Zambart is an independent Zambian research organization whose headquarters is at the University of Zambia’s Ridgeway Campus in Lusaka. Zambart is globally renowned for its interdisciplinary research on HIV and Tuberculosis and has contributed to HIV and TB policy and practice at national and global levels. Zambart’s research portfolio now includes a broader scope of urgent public health issues. Zambart staff form an interdisciplinary team with a range of expertise including epidemiology, clinical science, social science, laboratory, operations research, health systems and services research, health policy analysis, health economics, health communication and counselling.

Zambart’ s vision is to conduct quality interdisciplinary health research on issues of public health importance Zambia and contribute to improving health policy and practice leading to better health for all.

Our mission is to contribute to global public health policy and practice through the generation of an evidence based by conducting high-quality health research in Zambia.

Building on a long history of conducting health-related stigma research and interventions, Zambart is the lead Zambian partner in a three-year research study titled ‘A total school approach using safeguarding to address HIV-related stigma and discrimination in boarding schools in Zambia’. The study is funded by the National Institutes of Health in the United States and led by the University of Southern California.

This study aims to adapt and then pilot-test a ‘total school approach’ to using safeguarding and an approach to reducing HIV stigma and discrimination in selected Zambian boarding schools in Southern Province for the broad school community. A ‘total school approach’ intervention package will be co-created with school stakeholders and will target learners, teachers, staff, and staff from nearby healthcare facilities to create a community of safety characterized by reduced experiences of HIV-related stigma and abuse. The outcomes would be to lower barriers to engagement in care within the boarding school setting and equip young people with skills to address HIV stigma and discrimination. This study has strong synergy with an on-going multi-country project led by Zambart on the ‘total facility approach’ (TFA) that is addressing HIV-related stigma and discrimination in healthcare settings.

At the start of this innovative study focused on boarding schools, we are looking to fill the following position:

Position: Project Coordinator – Total School Approach Social Scientist/Educationalist

Reporting To: Principal Investigator, Zambart

Study Station: Lusaka or Southern Province (to be determined)

Key Roles and Responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

Introducing the project and related monitoring and evaluation activities to stakeholders
Creating a detailed study protocol and SOPs
Designing, training and conducting mixed methods research activities, including recruitment, data collection, data management and data analysis
Leading on mixed-methods data analysis and writing up for pragmatic and academic outputs
Ethics research training and experience including informed consent processes and data integrity, safety and confidentiality
Up-to-date knowledge of HIV-related stigma and discrimination literature, policies and interventions
Up-to-date knowledge of safeguarding in schools and linked policies and interventions
Study management of the study intervention team, including master stigma trainers and the participating schools
Requirements:

Master’s degree in social sciences and/or Education from a reputable University
Previous experience of working with HIV-related stigma and discrimination and/or safeguarding as a researcher
3-5 years’ work experience working with adolescents in a school environment and/or in relation to HIV programmes
Excellent mixed methods research skills
Excellent writing skills; key involvement in academic and pragmatic outputs
Team player
Computer literate including experience with qualitative data management software
Fluency in English and Tonga
Integrity
Flexibility
Research ambition