Established in 2003, Malaria Consortium is one of the world’s leading non-profit organisations specialising in the prevention, control and treatment of malaria and other communicable diseases among vulnerable populations. Our mission is to save lives and improve health in Africa and Asia, through evidence-based programmes that combat targeted diseases and promote universal health coverage.
We are recruiting to fill the position below:
Job Title: Research Coordinator
Location: 3911, Abuja (FCT)
Employment Type: Contract
Paidjob posting
Project Background
- Malaria remains one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among children in Nigeria, accounting for a significant proportion of global malaria cases and deaths.
- While national statistics provide aggregated estimates, there is limited disaggregated data describing how severe malaria burden, clinical manifestations, and outcomes vary across age groups.
- Recognizing this evidence gap, the DISBURMA Study (Disaggregating the Burden of Severe Malaria in Paediatric Populations in Nigeria) aims to provide comprehensive, age-specific insights into severe malaria morbidity and mortality patterns among children and adolescents up to 20 years of age. The findings will guide health system planning, case management protocols, and malaria control strategies. The study’s overarching aim is to quantify the burden, clinical characteristics, and outcomes of severe malaria among paediatric and adolescent populations (0–20 years).
Purpose of the assignment
This is a multi-centre retrospective cohort study using routine hospital records of paediatric and adolescent admissions with severe malaria from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2025. Study sites will include the 18 health facilities selected to represent Nigeria’s epidemiological zones, urban/rural mix, and population density. The specific objectives include to:
- Estimate age-specific incidence, clinical presentations, and case-fatality rates of severe malaria among children and adolescents aged 0–20 years across multiple facilities in Nigeria (2021–2025).
- Examine temporal trends in severe malaria admissions and deaths by age, sex, SMC and non-SMC zones.
- Identify key comorbidities and complications associated with severe malaria.
- Assess facility-level differences in severe malaria burden and management practices.
Scope of work
- The DISBURMA Study will adopt a retrospective, multi-centre hospital-based cohort design, using data from 18 selected health facilities across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
- These facilities represent diverse malaria epidemiological profiles, urban-rural contexts, and population densities.
- The retrospective analysis will cover hospital admission records from January 2021 to December 2025, focusing on children and adolescents diagnosed with severe malaria.
- All admissions of patients aged 0–20 years with clinically or laboratory-confirmed severe malaria will be eligible for inclusion.
- Data abstraction will use a standardized electronic data capture (EDC) system (SurveyCTO), guided by a detailed extraction form and variable dictionary. Key variables will include demographic information, clinical presentation, laboratory findings, treatment details, comorbidities, and patient outcomes. A minimum of 100 severe malaria cases among 0-20 years over 5 years (2021-2025) will be extracted from hospital records.
Level of Effort (LOE):
- Data extraction of severe malaria cases from inpatient medical records (case notes), laboratory registers (malaria microscopy/RDT results), paediatric and emergency department logs, referral and discharge forms, and the national severe malaria register between 2021 and 2025.
- The research coordinator will provide technical oversight on the daily data extraction of severe malaria cases and the research assistants.
Specific Tasks
Research Coordinator:
- Receive briefing from the Malaria and Public Health team on the assignment
- Support training research assistants to identify severe malaria cases from registers and case notes
- Conduct monitoring and supervision of the research assistants
- Screen and validate the data collected from the study
- Analyse the study data
- Write activity and technical reports of the study
- Responsible for the day-to-day coordination and oversight of the study, including study preparation, data quality assurance, data management, progress monitoring, stakeholder coordination, documentation, and preparation of the final analysis-ready dataset.
Deliverables
Research Coordinator:
- Training report
- Monitoring and supervision report
- Data screening, validation and analysis results
- Data submitted by research assistants
- Activity and technical report
Person Specifications
Research Coordinator
Expert Profile:
- The research coordinator will have a minimum of a Master’s degree in a health-related course with experience in health services provision.
Qualifications, experience and skills:
Essential:
- Hold a postgraduate degree in health sciences, social sciences, or a related field.
- Minimum 5 years of research or equivalent subject-matter experience
- Experience in the use of electronic platforms to capture and report data
- Familiarity with secondary, tertiary and private hospitals management system
- Excellent communication skills
Desirable:
- Experience of collaborating with government institutions and non-governmental organisations or academic institutions
- Have an understanding of diverse audiences and cultures
- Have obtained training in health research ethics.
Application Closing Date
24th September, 2026 (5:00 pm).
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online
Note
- Interested and qualified candidates who are passionate and willing to contribute towards the achievement of our goals
- Safeguarding Requirement:
- Candidates must complete the Malaria Consortium Safeguarding Course on Kaya using this link Log in to the site | Kaya as you will be mandated to submit the certificate at the point engagement. Only candidates who provide a valid certificate will proceed with the engagement process.
- Kindly note that applicants who do not follow this specification will be disqualified and only Shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
- Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and as a result, the process may conclude before the advertised deadline. Therefore, early applications are highly encouraged.
- NB: Malaria Consortium does not accept or ask for payment during recruitment. We also would not accept hard copy CVs; all applications should be sent through the above link.
- Safeguarding: Malaria Consortium is committed to protecting children and vulnerable adults and ensuring that all staff, partners, and representatives uphold the highest standards of ethical conduct. Our Safeguarding Policy outlines our responsibility to prevent abuse, harassment, and exploitation in all areas of our work. We expect everyone working with us staff, consultants, volunteers, and partners to adhere to this policy and our Code of Conduct. By following these standards, we help create safe environments and reduce any risk of harm in the communities we serve.
