Project Co-Ordinator at The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC)

Job opportunities

The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) strives to improve the nation’s health and quality of life by funding and conducting relevant and leading health research.  It further aims to promote equity, career development and progression.  The organisation prides itself on three core values: being pioneering, striving for excellence and working collaboratively.

The South African Medical Research Council’s Burden of Disease Research Unit seeks to appoint an experienced project co-ordinator to co-ordinate a national study in selected hospitals. The incumbent, experienced in conducting health systems research, will be required to work in a team.  The focus of the study is to identify how to strengthen the routine health information systems in South African public hospitals to support the National Health Insurance (NHI), morbidity surveillance, and burden of disease assessment.
 
Responsibilities:

• Liaise with relevant provincial authorities and facility managers
• Act as the point of contact and communicate project status adequately to all participants
• Assist Principal Investigator (PI)/Co-PIs to co-ordinate logistics for data collection from patient records at study hospitals
• Manage and co-ordinate data collection teams and activities
• Ensure on-going quality control of data collection
• Undertake data entry, editing, data analysis and other data management tasks
• Respond to and address all fieldwork queries and challenges
• Be familiar with all the policies and procedures related to the project
• Provide on-going assistance to fieldworkers and their supervisors
• Keep PI and others informed about project status and issues that may impact on progress
• Create and maintain comprehensive project documentation, plans and reports
• Provide support to formulate publications such as scientific articles, training manuals, reports and policy briefs
• Arrange meetings and/or workshops as required.

Core Requirements:

• Honours Degree or four (4) year equivalent in Business Science, Project Management, Allied Health Sciences, Public Health, Health Information Systems or Informatics or a related field
• At least two (2) years’ work experience in a health systems research or public health related environment, with experience in collecting survey data, and/or monitoring and evaluation
• Valid unendorsed code 8 driver’s license. 

Added advantage:

• Entry level working knowledge in both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies
• Fluency in English
• Professional written communication and presentation skills
• Relevant workplace numeric and multiple project management ability
• Advanced analytical ability and problem solving acumen
• Advanced computer skills in MS Office packages and project management tools
• Pro-active, self-motivated, energetic, flexible, adaptive and innovative
• Ability to work independently whilst still working effectively and collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary team especially over periods of irregular hours.

Preference will be afforded to candidates who:

• Have experience of working in township settings
• ability to speak isiZulu, isiXhosa and Afrikaans.

A salary in the region of ZAR 275 000.00 per annum cost-to-company will be negotiated in consideration of experience and qualifications.

In accordance with the SAMRC’s Employment Equity Plan, preference will be given to suitably qualified candidates from the designated groups. For this reason, we require race, gender and disability status to be specified. Disabled persons are encouraged to apply.

PLEASE QUOTE THE REFERENCE NUMBER (R38A) IN ALL COMMUNICATIONS. PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT YOUR SUBMISSION WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED SHOULD YOUR APPLICATION NOT BE ACCOMPANIED BY THE REQUIRED INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTATION.

The SAMRC retains the right not to make an appointment.

Closing date: 31 March 2017