UCT Vacancy – Research Officer

Job Description:

ALIVE (Improving Adolescent mentaL health by reducing the Impact of poVErty) is a Wellcome Trust funded study working in three low- and middle-income settings: Colombia (Bogotá), South Africa (Cape Town) and Nepal (Kathmandu). The aim of the study is to develop and pilot-test an intervention that equips adolescents with skills to escape poverty and strengthens self-regulation, thus preventing adolescent depression and anxiety in urban low- and middle-income settings. Under the lead of Professor Katherine Sorsdahl, the University of Cape Town will employ a team of five staff (one Research Officer, and four field workers) to undertake key functions: (1) formative qualitative research; (2) Intervention development; (3) instrument development, adaptation and validation; and (4) testing of the intervention in a pilot randomised controlled trial.
The role of the UCT Research Officer will be to coordinate the research component in Cape Town, and will include contributing to the design of the study, overseeing the collection of data (including supervision of fieldwork staff and processes), assistance with the analysis of data and writing up of study findings for publication in peer reviewed scientific journal articles and policy briefs. The position is for 36 months.

Job Responsibilities:

• Conducts relevant tasks at country level as required by the ALIVE study, specifically:
• Conducts qualitative formative research
• Submits reports to the Research team in South Africa for submission to the ALIVE PI at KCL
• Prepares regular ethics reports for the UCT Ethics committee and the project DSMB
• Manages and supervises overall data collection system and processes during the course of the different phases of the ALIVE study.
• Prepares all required materials for these tasks
• Reports to the ALIVE Principal Investigator
• Participates in all relevant early career related capacity building activities within the ALIVE project
• Keeps all members of the South African research team and relevant Research Working Groups informed of project progress, new developments and meetings
• Prepares communications material for knowledge exchange within country and to other ALIVE partners
• Conducts research to adapt and validate key measurement instruments for outcomes of the intervention
• Contributes to the development of the selfregulation and poverty reduction intervention;
• Coordinates the implementation of a pilot randomized controlled trial
• Trains and supervises fieldworks,
• Monitors relevant indicators of project progress, as set out in the terms of reference in the contract with King’s College London
• Prepares reports on indicators of progress in the South African study site.

Job Requirements:

• At least 3 years of experience working in public health or psychology research in low resource settings.
• Specific experience or interest in adolescent mental health, self-regulation techniques, and/or poverty reduction interventions, would be an advantage.
• Masters degree in a relevant field (e.g. psychology, public health, social science)
• Project management experience
• Evidence of a publication record in peer-reviewed academic journals would be an advantage.
• Ability to speak Xhosa and/or Afrikaans would be an advantage
• Public health, social science, or psychology research methods, including randomized controlled trials.

Job Details:

Company: University of Cape Town

Vacancy Type:  Full Time

Job Location: Cape Town, Western Cape. SA

Application Deadline: N/A

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