Job Description

Job SummaryCOMMUNITY-ORIENTED OPPORTUNITY FOR TALENTED PROFESSIONALDivision:

• Agincourt: SAMRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit

More info:

• The South African Medical Research Council / Wits University Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt) is an exceptional health and population research centre based in the Wits School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences. The Unit supports a major research infrastructure located in rural Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga. This includes the Agincourt health and socio-demographic surveillance system (HDSS) established in 1992/3 adjacent to Mozambique, which is a founding Node of the SAPRIN Network. The Unit undertakes interdisciplinary observational and intervention research along the life course involving collaborations with a network of leading global scientists. Focus areas include health and social transitions and their determinants (including migration), adolescent health and development (including HIV, mental health and NCD risk reduction), adult health and ageing (including NCDs, HIV, cognition and dementias), and innovative health systems research. Climate change and health is an emerging emphasis. Graduate training and career development, nested within key lines of research, are central to the Unit's mandate
• The Unit prioritizes public engagement, feedback of findings to individuals and communities, and 'research-to-policy' dialogue. Increasingly, co-development of research frameworks, instruments and interventions is integral. Ongoing engagement with health, education and NGO stakeholders is a feature of Unit functioning
• The successful candidate will join a talented and hardworking team addressing some of the country and region's most pressing health and development challenges. Work links closely to national, regional and global R&D networks. Scope for personal academic and professional development is encouraged

Main purpose of the job:

• A challenging position to lead knowledge translation, community and stakeholder engagement, and evaluation in a globally leading population-based research endeavour with over 30 years' experience

Location:

• Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga Province

Key performance areas:Contribute leadership and work with the public engagement team, Unit leaders and research teams to:

• Introduce a well thought out knowledge translation strategy, innovating where appropriate, and grounded in Unit goals, research, and context
• Plan effectively to strengthen community and stakeholder engagement that foregrounds research participants and draws on a breadth of evaluation approaches and methods
• Strategically involve local/district and provincial stakeholders across health, education, social development, NGO and related sectors
• Apply process and evaluation frameworks to research involvement of communities and key participant groups such as adolescents, elders, community and service leaders
• Actively contribute to project development across the Unit, including co-creation of research design, process monitoring and outcomes evaluation, and work-up of grants
• Lead Unit publications in public engagement in research, and contribute to Unit publications in other relevant areas/fields
• Contribute to graduate student supervision
• Support and mentor staff of the public engagement office and Unit more widely.

Required minimum education and skills:

• Masters Degree in fields such as, but not limited to, Population Health, Social Research, Implementation Science, Behaviour Change Communication, Media Studies

Required minimum work experience:

• Experience in qualitative research methods with a track-record of publication output.
• Experience with mixed methods research an advantage

Desirable additional education, work experience and personal abilities:

• Strong interpersonal abilities, a collaborative leadership style and excellent communication skills suited to a range of stakeholders
• Skilled at team building, fostering inclusivity and conflict resolution
• Familiarity with academic research environments
• Senior level management and organisational skills suited to resource-poor rural environments
• Advanced computer skills - e.g. Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Power Point); Data analysis software
• Willingness to travel to Unit/Wits offices in Johannesburg, with some travel further afield
• Drivers license

TO APPLY:

• Only if you do meet the minimum job requirements and experience as mentioned above, you may submit a detailed updated CV.
• Please Apply Online and complete your registration on Ditto Hire (our application tracking system) to enable and protect you as a candidate to accept the new POPIA terms and conditions. This will then create your permanent profile with which you can apply for all jobs as advertised by AJ PERSONNEL. However, you may remove your profile from AJ PERSONNEL when you are no longer in the job market.
• AJ Personnel is fully POPIA Compliant
• Please take note that the applicants who do not adhere to the above criteria will not be considered for the respective position
• The closing date for all applications: 16 August 2024
• Wits Health Consortium will only respond to shortlisted candidates
• Candidates who have not been contacted within two weeks of the closing date can consider their applications to be unsuccessful

Please note:

• WHC, in accordance with its Employment Equity goals and plan, will give preference to suitable applicants from designated groups as defined in the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 and subsequent amendments thereto
• AJ Personnel is only responsible for advertising the advertisement on behalf of their client Wits Health Consortium
• AJ Personnel does not have any salary or other information regarding the position

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