Study Research Consultant (IMPAACT4HIV Project) at an Indigenous Non-profit and Non-governmental Organization

Job Title: Study Research Consultant (IMPAACT4HIV Project)

Location: Abuja (FCT)
Employment Type: Full-time

Background

• The IMPAACT4HIV Project is a three-and-a-half-year multi-country implementation research initiative funded by UNITAID through the Aurum Institute, focused on improving access to comprehensive care for children living with advanced HIV disease (AHD) across six (6) African countries: South Africa, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria.
• The project aims to develop and evaluate context-specific, cost-effective interventions that are co-designed with communities and policy actors to improve the uptake of, and strengthen AHD service delivery models; ensure a more diversified, responsive, and sustainable AHD commodity supply; and generate evidence to inform sustainable country-wide scale-up and transition, as well as support global advocacy to facilitate donor prioritization and inclusion of the pediatric care package in country health strategies.
• The Implementing Partner leads the consortium implementation in Nigeria, in collaboration with global and local partners.
• Advanced HIV Disease (AHD) remains a significant contributor to morbidity and mortality among people living with HIV, particularly due to increased vulnerability to opportunistic infections and severe bacterial infections (SBIs). Despite the availability of global guidance for AHD management, gaps remain in specific guidance for SBI diagnosis and treatment, particularly regarding empiric antibiotic use, availability of diagnostic tools, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance, and alignment with antimicrobial stewardship principles.
• The Project is thus conducting a situational assessment study to identify gaps and opportunities for improving the diagnosis and treatment of SBIs among people with AHD in Nigeria.
• The assessment will combine desk review and qualitative interviews to explore factors influencing SBI management, including guideline development, clinical practices, antibiotic stewardship, and opportunities for improvement.
• The desk review component will assess relevant policies, guidelines, programme documents, and scientific literature to determine existing recommendations, evidence gaps, and alignment with global frameworks, including the WHO Access, Watch and Reserve (AWaRe) classification.
• The Implementing Partner is therefore seeking a qualified consultant to conduct the desk review component of the assessment.

Purpose of the Consultancy

• The purpose of this consultancy is to conduct a comprehensive desk review of existing evidence, guidelines, policies, and programme documents related to the diagnosis and treatment of SBIs among people with AHD in Nigeria, covering both adult and pediatric frameworks, with a prioritized emphasis on pediatric and adolescent populations and, in conjunction with qualitative data, generate findings that will inform recommendations for improving SBI management practices.

Specifically, the Consultant will:

• Identify and review relevant national and subnational HIV, AHD, infectious disease, antimicrobial resistance, and treatment guidelines.

Assess the extent to which existing guidelines provide recommendations for:

• Diagnosis of SBIs among people with AHD;
• Empiric antibiotic treatment approaches;
• Use of microbiological and diagnostic tools;
• Referral and management pathways;
• Antimicrobial stewardship.
• Examine how bacterial epidemiology and AMR data are incorporated into SBI treatment recommendations.

Assess alignment of existing guidance with:

• WHO AHD management recommendations;
• WHO AWaRe antibiotic classification framework;
• Current antimicrobial stewardship principles.
• Review published and grey literature on SBI burden, pathogens, resistance patterns, and treatment practices among people with HIV/AHD in Nigeria.
• Identify gaps, inconsistencies, and opportunities for strengthening SBI diagnosis and treatment policies and practices.

Scope of Work
The Consultant will conduct a structured desk review covering:

• Policy and Guidelines Reviews.

Documents may include:

• National HIV treatment guidelines;
• Advanced HIV Disease guidelines;
• Opportunistic infection management guidelines;
• National antimicrobial resistance strategy documents;
• Standard treatment guidelines;
• Essential medicines lists;
• Laboratory guidelines;
• Infection prevention and control guidance;
• Relevant state-level policies and implementation guidance.

Program and Implementation Documents ReviewsIncluding:

• HIV program reports;
• AHD implementation reports;
• Facility assessment reports;
• Monitoring and evaluation reports;
• Partner program reports;
• Relevant technical briefs.

Literature ReviewIncluding:

• Peer-reviewed publications;
• Research studies;
• Surveillance reports;
• AMR studies;
• Relevant systematic reviews.

Methodology:
The consultant shall:

• Develop an inception report detailing:
• Review methodology;
• Search strategy;
• Inclusion/exclusion criteria;
• Data extraction approach;
• Analysis framework.
• Conduct document identification and retrieval through:
• Government repositories;
• Academic databases;
• International agency resources;
• Partner documentation.
• Apply a systematic document review framework.
• Extract information using an agreed data extraction template covering:

• Synthesize findings and develop recommendations.
• Validate findings with the study team and relevant stakeholders.

Institutional Inputs and Support from the Implementing Partner:
To facilitate the execution of this assignment, the Implementing Partner will provide the consultant with:

• Initial program implementation records, project briefs, and core stakeholder mapping.
• Formal introductory channels to the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), NASCP, and facility-level leads to simplify the collection of unpublished “grey literature” and state-specific implementation reports.
• Standard feedback loops and structured data-extraction review sessions with the IMPAACT4HIV technical team.

Key Deliverables and Timeline
The consultant is expected to complete the deliverables within 4 to 6 weeks from contract signing. Deliverables are structured around key verification milestones:

Consultant Qualifications and Experience
Education:

• Advanced Degree (Master’s or higher) in: Public Health; Epidemiology; Infectious Diseases; Health Systems; Global Health; related fields.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of experience in public health research, programme evaluation, or evidence synthesis.
• Demonstrated experience conducting systematic/desk reviews.
• Strong knowledge of HIV programming, AHD, opportunistic infections, and antimicrobial stewardship.
• Experience reviewing health policies, guidelines, and technical documents.
• Experience working in Nigeria’s HIV programme environment preferred.
• Experience producing high-quality technical reports for donors/government stakeholders.

Reporting and Supervision:

• The Consultant will report directly to the Implementing Partner’s I4HIV Project Lead / Principal Investigator and collaborate closely with the Implementing Partner technical team, NASCP representatives, and IMPAACT4HIV consortium partners.

Confidentiality, Data Ownership, and Publication Rights:

• All documents, data, information, materials, analyses, reports, and other outputs generated, collected, accessed, or produced under this consultancy, whether in draft or final form, shall remain the sole property of the Implementing Partner.
• The Consultant shall maintain strict confidentiality of all non-public information obtained during the course of the assignment and shall not disclose, share, reproduce, or use such information for any purpose other than the performance of the consultancy without the prior written consent of the Implementing Partner.
• The Consultant acknowledges that all intellectual property rights in the deliverables and outputs arising from this consultancy shall vest exclusively in the Implementing Partner.
• The Consultant shall not publish, present, disseminate, submit for publication, or otherwise make public any findings, analyses, reports, data, or other materials derived from or related to this consultancy, including through academic, professional, or other channels, without the prior written authorization of the Implementing Partner.

Proposal Requirements:
Interested consultants should submit:

• Technical proposal including:
• Understanding of assignment;
• Proposed methodology;
• Detailed Workplan.
• Financial proposal broken down against milestones
• Updated CV highlighting relevant experience.
• Examples/Samples of similar desk review or research reports completed.

Application Closing Date
28th October, 2026.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their Current CV & Suitability statement not more than 200 words, indicating the position and location, in Microsoft Word or PDF format to: projectrecruitment255@gmail.com using the Job Title, Location, and Applicant’s Full Name (e.g., “COM01 Abuja, ADESUWA NWACHUKWU”) as the subject of the email.
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Note

• It is important to apply via the link and the mail, as applications sent to ONLY the email address will be considered invalid.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted to advance to the next stage of the selection process.
• Grant duration: Subject to availability of funds and exceptional grant performance.
• We believe in Equal Employment Opportunity and strongly encourage qualified Locals and women to apply.
• Applications are reviewed in the order of arrival, and we reserve the right to close the advert before the term initially indicated if suitable applications are received.
• This organization does not charge any fees for submission of job applications and interviews.