[Jobs] Survey Statistician (Demography) / Epidemiologist – CDC Foundation

[Leora Lawton]

Below is a detailed job description for a position working in the Global Tobacco
Control Branch at CDC, through a contract through the CDC Foundation. Interested
candidates should forward their resumes to Connie Granoff at
cgranoff at cdcfoundation.org.

Best regards,
Jeremy Morton
jmorton at cdc.gov



Survey Statistician (Demography) / Epidemiologist – CDC Foundation

Summary

The CDC Foundation is a coordinating partner for the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce
Tobacco Use in low and middle income countries. As part of this initiative, the CDC
Foundation partners with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and
the World Health Organization (WHO) to develop a rigorous system to monitor tobacco
use and tobacco control indicators through the Global Tobacco Surveillance System
(GTSS). The GTSS comprises the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), the Global Adult
Tobacco Survey (GATS), and the Tobacco Questions for Surveys (TQS). GTSS is active
in 180 countries and data generated from these surveys are used by national and
international organizations. CDC serves as the lead technical agency, the Data
Coordinating Center for GTSS and the WHO Collaborating Center on Global Tobacco
Surveillance. GTSS consist of two teams - Surveillance and Monitoring and Policy and
Research Translation Teams - comprised primarily of statisticians, demographers,
health scientists, epidemiologists, public health analysts, economists, a public
health advisor, associate and senior Fellows, and two senior scientific advisors. In
addition, there are Prevention Effectiveness Fellows, interns, contract staff and
support staff assigned to the branch.

This position is a contract position at the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, Atlanta, GA.  Contract range: $70,000-75,000.  Benefit package to be
determined by contracting company. The position will focus on providing survey and
statistical expertise toward the development of a standard GATS protocol and
implementation of GATS in high burden, low-and middle income countries.

The Office on Smoking and Health’s Global Tobacco Control Branch collaborates with a
wide array of domestic, bilateral and international partners, governmental and
non-governmental agencies and academic institutions (i.e., National Cancer
Institute, USAID, Ministries of Health, National Statistics Organization, World
Health Organization [Headquarters and Regional Offices], Pan American Health
Organization, UNICEF, The World Bank, International Union Against Tuberculosis and
Lung Disease, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, CDC Foundation).

The purpose of this position is to provide leadership and direction in the
development, management, and implementation of the surveys, statistical and
demographic research and related to tobacco use and surveillance activities that
focus on tobacco-related behavior and attitudes in an international setting. The
incumbent has survey research experience and applies expertise in demography,
statistics, and epidemiology to the design and implementation of sample surveys in
the specified countries. Incumbent plans, collaborates and facilitates the
implementation of tobacco use prevalence and related indicators internationally and
works closely with high-ranking members of the Ministries of Health and WHO offices
and partners in these countries.

Major Duties and Responsibilities

1. Serve as a consultant and an advisor on international data collection projects
utilizing sample survey and studies that encompass a wide range of advanced topics
including statistical methods, research, and study design. Matters for which
consultation is provided include: demography, statistics, survey research, and
sociology in the design and development of research and evaluation studies related
to both international and domestic activities.

2. Provide consultation to international health and population agencies, such as
WHO, national governments, ministries of health, statistics and education,
non-governmental organizations and academic institutions to facilitate the
implementation of GATS. The incumbent collaborates internally and externally with
public health experts to ensure that valid research findings are disseminated and
applied to tobacco control activities.

3. Assist in the writing of comprehensive statistical reports that include analysis,
evaluation, and resolutions of tobacco control issues. Collaborate with analysts and
statisticians in international settings to develop joint analyses and publications.
Give presentations on survey findings and methodological and statistical approaches
to working with large data sets at national and international conferences. Prepares
statistical reports, graphs, charts, tables, and narrative material to be used in
publishing the surveys and results of studies and in giving oral and poster
presentations.

Qualifications

We are looking for an individual with a strong surveillance (e.g., survey
statistics, demography, and epidemiology) experience including scientific data
analysis and report writing skills. The successful candidate will have a Master’s
Degree (preferably a Ph.D.) in statistics, biostatistics, demography, epidemiology,
public health, or related field with extensive experience (3-5 years) conducting all
aspects of household-based survey data collection. Specific experience should
include development of sampling frames, management of data collection teams,
designing complex population-based samples, management of data entry and quality
control staff, and other relevant experience conducting field work in international
settings. Additional analytical and technical skills include advanced knowledge of
SAS, STATA, SPSS, SUDAAN, and other statistical, sampling, data management and data
entry software. Foreign language ability, field experience, and handheld data
collection experience are desirable. The successful candidate will have experience
in a role requiring complex internal and external organizations, as well as
demonstrated ability to work with efficiency and diplomacy, flexibility and as part
of a team effort and ability to travel up to 30% internationally.

• Utilizes statistics and research methods commonly used in scientific,
surveillance, or epidemiological research to analyze, interpret and report on the
public health burden of tobacco.
• Maintain the set data quality assurance and management standards and provide
expertise on enhancement of data analysis and quality assurance of the data
coordinating center.
• Experience in providing technical support, managing and assisting international
agencies to conduct large-scale international school-based and household-based
surveys.
• Knowledge and experience in utilizing survey methodology and statistical methods
to ensure quality assurance and dissemination of survey findings.
• Experience in sampling designs for household based surveys.
• Experience in providing high-level country specific and multi-country teams and
workshops on survey implementation, sampling and weighting methodology, data
analysis and scientific publications is desirable.
• The ability to handle multiple priorities and be flexible and responsive to
time-sensitive information.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Experience in dissemination and presentation of key findings in high-level and
international settings.




-- 
Dr. Leora Lawton
Executive Director, Berkeley Population Center
 & Lecturer, Sociology Dept.
112A Survey Research Center
Corner Channing & Bowditch
(510) 643-1270 (office)
(510) 928-7572 (cell)