Research Consultants

Call for consultancy: RESEARCH CONSULTANTS

Background

Family Health International (FHI 360) is a nonprofit international development organization dedicated to improving lives through integrated and locally driven solutions. FHI 360 works in health, education, nutrition, environment, economic development, civil society, gender, youth, research, technology, communication, and social marketing etc. Headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, FHI 360 serves more than 60 countries and all U.S. states and territories. FHI 360’s work is grounded in research and by advancing science, strengthened by partnerships and focused on building the capacity of individuals, communities and countries to succeed.

Since December 2020, the FHI 360 office in Vietnam has been in partnership with the National TB Programme of Vietnam (NTP) under the Support to End TB activity, funded by USAID. This project aims to support the Government of Vietnam to end TB by 2030, by supporting strategic and innovative new approaches for case detection, improved treatment outcomes and prevention.

As part of the effort above, FHI 360 calls for consultants to provide fieldwork services for a qualitative study on Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI) relating to TB. The main objectives of the study are to identify barriers and to understand how challenges related to gender and stigma manifest for patients during DS-TB diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. The study will collect data from 200 informants across 4 selected provinces, one northern, one central, and two southern provinces. FHI 360 anticipates hiring 2 research consultants to complete the tasks outline in the scope of work below.

Scope of work

The research consultant will support the project to 1) collect data and for approximately 25 in-depth interviews and 16 focus group discussions (FGDs), and 2) conduct qualitative analysis/coding to generate key findings and a final report. Key duties of this position may include but are not limited to the following:

• Participate in a preparatory training to be conducted by FHI 360
• Conduct qualitative interviews with key informants and people living with TB in Vietnamese language (up to 25)
• Facilitate focus group discussion with people living with TB in Vietnamese (up to 16)
• Summarize interview results in English after each interview/focus group discussion
• Contribute to revision and modification of the question guides (originally developed by FHI 360) based on the actual fieldwork experience
• Train interview assistants to take notes and support the facilitation of focus group discussion
• Code the interview and focus group discussion transcripts (in Vietnamese) in NVIVO for further analysis
• Write a short report for immediate reflection after data coding

Period of consultancy: From August to September 2021

Location of work
Hanoi (30%), and 4 study provinces up to one week each (70%)

Travel
The consultants are required to travel to 4 provinces for the fieldwork. FHI 360 will manage logistics and payment for required travel in accordance with company travel policies.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in public health or social sciences with at least ten-year relevant working experience
• Experience in social science research, preferred qualitative research in public health fields
• Computer proficiency in word processing, databases, and spreadsheets
• Advance skills in qualitative analysis software
• Knowledge and experience in health research, preferred on TB
• Good capability and sensitivity of poverty, ethnics, and gender issues
• Ability to work well with all project staff, implementing agencies, GNV counterparts, donor agencies and the communities.
• Well-developed written and oral communication skills in both Vietnamese and English
• Ability to travel (70% of consultancy period)

Evaluation Criteria

Applicants will be evaluated based on their experience (50 points) and qualifications (50 points) as detailed above. It is anticipated that two applicants will be selected.

Required Documentation

Proposals must include the following components:

• Applicant’s CV
• 2 references, including contact information
• Letter of interest to brief relevant qualification and experience
• Proposed daily rate
• FHI 360 Biodata form [1]

FHI 360 Disclaimers

• FHI 360 may perform a background check on any selected candidates.
• FHI 360 may cancel the solicitation and not award
• FHI 360 may reject any or all responses received
• Issuance of the solicitation does not constitute an award commitment by FHI 360
• FHI 360 reserves the right to disqualify any offer based on failure of the offeror to follow solicitation instructions
• FHI 360 will not compensate any offeror for responding to solicitation
• FHI 360 reserves the right to issue award based on initial evaluation of offers without further discussion
• FHI 360 may choose to award only part of the activities in the solicitation, or issue multiple awards based on the solicitation activities
• FHI 360 reserves the right to waive minor proposal deficiencies that can be corrected prior to award determination to promote competition
• FHI 360’s supplier terms and conditions can be found here [2] while our consultant terms and conditions can be found here [3]

Application

Application to this call should be submitted by email to [email protected] [4] with a copy to [email protected] [5] and [email protected] [6] no later than 5:00 pm Hanoi, June 15th 2021 with subject line “[SET_Application for Research Consultants].”