Operations and Research Manager

Neotree Operations and Research Manager (Zimbabwe) 

Job Description

Position: Operations and Research Manager (Zimbabwe)

Organisation: Neotree (UK registered charity)  

Location: Ideally based in Harare, Zimbabwe, but negotiable 

Duration: July 2024 – 31st December 2025 (fixed term consultancy contract -

start date as soon as possible)

Reports to: Sophie Sutcliffe Goodman (Neotree Executive Director) and Professor Michelle Heys (co-Principal Investigator, University College London) on research deliverables

Salary: Competitive 

Deadline to apply: 22:00 BST Sunday 23rd June 

Neotree: An innovative digital learning health system, developed in partnership with, and for, nurses and doctors, empowering them to deliver high-quality neonatal care. Neotree uses  open-source technology to deliver a fully integrated, digital health intervention combining data collection, education, and clinical decision support at the bedside. To date Neotree has been used to improve the care of over 37,000 babies, by more than 1,200 healthcare professionals in five hospitals across Malawi and Zimbabwe. We can save over half a million babies’ lives, and improve the care of over 27 million babies, every year, if the Neotree is adopted by Ministries of Health across low-income countries. 

The Role: We are looking for a strategic, passionate and experienced manager to lead the delivery of an exciting new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) grant in Zimbabwe. This grant includes two main deliverables: 1)  Evaluating Neotree at greater scale to better understand its impact (involving Neotree’s implementation at new sites and conducting health economics research through University College London) 2) Delivering a business case/ plan for scale-up. Both of these will involve working closely with the clinical staff across the implementation sites, the project team at the Biomedical Research and Training Institute (BRTI, Neotree’s implementing partner in Zimbabwe), the research team at University College London (UCL), UK and software developers in Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The Operations and Research Manager will be responsible for ensuring the project is delivered on time and to budget. They will directly oversee the research deliverables, project implementation, reporting requirements, risk management and day-to-day line management of the in-country team in relation to the grant.

Duties & Responsibilities

1. Grant Management  
2. Manage project on time and to budget, using relevant project and finance management tools; 
3. Fulfil FCDO reporting requirements, including quarterly finance and project reporting and contributing to International Aid Transparency Initiative reporting;
4. Develop and manage the project’s risk register; 
5. Support with completing FCDO due diligence recommendations.
6. 
   
7. Business Plan 
8. Develop an implementation strategy and business case to present to funders and the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) complete with costings and impact quantification at both primary care and hospital level, informed by the grant activities and associated outputs, in partnership with UCL’s academic  team.
9. 
   
10. Operations 
11. Manage the adaptation of Neotree for primary care facilities and pilot at six new sites (two hospitals and four primary health clinics) via a participatory user-centred approach in partnership with the facilities’ clinical teams and UCL implementation scientists;
12. Oversee the enhancement of Neotree’s functionality, including exploring the feasibility of implementing machine-learning enabled diagnostic algorithms, in partnership with clinical, academic and software development colleagues; 
13. Ensure the uninterrupted, safe running of the technology in partnership with the software development team;
14. Manage the volunteer Global Links Project in partnership with Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and the Paediatric Association of Zimbabwe;
15. Oversee Neotree’s ongoing implementation at its two current sites (Sally Mugabe Central Hospital and Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital).
16. 
    
17. Research 
18. Manage local ethical approvals with the Medical Research Council of Zimbabwe (MRCZ) and The Research Council of Zimbabwe (RCZ), ensuring  Neotree complies with all ethical regulations and data protection / information governance best practice (with support from UCL);
19. Develop partnership and data sharing agreements and assess relevance and need for research insurance within local partner (with support from UCL);
20. Manage the local research team to conduct fieldwork for the cost and implementation effectiveness evaluation of the Neotree Newborn care Network (four hospitals, four primary care sites) in partnership with the academic team at UCL;
21. Input into research deliverables and the wider dissemination of academic outputs, including identifying opportunities for academic engagement in Zimbabwe.
22. 
    
23. Human Resources 
24. Support BRTI’s recruitment of project staff, including drafting job descriptions and taking part on recruitment panels; 
25. Manage a team of approximately ten project staff; 
26. Foster a culture of continuous improvement and learning within the team, promoting innovation, knowledge sharing and best practises;
27. Lead bi-weekly project calls and join other relevant team meetings.
28. 
    
29. Stakeholder Engagement 
30. Work with Zimbabwe Principal Investigator (PI) to manage relationships  with the FCDO, Ministry of Health, and other relevant stakeholders, including attending relevant meetings, and support on increasing Neotree’s profile in Zimbabwe; 
31. Support dissemination of lessons learnt and cross-country learning with the Neotree project in Malawi. 

Qualifications

1. A bachelor’s and / or master’s degree in a health-relevant domain [Essential] 
2. Computer literate and skills in common packages such as Excel, Word and Powerpoint [Essential]
3. Training/education in project management and in a field relevant to global maternal and child health and/or health services research [Desirable] 
4. Experience of implementation science approaches in adaptation, piloting and scaling up healthcare interventions [Desirable] 
5. Good clinical practice (GCP)/ Ethics training [Desirable]

Experience

1. Background in health, health services / economics research and/or implementation  [Essential]
2. Proven track record of delivering grants on time and to budget [Essential]
3. Experience of managing the piloting and scaling up of health interventions [Essential]
4. Proven track record of overseeing delivery of health services and/or health interventions (ideally in low-resource settings) [Essential]
5. Experience of developing a business case, including “translating” academic and technical language for non-technical audiences [Essential] 
6. Project management experience, including line management of junior staff [Essential]
7. Experience of donor reporting and stakeholder engagement (e.g., donors, Ministry of Health, NGOs, communities) [Essential]
8. Experience of leading multidisciplinary, multi-cultural teams, both in person and remotely [Essential]
9. Business management experience with planning, forecasting, and business analysis [Desirable]
10. Experience of monitoring and evaluating health programmes [Desirable]
11. Training and experience in quality improvement methodology [Desirable]
12. Skills and experience in quantitative data management using relevant platforms such as Metabase (or equivalent). Experience of data analysis using analytical software (such as Stata/R/) is advantageous [Desirable]
13. Skills and experience in working with tech-based platforms, including using softwares for app editing, data analysis, data dashboards etc. [Desirable]

Personal characteristics required [Essential]

1. Strategic, passionate and experienced manager; 
2. Ability to work under pressure and manage competing priorities in a professional manner;
3. Ability to manage, and work with, diverse and remote teams;
4. Financial literacy and ability to manage budgets; 
5. Ability to write clearly and persuasively in English, using non-technical language;  
6. Fluency in English with ability to communicate effectively;
7. Ability to search, understand and synthesise evidence;
8. Exceptional organisational skills and ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously/ prioritise effectively;
9. Ability to learn new digital and technological skills and enthusiasm for e-health;
10. Excellent problem-solving skills;
11. Enthusiasm and willingness to learn and accept feedback;
12. Accurate, honest, dependable and flexible; 
13. High personal motivation and self-management. 

Equal opportunities  

Neotree values diversity and is committed to equal opportunities. All applicants for employment will receive equal treatment without discrimination on grounds of gender, race, ethnic or national origins, disability, gender identity or sexual orientation, or any other grounds. We are particularly interested in receiving applications from candidates from minority ethnic backgrounds, and the low-resource settings in which we work, to ensure we have a well-balanced and widely representative staff base.