Chartered in 1983, Aga Khan University (AKU, www.aku.edu) is a private, autonomous and self-governing international university, with 13 teaching sites in 6 countries over three continents. An integral part of the Aga Khan Development Network (www.akdn.org), AKU provides higher education in multiple health science and social science disciplines, carries out research pertinent primarily to low- and middle-income countries and operates 7 hospitals (soon 8) and over 325 outreach clinics, all at international standards. It has almost 2,500 students and 14,000 staff. The University is both a model of academic excellence and an agent of social change. As a leading international institution dedicated to excellence and change, AKU operates on the core principles of quality, relevance, impact and access.

The Institute for Human Development is dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge with direct relevance for policies, programs, and practices that enhance life experiences at all stages of human development.  In its foundational years, the Institute seeks particularly to become a major instrumental agent, locally as well as globally, for advancing knowledge about the earliest years of children’s development and harnessing such knowledge for the purposes of shaping policies and interventions that ensure a strong start in life for all children wherever they may live. 

The purpose of this role is to support with overseeing and supporting qualitative data collection for project on ‘character development and connectedness among adolescents’ funded by the Templeton Foundation.

We are seeking to hire two (2) qualitative research consultants who shall work closely with the research project coordinator and principal investigator. Each shall supervise a team of data collectors to implement the project in the various study sites i.e. Site 1 (Kilifi and Mombasa) and Site 2 (Nairobi and Kiambu).

• Participate in an inception meeting and other planning/review meetings with AKU project staff

• Assist in the recruitment and management of the qualitative research assistants

• Contribute to tool review, training of qualitative data collectors and pre-testing of tools (focus group discussions and key informants’ interviews)

• Develop a data collection plan in consultation with AKU project staff i.e. 32 FGDs and 80 key informants in total

• Ensure the requisite stakeholder and community engagement processes have been observed prior to data collection

• Oversee data collection and ensure quality, ethics and COVID-19 safety protocols are adhered to

• Oversee the generation of detailed interview/FGD summaries per activity

• Support with quality data assurance and management 

• Ensure proper storage of all records and raw data

• Support with coding and charting of transcribed data in NVIVO

• Write and submit a qualitative end of study report to the project Principal Investigator

Key deliverables: 

• An inception report following the inception meeting that details the agreed methodology and tools, schedule of activities, and team composition including tasks and responsibilities of team members

• A detailed qualitative study report (with appended tools, audio recordings, transcripts, detailed reflective notes and copies of signed consent forms) outlining the methodology used, presenting the findings with their interpretations, and discussing the strengths, limitations, and implications of the findings

• A detailed field report covering the entire duration of qualitative data collection, including quality assurance measures, changes made to the sampling methodology or tools, challenges encountered and if or how they were mitigated, and other general observations necessary for accurate interpretation