Молодший спеціаліст з проведення досліджень/ Research Associate, Ukraine

Company Profile

Palladium develops and delivers innovative, locally relevant, evidence-based solutions to improve the health and well-being of people around the world. Since 1971, we have assisted governmental and non-governmental agencies, foundations, and the private sector by designing, implementing, and evaluating programs in HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health, population and family planning, maternal and child health, infectious diseases, and gender. Palladium has deep expertise in policy and advocacy, research and strategic information, health markets and private sector engagement, modeling and economic analysis, patient monitoring and management/HMIS, strategic consulting, and program management.

Project Profile and Assignment

The purpose of USAID Health Reform Support  is to support a transparent, accountable, and effective health care system that is capable of meeting the health needs of the Ukrainian people. Advancing health sector reforms, enhancing transparency, and tackling corruption will reduce out-of-pocket payments and improve access and availability of high quality, evidence-based health care services for Ukrainians. Eliminating corruption is a cross-cutting theme across all objectives to be achieved by this activity, which include:

1. Improve health sector governance.
2. Support the transformation of the healthcare financing model.
3. Strengthen the health workforce.
4. Enhance transparency, accountability and responsiveness of the health care system.
5. Improve service delivery system at all levels.

The HRS Project seeks a qualified Research Associate to support ongoing research activities as part of its objective to support the transformation of the healthcare financing model. The research associate would be responsible for conducting formative research to inform survey design and development for primary data collection. In collaboration with HRS project staff in-country and remotely, the research associate would generate concept notes for new data analyses and draft questionnaires for primary data collection. The research associate would be involved in coordination of studies, including issuing requests for proposal (RFPs) for data collection firms and submitting studies for Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval when required. The research associate would work with data collection firms to oversee collection of primary data, including conducting data quality checks. Following data collection, the research associate would develop models for advanced statistical analysis, such as propensity score matching and difference-in-difference analysis, to understand the impact of specific health reforms on changes to provider behavior and on patients. The research associate may also create presentations to present findings for internal use and for clients.

Specific tasks that the research associate may be involved with include the ambulatory specialized care payment pilot and hospital payment systems pilot, and corresponding monitoring and evaluation activities. The research associate may also be involved with formative research for household expenditure and utilization survey development.

This is a fixed-term, full-time position. The Research Associate will work closely with other HRS project staff both in Kyiv and remote staff. The position is based in Kyiv. The consultant must be fluent in Ukrainian, and strong English proficiency is desired.

Key Responsibilities

Palladium seeks qualified applicants for a Research Associate position for a Health Reform project in Ukraine.  The Research Associate selected will work with a team to support the Ukrainian health sector in formative research, survey design and development, and monitoring and evaluation activities related to understanding influence of health reform initiatives.

Support HRS Project team in conducting formative research and designing surveys to monitor ongoing and new health reforms in Ukraine

• Prepare data analysis concept notes, presentations, briefing notes, and assessments for internal and client use
• Coordinate studies, including issuing RFPs for data collection and submitting studies for IRB approval
• Oversee primary data collection, conduct data quality checks, including developing solutions for anticipated and unanticipated data challenges, such as varying data quality, validity, and completeness
• Develop models for advanced statistical analysis, such as propensity score matching and difference-in-difference analysis, and conduct data analysis with minimal supervision
• Support the MOH and other stakeholders with global best practices and local analyses to inform the adoption and implementation of new health financing model
• Support the project team to lead data analysis to monitor and evaluate ongoing and upcoming health reform
• Conduct assessments and analyses that will contribute to health care financing reform and contribute to the design of payment systems and a state-supported insurance program

Duration:              Ongoing
Location:              Kyiv, Ukraine
  
Candidate Requirements

• Five (5) or more years of work experience in economics, statistics, or other related quantitative field, with demonstrated expertise in conducting statistical analysis. Significant experience collecting, managing, and analyzing quantitative data of varied quality;
• Advanced expertise using statistical software (Stata, SPSS, R, SAS);
• Masters level degree in economics, health economics, statistics, or related area; additional degree in health related area also a bonus;
• Experience with linear regression models, propensity score matching and difference-in-difference analysis, and other types of multivariate statistical models;
• Understanding of Ukrainian health system preferred;
• Experience in analysing health financing models, including health insurance and hospital payment schemes.
• High degree of proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, Powerpoint, etc).
• Ability to liaise effectively with and develop consensus among key stakeholders, including USAID, national and local officials, public, private, and civil society partners;
• Spoken and written language proficiency in English and Ukrainian required (writing samples may be requested).

Applications

Interested candidates should submit a current resume with a cover letter to [email protected] by the close date.