IPA Blaise Survey Programmer Contractual Job in Kenya

Job Title: Blaise Survey Programmer

Project: AMHE Impact Evaluation
Deadline to Apply: February 28, 2013
Start Date: ASAP
Location: Nairobi
Contract Duration: 5 Months
Eligibility: Open to all Nationalities

Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is a U.S. non-profit organization dedicated to creating, evaluating, and replicating innovative solutions to poverty and policy problems worldwide.

IPA specializes in using randomized impact evaluation to assess the effectiveness of development programs.

IPA is seeking to contract an individual or company based in Nairobi who will be responsible for programming survey instruments using Blaise to support a health research project.

The survey tools are for the Africa Health Markets for Equity (AHME) Impact Evaluation, a research project that will collect data from small health facilities and households throughout Kenya in May - October 2013.

There will be 3 survey instruments collecting data on three topics from different sources:

(1) facility costs, administered to facility managers and administrators using multiple survey modules, each 1-2 hours long;

(2) provider quality, administered in checklist-style format to all clinical officers and nurses, taking 1.5 hours per provider; and

(3) a household survey administered to households with young children, taking 1-2 hours long per household. IPA will provide the programmer with the survey tools and complete survey instructions, including skip patterns, variable lists, restrictions, etc.

The survey will be conducted on netbooks using Blaise. Successful completion of this contract may lead to other survey programming work with IPA. Scope of Work:

• Programming surveys in Blaise based on written specifications from project staff
• Designing and implementing testing protocols for surveys
• Supporting users of the surveys and survey applications
• Designing system to export collected data sets into format suitable for statistical analysis software in Stata
• Creating clear documentation on all programming outputs for a non-technical audience
• Passing a quality control check from an external reviewer from outside the project

Timeline:

• March - May: Survey programming and testing.
• June & August: On-going support as survey round 1 and 2 are implemented.

Qualifications: 

IPA is seeking candidates who meet the following requirements:

• 3+ years of experience developing enterprise class applications in major programming platforms e.g. Java, .NET
• Experience with database systems and SQL
• Excellent time and project management skills and ability to meet deadlines
• Excellent written and verbal communication
• Experience with Blaise or other survey programming software such as Pendragron, ODK, or Survey be is highly preferred.
• Experience with survey logic, Computer Assisted Interviewing, designing tools for data collection, research or data management/analysis is preferred.

If you are interested, please follow the instructions below: 

To Apply: Please send two documents: (1) cover letter or company proposal detailing relevant experience and programming software used, including links or copies of past related work; and (2) detailed CV of lead programmer.

All files should be submitted in pdf.

Short listed candidates will be contacted to complete a sample exercise.

Applications can be submitted to any of our branch offices, or by email to jobs-kenya@poverty-action.org,or by post office using P.O Box 373,Busia area code 50400 Kenya:

If you submit by email, please ensure that the subject line reads:“Blaise Survey Programmer” ,REF NO:AMHE-2013-02-01. 

All applicants will be considered for the Programmer position.

Only short listed candidates will be contacted for an interview. Applicants are encouraged to apply early, as applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Disclaimer: The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of the work being performed by the Blaise Survey Programmer. 

The statements are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all possible duties, tasks, and responsibilities. 

Management reserves the right to amend and change responsibilities to meet organizational needs as necessary.

 Please note that IPA will never request any form of payment from an applicant. 

Applicants are encouraged to confirm the information listed above with IPA prior to releasing any extensive personal information to the organization. 

Please direct questions to jobs-kenya@poverty-action.org.