About the Organization
Jhpiego, a Johns Hopkins University affiliate, is an international non-profit health organization that works to improve the health of women and families in developing countries.
Job Summary
The Senior Research and Learning Advisor provides strategic leadership for implementation research, operational research, program learning, evidence generation, research capacity strengthening, and adaptive learning under the RISE and ASCEND HRH activities. The Advisor leads the development and implementation of the project’s research and learning agenda, ensuring that implementation experience, monitoring data, workforce information, and scientific evidence are translated into improved policies, programs, and health workforce performance.
The project supports the Government of Ethiopia to strengthen Human Resources for Health (HRH) systems, particularly in underserved and fragile settings where shortages of competent health workers, limited institutional capacity, and weak workforce information continue to affect access to quality primary health care. Through strong partnerships with government institutions, higher education institutions, professional associations, research institutions, and Primary Health Care Units (PHCUs), the project generates actionable evidence that strengthens workforce competency, institutional performance, service quality, and health system resilience.
Working across all project objectives, the Advisor ensures that implementation is continuously informed by evidence through implementation science, operational research, program evaluation, learning agendas, adaptive management, and policy-oriented research. The position also strengthens national research capacity and promotes sustainable institutional ownership of HRH research systems.
Key Responsibilities
Lead development and implementation of the project’s Research, Learning, and Evidence Agenda.
Identify national HRH research priorities jointly with Ministry of Health (MoH), Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), Education Training Authority (ETA), Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), Professional Associations (PA), Regional Health Bureaus (RHB), and other partners.
Ensure research activities directly support implementation, adaptive management, and policy development.
Promote implementation science approaches that strengthen HRH systems and primary health care.
Ensure alignment of research activities with Ethiopia’s HRH Strategic and Investment Plan, national research priorities, and the America First Global Health Strategy.
Lead design and implementation of implementation research, operational research, program evaluations, mixed-methods studies, rapid assessments, baseline and endline studies, workforce analyses, and special studies.
Develop high-quality research protocols, study tools, sampling strategies, statistical analysis plans, and dissemination plans.
Oversee data quality throughout the research lifecycle.
Coordinate research consultants and collaborating institutions.
Ensure timely completion of all research activities.
Ensure compliance with Ethiopian ethical review requirements and Johns Hopkins University Institutional Review Board (IRB) policies.
Coordinate ethical review submissions and regulatory approvals.
Strengthen institutional research governance and ethical review systems.
Support digitalization and modernization of Institutional Review Board processes where appropriate.
Ensure scientific rigor, research integrity, and responsible conduct of research.
Build research capacity of the Ministry of Health, Regional Health Bureaus, EPHI, HEIs, Professional Associations, PHCUs, Primary Hospitals, and other government institutions.
Strengthen institutional capacity in implementation science, operational research, scientific writing, data analysis, and evidence use.
Mentor government staff, faculty members, researchers, and project teams.
Support establishment and strengthening of Communities of Practice and research networks.
Provide technical leadership for research related to all project thematic areas.
Support development of innovative approaches for measuring workforce performance and institutional capacity.
Promote continuous organizational learning across all project components.
Lead After-Action Reviews, Learning Reviews, Pause-and-Reflect sessions, and implementation learning workshops.
Translate research findings into practical implementation recommendations.
Support adaptive management through continuous evidence review.
Promote routine use of implementation evidence for decision-making.
Lead advanced quantitative and qualitative analyses.
Support integration of monitoring, HRIS, digital platforms, and research data.
Develop evidence syntheses, policy analyses, workforce intelligence products, and decision-support tools.
Promote routine data use across national and subnational institutions.
Collaborate with the Senior MEL Advisor to strengthen evidence-informed program management.
Lead preparation of technical reports, policy briefs, manuscripts, conference abstracts, scientific presentations, and research summaries.
Support publication of research findings in peer-reviewed journals.
Coordinate scientific dissemination nationally and internationally.
Support presentation of project achievements at scientific meetings and policy forums.
Promote dissemination of implementation innovations and lessons learned.
Maintain strong collaboration with the Ministry of Health, EPHI, ETA, Regional Health Bureaus, universities, PHCUs, Primary Hospitals, Professional Associations, research institutions, and development partners.
Represent Jhpiego in national research, HRH, and implementation science technical working groups.
Promote government ownership of research systems and institutional learning.
Facilitate multi-institutional collaboration on HRH research and innovation.
Contribute technical expertise to proposal development, concept notes, technical strategies, and business development initiatives.
Support cross-project collaboration and provide technical assistance to other Jhpiego programs, as appropriate.
Promote organizational learning, innovation, and continuous improvement.
Model Jhpiego’s values through professionalism, integrity, accountability, collaboration, innovation, respect, and excellence.
Perform other duties consistent with the position as assigned.
Required Qualifications
Master’s degree or higher in Public Health, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Health Systems, Health Policy, Health Professions Education, Implementation Science, Health Services Research, Global Health, or another closely related field.
PhD or DrPH is strongly preferred.
Minimum of seven years of progressively responsible and directly relevant experience in health research, implementation science, operational research, program evaluation, or health systems research, focusing on HRH (strongly preferred).
Demonstrated experience designing and leading multi-site research studies and evaluations.
Extensive experience strengthening research capacity of government institutions, HEIs, and local partners.
Experience working with the Ministry of Health, Regional Health Bureaus, EPHI, Higher Education Institutions, Professional Associations, PHCUs, and development partners.
Experience implementing donor-funded health systems strengthening or HRH programs, preferably U.S. Government-funded.
Experience working in underserved, remote, or fragile settings is highly desirable.
Required Skills and Competencies
Demonstrated expertise in health workforce governance, health systems and HRH research, implementation science, operational research, program evaluation, mixed-methods research, epidemiology and biostatistics, quantitative and qualitative data analysis, research ethics and IRB processes, scientific writing and peer-reviewed publication, learning agendas and adaptive management, evidence-informed policy development, capacity strengthening, digital data collection platforms (ODK, KoboToolbox, REDCap, CommCare, or similar), and statistical software (Stata, R, SPSS, SAS, or similar).
Strong scientific leadership.
Excellent analytical and critical thinking skills.
Strategic thinking and problem-solving.
Coaching, mentoring, and capacity development.
Partnership building and stakeholder engagement.
Technical writing and publication experience.
Excellent presentation and facilitation skills.
Outstanding written and verbal communication.
Strong collaboration and teamwork.
High emotional intelligence, professionalism, integrity, and accountability.
Ability to manage multiple priorities in complex implementation environments.
Excellent written and spoken English.
Professional proficiency in Amharic is required.
Knowledge of additional Ethiopian languages is an advantage.