Research Specialist, Community Health Sciences

Aga Khan University chartered in 1983 as Pakistan's first private international university, is committed to the provision of education, research, and health care of international standards relevant to Pakistan and the region. The affiliated Aga Khan University Hospital provides state-of-the-art clinical facilities and well-equipped diagnostic services. The University currently has teaching sites in Pakistan, East Africa, the United Kingdom, and Afghanistan, and is a major component of Aga Khan Development Network.

As an equal opportunity employer, AKU believes in promoting a diverse and inclusive culture and is committed to adopt appropriate standards for safeguarding and promoting a respectful relationship with and between diverse workforce of its faculty, staff, trainees, volunteers, beneficiaries, wider communities, and other stakeholders with whom it works, including children and vulnerable adults and expects all employees/trainees and partners to share this commitment.

The Department of Community Health Sciences (CHS) is the leading unit of its type in Pakistan, recognized regionally and internationally for the relevance, quality, and extent of its work in support of public health and the development of primary health care systems. It comprises of five major operational sections: Epidemiology & biostatistics, Health policy & management, Population & reproductive health, Environmental health & climate change, and non-communicable diseases & mental health.

This is a grant funded contractual position.

• support quantitative analysis for district EPHS prioritization and costing, including population-in-need estimation, coverage analysis and ingredient-based costing of prioritized interventions in Lasbela and Upper Dera Bugti
• clean, manage and analyze data from HISDU/IMU, DHIS2, facility and HRH assessments using Stata, R, SPSS or advanced Excel, to inform the current-to-optimal gap analysis across community, PHC and first-level hospital platforms
• support operationalization of the LFA Matrix, tracking indicators, baselines and targets across outcomes, intermediate outcomes and outputs
• track input-gap closure, service-utilization bottlenecks and follow-up on corrective actions agreed through district and provincial review routines
• assist HSRU and HISDU/IMU, in coordination with Acasus, in strengthening independent monitoring, verification and data-use processes
  develop and maintain dashboards and visual summaries of coverage, readiness and utilization data for the Department of Health, HSRU and district teams, and contribute to HISDU/IMU information-system upgrades
• support community engagement and social-accountability activities, particularly in Upper Dera Bugti, working with community structures, LHWs, local leaders and district stakeholders
• coordinate day-to-day activities and work planning across AKU, the Department of Health and partner organizations
• track deliverables, milestones and agreed action points against the results framework, flagging risks and delays to the PI/Co-PI
• liaise with district health teams, PPHI and community stakeholders, and support logistics with local implementing partners
• undertake field visits to Lasbela and Upper Dera Bugti for data collection, facility assessments, validation workshops and district planning meetings
• prepare policy briefs, evidence summaries and technical materials for the Project Steering Committee (PSC) and District Health Coordination Committees (DHCCs)
• prepare technical notes, progress reports and presentations for the Gates Foundation, the Department of Health and AKU leadership
• document lessons learned and implementation experience to inform provincial scale-up and institutionalization

• master’s degree in Health Economics, Public Health, Health Policy & Management, Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Statistics, Social Sciences, or a related field from an HEC-recognized institution
• minimum 3–5 years of relevant experience in health systems research, monitoring and evaluation, or quantitative data analysis, preferably on a donor-funded or health-systems-strengthening project
• demonstrated experience with quantitative data analysis and statistical software; experience with data-visualization or dashboard tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau) is an advantage
• prior experience with provincial or district health departments, or on UHC/EPHS or health-financing projects, is preferred
• strong quantitative, analytical and problem-solving skills, with sound knowledge of research and M&E design
• strong report-writing, scientific-writing and presentation skills; fluent written and spoken English
• effective community-engagement and stakeholder-liaison skills; Urdu required, with Balochi/Brahui or other regional languages an asset
• ability to work independently, manage multiple priorities under tight timelines, and function within a multi-partner, multidisciplinary team
  willingness to travel extensively and regularly to Lasbela and Upper Dera Bugti, including remote and hard-to-reach areas

Comprehensive employment reference checks will be conducted.