Research Operations Manager Job Jacaranda Health
Jacaranda Health
Job description
Project Management Jobs, Jacaranda Health Jobs.Responsible for coordinating research timelines, budgets, resources, vendors, fieldwork logistics, reporting, and cross-functional activities across Product Research and Implementation and Impact Research workstreams. The role also supports research processes, ethics, data management, donor reporting, and dissemination of research findings. Requires a Bachelor’s degree in Public Health, Social Sciences, Business, Management, or a related field, with at least five years’ experience in programme, project, research operations, or operations management. The position is based in Nairobi and requires on-site work.
About the team
The Research Design & Evaluation (RD&E) team is the heart of Jacaranda Health, providing evidence for product design, implementation, scale and expansion of Jacaranda’s programming. We pride ourselves on being data and technically adept, working with cutting edge technology to drive high value solutions for maternal health.
Key Responsibilities
Portfolio Timeline & Resourcing Management
- Maintain a consolidated view of active studies/projects across Product Research and Implementation and ImpactResearch, tracking timelines, dependencies, and team capacity.
- Coordinate sprint-aligned planning for Product Research and fieldwork-driven scheduling (data collection windows, enumerator/partner logistics) for Impact and Implementation Research, with understanding of varying team cadences.
- Flag resourcing conflicts or at-risk timelines to the Head of Department early, with proposed options.
- Accountable for portfolio-level delivery visibility.
Budget & Stakeholder Management
- Manage budget planning, tracking, and reporting for all research streams.
- Own vendor and partner-contract coordination (survey/usability tools, enumerator rosters, external data-sharing agreements), in partnership with Operations/Finance as needed.
- Accountable for budget accuracy and timely vendor management across the research portfolio.
- Accountable for donor reporting needs and timelines- owns the reporting processes and outputs in collaboration with Comms and Finance.
Process, Tooling, Administration & Compliance
- Build and maintain shared research operations infrastructure: intake processes, reporting templates, documentation standards, and tooling that serve both streams.
- Support administrative coordination for fieldwork logistics (facility/partner scheduling, ethics/IRB submission tracking) and for product-side research administration (participant recruitment scheduling, tooling access)
- Ensure legal and ethical compliance – manage data sharing and storage, in full compliance with all legal requirements.
- Accountable for research operations being repeatable and well-documented.
Cross-Functional Coordination & Reporting
- Serve as the operational point of contact between Research and other departments (Product, Tech, Data, Finance/Ops) on scheduling, budget, and process.
- Prepare routine portfolio-level status reporting for the Head of Department and Technical Leadership, flagging risks and challenges early.
- Accountable for keeping both streams’ stakeholders informed and coordinated.
- Accountable for timely internal communication of research insights organization–wide, improving the visibility of research learnings.
- Support the development of external research communications, championing external visibility.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree required in a relevant field (for example public health, social sciences, business or management)
- 5+ years in program/project management, research operations, or operations management; direct research operations experience.
Skills and Competencies
- Functional understanding of research methods and requirements, including study design, data quality, and interpretation and reporting
- Demonstrated experience managing budgets, vendors, and timelines across multiple concurrent workstreams
- Comfort operating across two different delivery cadences (fast-cycle/product-style and longer fieldwork/donor-driven cycles)
- Strong organizational and cross-functional communication skills; experience building or maintaining shared operational processes/tooling
Desirable
- Experience managing donor-funded projects and reporting, preferably within global health, maternal and newborn health, or digital health.
- Experience with research ethics and regulatory processes in Kenya (for example IRB and NACOSTI submissions) and with data protection requirements.
- Project Management certification.