Note Taker (Plateau) at Malaria Consortium

The qualitative component explores acceptability, feasibility, implementation burden, fidelity, perceived effectiveness, equity and scalability. MC seeks six state-based Research Assistants (RAs), two in each state, and other state-level data collection team members (Moderators, Notetakers and qualitative data transcribers) to support the approved qualitative fieldwork. The RAs will work under the day-to-day technical direction and supervision of the Lead Qualitative Research Consultant and within MC-approved study procedures.

We are  recruiting to fill the position below:

 Job Title: Note Taker

Location: Kanke, Pankshin, Langtang North – Plateau

Purpose and limits of the assignment

• Note Takers to undertake approved state-level qualitative fieldwork.
• Note Takers document sessions and support debriefs; and Transcribers produce accurate, de-identified transcripts and approved translations.
• Note Takers will work under the technical supervision of the
• This ToR covers field personnel only. No cadre is engaged to independently design or amend the protocol, approve sampling changes, lead the consultancy, undertake study-wide qualitative analysis, or prepare the final integrated research report.
• Duties are allocated by cadre and may overlap only when specifically assigned, personnel are trained and competent, and the Lead Consultant authorizes the arrangement.
• Locations (Applicants residing in these LGAs are encouraged to apply) Kanke, Pankshin, Langtang North – Plateau

Qualitative Study Participants and Planned Sample

• The Lead Qualitative Research Consultant will operationalize the approved multi-stage sampling process with MC and government counterparts. State Research Assistants will implement the approved  recruitment plan and coordinate scheduling; Moderators and Note Takers will support eligibility checks and consent within their training and assigned roles; Transcribers will work only with authorized, consented recordings.
• No field cadre may independently change the sampling frame or respondent targets.

Participant Identification and Recruitment

• The Research Assistants, based in Kogi, Plateau and Sokoto States, with the support of the moderators, Note takers and transcribers will coordinate participant identification and recruitment for qualitative data collection in their respective states, working closely with Malaria Consortium (MC), State Programme Managers and relevant state/LGA authorities to facilitate official introductions, access to selected clusters and model facilities, and participant mobilisation through appropriate community and programme structures.
• The Research Assistants with the support of the moderators, Note takers and transcribers will coordinate the implementation of the MC-approved sampling and recruitment plan, ensuring that approved recruitment lists and eligibility criteria are followed. They will oversee the screening process, maintain accurate screening and recruitment logs, monitor recruitment progress and support the selection of participants representing diverse roles, geographical locations and levels of intervention exposure.
• The Research Assistants will coordinate with trained qualitative data collectors to ensure that prospective participants are approached appropriately, eligibility is verified, and recruitment and informed consent procedures comply with the approved study protocol and ethical requirements. Recruitment and consent will be undertaken by trained research personnel who are not directly responsible for providing services to prospective participants to minimize potential coercion and power imbalances.
• The Research Assistants will coordinate the identification, recruitment and scheduling of the relevant respondent groups in their respective states, including caregivers and community drug distributors (CDDs) from the selected qualitative cluster in each intervention LGA; health workers from model facilities serving the selected clusters; community/traditional leaders in the three Approach C LGAs; and programme stakeholders purposively selected based on their responsibilities for SMC, routine immunization (RI), primary healthcare (PHC) planning, implementation, supervision or oversight.
• The Research Assistants will monitor recruitment against the approved state-level targets and data collection schedule, document recruitment challenges, ineligibility and non-response, and promptly communicate any proposed respondent replacements to the study lead and MC for review and approval. MC will retain final approval of the recruitment matrix and any replacement of a selected respondent.

Supervision and working relationships

• The Lead Qualitative Research Consultant provides direct technical supervision to all four field cadres, including orientation, daily task allocation, coaching, fieldwork review, transcription standards and approval of routine adjustments within the MC-approved plan. Research Assistants coordinate state-level scheduling and day-to-day communication, but do not replace the Lead Consultant as technical supervisor.
• Research Assistants submit consolidated state updates; Moderators submit session completion records and interview issues; Note Takers submit session notes and debrief records; and Transcribers submit transcripts and discrepancy logs. Each cadre must promptly report consent, safeguarding, confidentiality, security or quality concerns to the Lead Consultant, with escalation to MC under approved procedures.
• MC retains overall authority for protocol, ethics, safeguarding, data governance, participant reimbursement and material changes to sampling or field procedures. MC/state/LGA counterparts support official introductions, access and approved mobilisation. No cadre may independently substitute participants, alter approved reimbursement or disclose study data.
• RAs and other data collection team members do not independently approve protocol changes, substitute respondents, alter reimbursement arrangements or share research data outside authorised channels.

Responsibilities of each Note taker
The qualitative data collection notetaker will support the moderator by systematically documenting important verbal and non-verbal information during interviews and focus group discussions. The notetaker will:

• Record key points, significant statements, emerging issues, and contextual information during each session.
• Document relevant non-verbal observations, including participants’ interactions, pauses, emotional reactions, gestures, group dynamics, and other behaviours that may contribute to interpretation of the data.
• Record the date, location, participant/session identification code, duration, and other relevant contextual details for each session.
• Avoid influencing the discussion or interrupting participants unnecessarily while taking notes.
• Where applicable, document the sequence of speakers or use participant codes to distinguish contributions during focus group discussions.
• Note issues requiring further probing or clarification by the moderator.
• Immediately after each session, review and complete the field notes in consultation with the moderator while the discussion remains fresh.
• Participate in post-session debriefings with the moderator to identify emerging themes, contextual observations, and potential gaps requiring attention in subsequent interviews.
• Maintain confidentiality and ensure that notes do not contain unnecessary personally identifying information.
• Securely store all field notes and transfer them to the designated research team member in accordance with the study’s data management procedures.
• Report any technical, logistical, ethical, or participant-related issues encountered during data collection to the qualitative research supervisor.

Expected deliverables by staff cadre

Field Logistics and Responsibilities

Qualifications and Selection Criteria for Note taker

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualification in Public Health, Social Sciences, Behavioural Sciences, Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, or a related discipline.
• At least one year of experience supporting qualitative research, including FGDs, KIIs, interviews, or field data collection.
• Demonstrated ability to take accurate, organized, and timely field notes, including key statements, contextual information, and relevant non-verbal observations.
• Good understanding of research ethics, informed consent, confidentiality, and secure handling of research data.
• Good communication, listening, observation, and organizational skills.
• Proficiency in English and relevant local language(s) spoken in the assigned state.
• Knowledge of SMC, routine immunization, primary health care, or community health programmes is desirable.
• Resident in the LGA of assignment and available to travel to selected study sites during the agreed data collection period.

Ethics, quality assurance and data protection

• All four cadres must comply with the approved protocol, ethics approvals, participant information sheets and consent forms. Research Assistants coordinate ethical recruitment and scheduling; Moderators verify and document consent, including separate audio-recording permission; Note Takers protect identities in field notes; and Transcribers process only authorised recordings and redact identifiers. Participation is voluntary and no field staff member may promise incentives. Any permitted transport reimbursement is determined and administered by MC.
• Every cadre must use approved study IDs, safeguard identifiable information, use authorised devices and secure transfer channels, and promptly report breaches, distress, deviations or missing records to the Lead Consultant and MC as appropriate. Recordings, notes and transcripts must be handed over securely, and local copies retained or deleted only as instructed by MC.

Quality Assurance Requirements:

• Only personnel demonstrating adequate competence during training/practical exercises will be deployed.
• All sessions must use the approved version of the relevant respondent-specific guide.
• Moderators and Note Takers must participate in post-session debriefs; Research Assistants maintain session QA and corrective-action logs; Transcribers must flag inaudible segments, inconsistencies and translation uncertainties.
• Transcribers will verify transcripts against audio and use agreed speaker codes; the Lead Consultant determines independent bilingual review and any subsequent analytical coding/double-coding.
• All four cadres document deviations and adaptations within their responsibilities; the Lead Consultant maintains the overall methodological and analysis audit trail.
• Each cadre submits its assigned editable field records, notes, audio metadata, transcripts, translations and discrepancy logs in approved formats. Codebooks, coding matrices and analytical projects remain the Lead Consultant’s responsibility.
• All editable datasets/files, transcripts, codebooks, matrices, coding outputs and analysis project files must be complete and submitted in agreed formats.

Performance assessment and payment

• Performance and payment will be assessed separately for each cadre against its assigned duties: Research Assistants—recruitment accuracy, schedules, trackers, QA and state handover; Moderators—ethical, complete and neutral FGDs/KIIs, probing and session documentation; Note Takers—accurate, timely field notes, metadata and debrief records; Transcribers—complete, accurate, de-identified and timely transcripts/approved translations. All cadres must comply with supervision, safeguarding and data-security requirements. Individual contracts will specify working days or output-based units, approved rates, acceptance criteria and payment milestones; no consultant-level analysis or final-report obligations apply.

Data Ownership, Management, Transfer, Retention and Deletion:

• Malaria Consortium is the Data Controller and retains ownership and control of all study data and outputs generated by every field cadre, subject to contracts and applicable law.
• Identifying administrative information must be stored separately from study data. Unique study IDs must be used on research data.
• Audio, transcripts, codebooks, matrices and analysis projects must be stored only on password-protected/encrypted devices and MC-approved secure storage locations, with access limited to authorized personnel.
• Research Assistants, Moderators and Note Takers must transfer approved field records securely; Transcribers must return transcripts and any approved translations through MC-approved channels. The Lead Consultant verifies completeness and coordinates final handover to MC.
• MC retains records according to organizational policy and applicable ethical/data-protection requirements; no field cadre may retain copies beyond the period expressly authorized by MC.
• After confirmed handover and on MC’s written instruction, each staff member must securely delete unauthorized local copies and confirm completion; no fixed deletion deadline is imposed here unless specified by MC.
• No data may be reused, published, shared or transferred to third parties without prior written authorization from MC and any required ethics/data-governance approval.

Reporting and Management Arrangements

• All four cadres report technically to the Lead Qualitative Research Consultant. Research Assistants serve as state-level coordination focal points; Moderators and Note Takers coordinate session arrangements with the Research Assistants and report technical/session issues directly to the Lead Consultant; Transcribers receive authorized recordings and submit transcripts through the agreed secure workflow. MC retains overall oversight and approval authority. Each staff member must communicate progress, delays, data-quality issues and safeguarding/security concerns promptly.

Application Closing Date
4th November, 2026

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 should kindly fill in the application form below and submit their resume in PDF Format before 5:00PM Thursday, 4th November 2026.

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.
• Kindly note that 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.
• Malaria Consortium does not accept or ask for payment during  recruitment. We also would not accept hardcopy 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.