and quality control process for the research
  • Conduct weekly review meeting with the research team and hospital team as quality control process of the study
  • Conduct weekly team call between UNICEF SD, UNICEF PD, UNICEF NCO, Malaria Consortium and implementing partner
  • Produce monthly (interim) and final quality assurance report on participant enrollment, data collection, data management and administrative progress


Roles and Responsibilities

UNICEF Supply Division: has ownership of the ARIDA project and also the relationship with the donor – "la Caixa" Foundation. SD oversees the overall activity plans and activities relating to the project and supports country level implementation through engagement on the protocol development process, the implementing partner selection and the field trial implementation. SD is responsible for procurement of the ARIDA devices and any amoxicillin required.

UNICEF Nepal Country Office: Country partner for the implementation of the ARIDA field trial in Nepal. Responsible for contracting and managing the implementing partner in Nepal as well as communications with Malaria Consortium and country partners such as WHO, USAID and Ministry of Health (MOH – Child Health Division, national and regional). Responsible for completing the IRB (ethics) forms and process in Nepal for all studies planned. Responsible for site selection in partnership with MOH – Child Health Division, Malaria Consortium and the implementing partner. Responsible for ARIDA device registration and customs clearance in Nepal. 

Malaria Consortium: Technical implementation partner contracted by UNICEF Supply Division to support the development and implementation of all elements of the ARIDA field trials across all countries. Responsible for writing all the protocols and developing the training materials and job aids for the ARIDA field trials in Nepal, supporting the selection of the implementing partner, the design and set-up of the research sites and the implementation of the studies. Will provide quality assurance on the Nepal field trials to support UNICEF Nepal and the implementing partner. Will be responsible for data analysis, write up and presentation.

Implementing partner: Operational implementation partner contracted by UNICEF Nepal to manage all aspects of the implementation of the ARIDA field trials in Nepal. Responsible for hiring the research team, setting up the research sites, collecting the required data, managing all required suppliers (videographers, transportation, etc.), procurement of research materials including tablets, cleaning and ensuring the data is correctly entered into the database. Responsible for translating all training materials and job aids. Responsible for participating in weekly planning and feedback calls with MC/UNICEF Nepal and UNICEF SD/PD.

KEY DELIVERABLES:

Project Phase

Deliverables

Expected Delivery

Phase 1

·  Hiring of research teams for the Controlled Accuracy study completed

·  National kick off meeting with National stakeholders and hospital staff for the research project conducted

·  Survey of the hospital site selection to understand patient flow and processes completed

·  Capacity of the hospital staff and research team built on the research protocol and set up required

·  Capacity of the research team built on data collection and consent process

·  Readiness of the hospital for managing pneumonia and severe pneumonia completed

18 June 2017

Phase 2

·  Report on the pretesting of the tools available

·  Data management and quality control process for the research

·  Enrollment of the 290 participants in the trial as per protocol completed

·  Notes of the weekly review meeting with the research team and hospital team as quality control process of the study available

30 October 2017

Phase 3

·  Monthly (interim) and final report on participant enrollment, data collection, data management and administrative progress available

·  Data available for interim and final analysis

15 November 2017


QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:

Education: a) Master Degree in Project Management/ Public Health or another relevant discipline. b) An undergraduate university degree combined with additional years of relevant work experience will be considered in lieu of a master's degree if the candidate can demonstrate high level of experience with related projects

Work Experience: a) Minimum 5 years professional and relevant work experience in areas of project management of field trials, clinical trials or research in low resource settings. B) Must be able to communicate, both verbally and written, in both English and Nepali complicated, technical information c)Proven track record to manage complex projects with multiple stakeholders. d)Knowledge of the environment UNICEF operates, and understanding of the constraints of working in difficult geographical locations.

Competencies: The successful candidate is expected to demonstrate the following competencies that are considered to be necessary to this consultancy: Core Competencies

  • Excellent communicator of verbal and written concepts to an international audiences (in English and Nepali)
  • Ability to quickly understand instructions, to proactively seek clarification when needed.
  • Able to work well in a team environment.

Functional Competencies

  • Able to work independently and problem solving oriented.
  • Able to work in a multi-cultural environment and establish harmonious and effective working relationships.
  • Demonstrated communication and relationship building skills.
  • Proven capacity to work with and lead collaborative teams across different locations and with different technical skills.

Technical Knowledge:

  • Proven experience in project management
  • Knowledge of application of new diagnostics in developing regions.
  • Experience in budgeting and managing large scale projects.
  • Knowledge of standard MS Office applications (MS Project, Word, Excel, PowerPoint).

Language:

Fluency in written and spoken English and Nepalese is essential 

UNICEF CORE VALUES

To view our competency framework, please click here

EVALUATION PROCESS:

Qualified candidates are requested to submit:

  1. Cover letter/application.
  2. Financial quote at a daily rate in US Dollars. Financial quote should be inclusive of service fees, and living expenses (if consultancy is not home-based).   Costs for accommodation, meals and incidentals shall not exceed applicable daily subsistence allowance (DSA) rates, as promulgated by the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC).
  3. CV.
  4. Examples of previous, relevant work.
  5. Proposed methodology/approach to managing the project.
  6. At least 2 References

Applications must be submitted through the online UNICEF application system by 9 April 2017 23.55 CET. Please indicate your availability and daily rate to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a daily rate will not be considered.

UNICEF considers best value for money as a criteria for evaluating potential candidates. As a general principle, the fees payable to a consultant or individual contractor follow the "best value for money" principle, i.e., achieving the desired outcome at the lowest possible fee. Please note that consultants and individual contractors are responsible for assuming costs for obtaining visas and travel insurance.

Successful applicants will be invited to a telephone interview and will be evaluated by the following criteria:

TECHNICAL QUALIFICATION  (max. 70 points)

Weighted scoring

 

Overall Response (20 points)

Understanding of tasks, objectives and completeness and coherence of response

10

Overall match between the ToR requirements

10

Technical Capacity (50 points)

Professional and relevant work experience in areas of research and management of field trials projects for low resource settings

25

Master Degree in Project Management/ Public Health or another relevant discipline.

5

Knowledge of the environment UNICEF operates, and understanding of the constraints of working in difficult geographical locations.

10

Willing to locate in Kathmandu throughout the consultancy

10

TECHNICAL QUALIFICATION - Total Points

70

 

FINANCIAL PROPOSAL  (max. 30 points)

Price per month

Price for 6 month assignment

Other costs (travel etc.)

Total value of 6 month consultancy

FINANCIAL PROPOSAL - Weight Combined Score

 

TOTAL SCORE (out of 100 points)

 


This vacancy is now closed.