Results for Development (R4D) is a leading non-profit global development partner. We collaborate with change agents around the world — government officials, civil society leaders and social innovators — to create strong systems that support healthy, educated people. We help our partners move from knowing their goal to knowing how to reach it. We combine global expertise in health, education and nutrition with analytic rigor, practical support for decision-making and implementation and access to peer problem-solving networks. Together with our partners, we build self-sustaining systems that serve everyone and deliver lasting results. Then we share what we learn so others can achieve results for development, too.
We have a unique and vibrant culture at R4D. Diversity, equity and inclusion are at the heart of our work environment and help advance our mission. Diversity—of ideas, identities, perspectives and backgrounds—is vital to who we are and what we do. We seek people who embrace these values and will help reinforce them. Our work culture is collaborative, creative and entrepreneurial. We operate based on trust and respect. Teams across the organization frequently collaborate on programmatic work and support each other in continuously building a better R4D.
Background
The Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF) is a multi-stakeholder global partnership housed at the World Bank that is committed to ensuring all women, children and adolescents can survive and thrive. Launched in July 2015, the GFF supports 36 low and lower-middle income countries with catalytic financing and technical assistance to develop and implement prioritized national health plans to scale up access to affordable, quality care for women, children, and adolescents. The GFF also works with countries to maximize the use of domestic financing and external support for better, more sustainable health results. The GFF is squarely focused on prioritizing and scaling up evidence-driven investments to improve reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition (RMNCAH-N) through targeted strengthening of primary health care systems – to save lives and as a critical first step toward accelerating progress on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In support of these goals, the GFF supports country-led efforts to improve the timely use of data for decision-making, ultimately leading to stronger primary healthcare (PHC) systems and better reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health and nutrition (RMNCAH-N) outcomes. This set of initiatives and technical support is referred to as Frequent Assessments and System Tools for Resilience (FASTR). Rapid-cycle monitoring approaches provide timely, rigorous, and high-priority data that responds to each country’s specific priorities and data use needs. Four technical approaches are used – analysis of routine health management information systems (HMIS) and RMNCAH-N data, (2) rapid-cycle health facility phone surveys, (3) high-frequency household surveys, conducted in partnership with the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Study, and (4) rapid qualitative follow-ups/implementation research. Employing a collaborative and country-led approach, these analyses are further reinforced by learning and capacity enhancing activities to use the data for practical purposes. All approaches are customized to the specific country context and aim to support country initiatives. You can find more details about the GFF’s rapid-cycle analytics and data use initiative here: https://data.gffportal.org/key-theme/rapid-cycle-analytics-and-data-use. Partnership with Results for Development Institute (R4D) to support FASTR’s scale-up
In 2023, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation made a strategic investment in the GFF’s rapid-cycle analytics and data use FASTR initiative via a partnership with Results for Development Institute (R4D). Support from R4D through this investment will accelerate the GFF’s FASTR scaling efforts through four interrelated components:
a) Embedded support to the GFF secretariat
b) Deepening of the provision of direct support processes through the provision of direct support to facilitate the data-to-action process at sub-national level
c) Augment capacity to apply FASTR approach to commodities tracking.
d) Strengthening learning across global institutions and countries to enable the “scaling -out” of rapid cycle approaches.
This position represents component (a) of this partnership: embedded support to the GFF secretariat.
This position is based in Washington DC, but flexibilities may be extended upon discussion and reports to the (Senior) Director.
Position Summary:
A survey coordinator will be seconded with GFF by R4D, as a part of R4D’s support to the GFF to scale its FASTR rapid-cycle analytics and data use initiative. The survey expert will work within the existing GFF country engagement model to support the GFF’s growing portfolio of health surveys in GFF partner countries and will play a critical role in the operational scaling of these approaches across countries and toolsets.
More specifically, through this secondment program, this position will provide operational leadership, oversight, and coordination on FASTR’s phone survey portfolio, which includes health facility surveys, household surveys, and patient exit interviews. This will include (1) leadership on phone survey management and operations, (2) leading the scale-up and operationalization of GFF-supported surveys across multiple countries in Africa and Asia, (3) technical management and oversight on survey administration to a growing team supporting survey data collection and analysis across the GFF Secretariat, countries, and other partners, and 4) coordinate validation studies, linkages with in-person surveys, and triangulation of data from phone surveys with other data sources.
The successful candidate will:
(i) Play an overarching project management and operational role across FASTR’s survey approaches (including health facility phone surveys, household phone surveys, patient exit interviews, and other survey activities as requested by countries) to ensure high-quality implementation of activities.
(ii) Provide technical assistance on survey implementation, data collection, and quality assurance to government health agencies, country partners, survey firms, and in-country consultants.
(iii) Lead the scale up and refinement of the GFF’s existing phone survey tools and approaches and codify them into manuals, operational guidance, capacity building materials, and other documents for wider use.
(iv) Represent the FASTR portfolio internally and externally to relevant partners, especially focused on survey coordination and operations.
Duties and accountabilities
- Working through the existing GFF country engagement model, the survey coordinator will work under the direct supervision of the GFF Results and Learning Workstream Lead and will report to the head of the Results and Learning workstream. The key responsibility of the survey coordinator will be to provide technical leadership, operational guidance, oversight, and coordination on FASTR’s survey portfolio, ensuring high technical quality and successful delivery of this growing, cross-country analytic portfolio. They will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of survey activities, serving as a critical link between in-country data collection partners and the GFF’s Results team/FASTR central team.
- Specifically, the survey coordinator will provide day-to-day management and operational leadership to the following processes:
- Manage the end-to-end workflow/pipeline of survey operations (including selection of survey firms, oversight to data collection, quality assurance, analyses, and presentations) across 10-15 countries, working across a team at the GFF Secretariat, global and in-country partners (including close collaboration with the World Bank’s Living Standard Measurement Study), country governments, and in-country consultants.
- Provide oversight to survey firms and other in-country partners on enumerator training, data collection approaches, ethical approvals, and data management.
- Provide quality assurance across all firm-derived survey deliverables and GFF secretariat survey activities.
- Oversee round-to-round adaptation of survey tools and approaches including the development and/or maintenance of appropriate change logs, data dictionaries, and other needed processes.
- Develop and maintain appropriate data storage and management processes that adhere to the World Bank privacy policies and GFF’s country engagement approaches, including de-identification of survey data and uploading onto the GFF’s data repository and data portal.
- Lead the development of a survey manual(s), training materials, capacity development tools, and other resources required to support the scale-up of FASTR’s survey approaches across multiple countries and partners.
- Keep the FASTR technical lead and other individuals on the GFF Results team appraised of all survey activities, their progress, and any support required, serving as a vital link between the central support team and in-country survey activities to ensure adequate support is provided to in-country activities and that country partners are working from relevant policies, procedures, and protocols developed by the GFF.
- Support survey design and planning processes including protocol development, study design, sampling, and analysis plans as requested.
- Participate in cross-country research, dissemination, and publication activities.
- Travel to support survey-related activities within FASTR countries (e.g., enumerator trainings, pilot workshops, etc.) may be required and will depend on specific needs (not anticipated to be more than 10%).
- Participates fully as a member of R4D by contributing, assisting and participating in projects, activities, and initiatives as requested by management
Qualifications:
Requirements
- A master’s in public health, medicine, economics, public policy, or a related field.
- At least 7 years of relevant research or project management experience supporting surveys in low- and middle-income countries, including contract/vendor management, survey operations, coordination, and quality assurance, is required.
- Demonstrated experience coordinating survey operations and data collection across multiple countries/vendors/activities simultaneously is required.
- Demonstrated experience working with country stakeholders
- Proficiency with STATA is required.
- Demonstrated self-starter that can operate both independently and within a team while managing multiple contingencies and competing deadlines.
- Superior written and oral communications skills in English is required.
Preferred
- Experience with phone-based data collection approaches is strongly preferred.
- Field experience implementing survey data collection and quality assurance in South Asia, West Africa, and/or East Africa is preferred.
- Can travel up to 10 - 15% of time.
- Advanced skill in analyzing large datasets is preferred; experience with longitudinal datasets is an asset.
- Expertise in conducting sampling calculations for large-scale health facility, health service delivery-related evaluations, and/or household surveys is an asset.
- Proficiency in R, Python, ArcGIS, Tableau, and other statistical, data analysis, and data visualization software is strongly preferred.
- Professional proficiency in French is strongly preferred.
Results for Development is an EOE/M/F/Vet/Disabled/Affirmative Action Employer committed to fostering
and nurturing an energetic, collaborative and diverse workforce. R4D provides market-competitive salaries and comprehensive employee benefits.
