The Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) seeks an enthusiastic and resourceful full-time Senior Associate or Project Manager to support center-wide administration. A critical member of the Operations team, you will work across the Center to activate funded research, enhance financial management and information systems, and strengthen quality assurance, insightful reporting and process improvements.

About CEGA

CEGA is a West Coast hub for research on global development, with a network of 120+ academic researchers extending across the University of California, Stanford University, and the University of Washington. Our faculty affiliates design and test solutions for the problems of poverty, generating actionable evidence for policy-makers in low-and middle-income countries. Through careful matchmaking, competitive grant-making, and research dissemination activities, CEGA ensures that the scientific evidence we produce improves the lives of people living in poverty.

CEGA is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion –please read our values statement here.

Position Details

CEGA seeks a motivated Senior Associate or Project Manager to work closely with the Director of Operations in support of the Center’s operations. This is a challenging opportunity for professionals who are interested in research administration and global development; have a strong desire to use and deepen skills in project management, reporting and evaluation, and systems that advance financial planning and knowledge sharing; and are energized to contribute to the long-term success of a dynamic organization.

The Senior Associate or Project Manager will serve as the administrative engine for CEGA research and training programs. S/he will actively liaise with UC Berkeley Campus SHARE—the University’s finance and administration division—on behalf of CEGA regarding purchasing, reimbursements, finance, subawards and grants. The incumbent will also manage center-wide information systems and reporting, and contribute to operations strategy and process improvements. The Senior Associate or Project Manager is someone who is adept at analyzing complex, often interdependent variables and leveraging a wide range of practices to bolster and streamline CEGA operations.

Responsibilities

Financial Management and Contract & Grant Administration (60%):

• Liaise with central campus (i.e. SHARE/Sponsored Project Office) and CEGA’s program staff to (a) develop complex budgets, (b) disburse funds to researchers through grant competitions, including setting up subawards and other payment mechanisms, and drafting scopes of work, terms/conditions, deliverables, and (c) monitor award spending.
• Determine appropriate payment mechanisms for research grant competitions and other disbursements, during proposal development and program implementation, advise CEGA colleagues on execution, and collaborate with research teams to activate awards.
• Leverage various Berkeley systems and databases (i.e. CalAnswers, CADS, etc.) to conduct complex financial plans and analyses, including payroll planning, projections and spending, grant and year-end reporting.
• Provide technical assistance to CEGA program managers regarding budgeting, financial management, and fund closeouts, ensuring all grant funds are spent appropriately and by the end of their performance period.
• Set up new contracts, grants, and gifts to CEGA.
• Process reimbursements and vendor payments for events and other activities as needed.

System Administration (20%):

• Own administration of CEGA’s Salesforce database by developing custom fields, facilitating data entry, building reporting templates, running reports, auditing programs for data quality, and building staff capacity to effectively use the platform.
• Support administration of CEGA’s WordPress website, including general project management; recommending, tracking and executing upgrades; liaising with web developers; and providing technical assistance to staff.
• Administer other center-wide information systems, including Slack, Box, Google Drive, and Confluence (where CEGA’s intranet is managed).

Reporting (10%):

• Gather, analyze, prepare and summarize reports on center-wide performance, through Monitoring and Evaluation activities, for example: complex financial reports, return on investments, Advisory Board materials, and quarterly portfolio reviews, among others.
• Suggest new evaluation metrics and develop plans to track them.
• Lead ad hoc reporting as necessary to explore trends over time for CEGA programs.

Special Projects (5%):

• Manage student funding competitions by drafting RFPs, liaising with internal and external administrators, coordinating peer review, disbursing funding, tracking awardee performance and reporting, and managing invoicing.
• Coordinate CEGA affiliate nominations.

Center-wide Activities (5%):

• Function as a resource to help faculty, colleagues, post docs, graduate students, and external vendors successfully engage with Campus administration (SHARE/SPO).
• Contribute to internal CEGA working groups by assisting with goal setting, project management and implementation, and progress reporting.
• Participate in Center-wide activities, including weekly staff meetings, annual staff retreat, major events, maintenance of standard operating procedures, staff recruitment and onboarding, and performance management.

Qualifications

Your administrative and technical expertise, strong organization and communication skills, and interest in organizational development make you an ideal candidate for the Senior Associate or Project Manager, Finance and Reporting.

Education: You hold a bachelors degree (possibly a master’s) in related area and/or equivalent experience/training required. Ideally, you have significant training in business, public administration, economics, mathematics or a related field.

Experience: You have three years of relevant professional experience.

Skills: You have strong quantitative and Excel skills, and experience managing data, finances, developing financial forecasts and reports, preparing budgets. You are comfortable working in or learning computer applications, including Google Suite, Salesforce, and WordPress. Ideally, you are certified in Salesforce administration.

Communication: You are detail-oriented and have advanced writing skills. You are precise, clear, and creative. You use discretion and maintain confidentiality when necessary.

Organization: You are a strategic thinker. You can handle multiple projects at once, meet deadlines, and effectively manage your time with little direct supervision. Ability to anticipate and solve problems, independently investigate solutions to administrative challenges.

Cultural competencies: You are comfortable and adept at working in a diverse and multicultural work environment, with colleagues, partners and policymakers from around the world. You display cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Attitude: You love learning. You are passionate about international development policy and the rigorous research that informs it. You are agile, adaptable, self-motivated, hard-working, and collaborative. You have a sense of humor with a positive attitude in approaching challenges and uncertainty.

Desired Qualifications

Experience:  Experience with administration and/or development of Salesforce preferred. Candidates with Salesforce Administrator Certification highly desired.

Skills: Ideally, you have experience and comfort working with WordPress. Working knowledge of limited UC policy and procedures or capacity to acquire it rapidly.

Salary & Benefits

Compensation is commensurate with experience. UC Berkeley offers a competitive benefits package. For information on the comprehensive benefits package offered by the University visit: https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/compensation-and-benefits/index.html

How to Apply

***COMING SOON! PLEASE NOTE: This position is not yet live on UC Berkeley’s jobs website. Please check back to this page for an update on when the position is posted and accepting applications: https://cega.berkeley.edu/career/senior-associate-or-project-manager-finance-and-reporting/

Please note this position is not eligible for US visa sponsorship, though foreign nationals with permission to work in the US are encouraged to apply.

Letters

Recommendations to Improve Medication-Assisted Treatment Implementation in Correctional Health

Authors:

Clayton A. Barnes, M.D., M.P.H., Andrea N. Ponce, B.A., Rachel Loewy, Ph.D.

Special thanks to Ndola Prata, MD, MSc

Dr. Ndola Prata mentored Andrea N. Ponce in her Honors Thesis identifying determinants of modern contraceptive use among Filipina women of reproductive age. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in Public Health from UC Berkeley in 2019, Andrea joined the UCSF Public Psychiatry Fellowship at ZSFG as a research data analyst. She works on patient-centered and data-driven projects to improve care for vulnerable populations with severe mental illness. In her first publication, Andrea helped understand the barriers to and factors supporting implementation of a medication-assisted treatment (MAT) program in San Mateo County Correctional Health through stakeholder interviews.  Her thesis work with Dr. Prata was a critical stepping stone that allowed Andrea to thrive at UCSF.

Bixby Center is sponsoring the I4Y Speaker Series

Tuesday, March 9, 2021, 12:30-1:30 pm

Presenter: Claudia Cappa, UNICEF Senior Adviser Statistics and Monitoring

ZOOM REGISTRATION LINK:
HTTPS://TINYURL.COM/I4YCMYE-1

Click this url to see this flyer https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O7WDfoeB3F4EgPuDfrCPomFyAPqX0kQP/view

Bixby Center is seeking a student research assistant with background in graphic design to create two infographics to depict the key findings from the research brief as described below.  This research was funded by UNICEF.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Gender-based differences remain prevalent in adolescent development despite global recognition and efforts to address such inequalities. Drawing on longitudinal data from the Young Lives Study in four countries (Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam), the Bixby Center authored a research brief examining gender-based differences in four psychosocial domains–self-efficacy, self-esteem, parent and peer relations. Gender gaps were found at different ages and in different directions (sometimes favoring boys and sometimes favoring girls) across the four countries for three of the skills (self-esteem, parent and peer relations), highlighting the influence of contextual and sociocultural factors on gender gaps. The research confirmed that gender gaps are persistent and often favor boys.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Create two infographics to illustrate findings from the research brief on gender gaps in skills development among adolescents in Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam.
• Conceptualize and create illustrations/infographics from researchers’ rough sketches, electronic files, or in cases where the researchers might not have provided suggestions.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Able to create graphics with Adobe Creative Cloud apps (InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator).

• Able to develop advanced skills in graphic design software systems such as Adobe InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator.
• Strong visualization skills to transform complex information into 2D images.
• Current UC Berkeley student pursuing a major in graphic design, fine arts, design studies or closely related field.
• Interest and or experience with gender equity and adolescents preferred.

This project needs 20 hours required work that need to be completed in March 2021

Rate: $20/hour

Application deadline: February 12, 2021

How to apply: send one attachment of a brief cover letter and CV to siti@berkeley.edu and copy bixbycenter@berkeley.edu

This position is supervised by Bixby Center Executive Director Karen Weidert

Authors: Karen Hobday, Ndola Prata, Jennifer Hulme and Caroline SE Homer

https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S2214-109X(21)00003-6

Please join alumna Laura Stachel MD, MPH, DrPH and Dr. Ndola Prata at a webinar entitled The Power of Leadership, November 13, 2020, at 9:00 a.m.

As part of their 10 year anniversary, We Care Solar is hosting a series of webinars. This week, they are presenting The Power of Leadership featuring two of their board members: Maame Afon Yelbert-Sai and Ndola Prata.

Maame is from Ghana and has been active with the Global Women’s Fund and a program called Moremi that supports young African women in their own leadership journeys. She and Ndola will join Laura for an intimate discussion about women’s leadership. They will both be speaking about their own pathway towards leadership; Ndola will begin with her childhood in Angola, her work at UCB, and her international policy and advocacy work.

Sign up here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUpc-GqrD4vGdF_8m44Zge9t4fW6uf9UcOg

GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCHER OPPORTUNITY

Planning SRH services for adolescents: using a discrete choice experiment approach

SPRING 2021

Background

The Bixby Center for Population, Health and Sustainability within the School of Public health is looking for a graduate level student to contribute to a new US based study. The study will employ a discrete choice experiment (DCE) approach to elicit adolescents’ preferences for sexual and reproductive health services including contraceptive methods. We will explore what makes young people adopt modern methods, and what service characteristics are attractive to them.

Discrete choice experiments (DCEs) are a quantitative technique for eliciting preferences that can be used in the absence of revealed preference data. The method involves asking individuals to state their preferences over hypothetical alternative scenarios, goods or services. Respondents are presented with choices and asked to indicate which of two or more alternatives they would be most likely to choose2; this may include an option to choose none. This approach is particularly useful when information on actual choices is unavailable, when there is little variation among currently available alternatives and for exploring preferences for new services not yet available outside clinic services. All of these reasons apply to the case of adolescent SRH in California, especially in underserved areas. DCE data can also be used to develop strategies for the introduction of new services, service delivery models or policies as well as to monitor existing services by tailoring them to youth preferences.

Appointment Period: January 12- May 14, 2021

*Possibility to extend through summer semester

Time commitment: 10 hours per week (25%)

Total compensation: GSR Level II @ 25% with partial fee remission

Position Responsibilities

• Conduct literature reviews on adolescent sexual and reproductive health (SRH) to identify an initial set of contraceptive methods attributes for potential inclusion in the DCE.
• Conduct in-depth interviews with adolescents (via Zoom) to ensure final set of attributes are relevant and valid for this population and that we did not miss a key attribute.
• Support PIs in development of attribute combinations and choice sets for the 10 item questionnaire.
• Collaborate with PIs to submit the Center for Protection of Human Subjects at UC Berkeley, seeking study approval, including support in developing a full study protocol including consent forms, data collection tools and data management procedures.
• Pilot test the questionnaire and oversee revisions.
• Interview adolescents 15-19 years via Zoom using structured questionnaire.
• Conduct data entry and code of explanatory variables.
• Supports PIs in data analysis, including identification of interaction effects, with the type of choice modeled (binary or multinomial). Response data will be modelled within a benefit (or satisfaction) function which provides information on whether or not the given characteristics of the methods are important; the relative importance of characteristics; the rate at which individuals are willing to trade between characteristics; and overall benefit scores for alternative scenarios.
• Support interpreting and writing up results as needed.

Direct Supervisor: Ndola Prata, Faculty Director of Bixby Center

Qualifications

• Completed at least 1 year of Master’s or Doctoral program in School of Public Health.
• High interest, and relevant coursework and experience in adolescent SRH, particularly US based.
• Experience with advanced statistical methods, with demonstrated expertise in organization and analysis of quantitative datasets and statistical modeling.
• Excellent organizational skills and academic writing.
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• A collaborative approach and ability to work independently.
• Ability to work collaboratively and with adolescents.
• Due to the position funding source, applicants must be a California Resident.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience designing and implementing discrete choice experiments, a quantitative technique for eliciting preference data

To apply, email bixbycenter@berkeley.edu with CV/resume and cover letter.

Deadline: October 30, 2020