Senior Project Manager, CODA

Job Brief

Senior Project Manager, CODA

Vital Strategies has engaged NGO Recruit Partners for this search. To learn more about this opportunity and apply, please use the link below. We will continue to receive and review applications until the position is filled.

Vital Strategies is an international public health organization. Its programs strengthen public health systems and address the world's leading causes of illness, injury, and death. Vital Strategies currently works in 80 countries, supporting data-driven decision-making in government, advancing evidence-based public health policies, and mounting strategic communication campaigns. Vital Strategies' priorities are driven by the greatest potential to improve and save lives.

They include non-communicable disease prevention and commercial determinants of health (tobacco, alcohol, and ultra-processed foods); injury prevention (including drug overdose, road safety, and gender-based violence); and environmental health (including air quality and lead poisoning). The organization’s programs are primarily concentrated in low-and middle-income countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Pacific. Please visit our website alstrategies.org to find out more about our work.

About the Cause of Death Determination Assistant Project (CODA)

The Cause of Death Determination Assistant (CODA) is a three-year initiative to design and test an AI-powered tool for cause of death assignment in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). CODA will address critical data gaps by improving the accuracy and timeliness of mortality data at both facility and community levels. The initiative is implemented by a consortium of global partners, with Vital Strategies serving as a CODA Consortium and Research Agenda Lead.

Other consortium partners include an Algorithm Development Lead and an IT and Software Development Lead. Governance will be provided by a Governing Board, and technical rigor will be overseen by a Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC). The SAC will convene Technical Working Groups (TWGs) to respond to specific technical demands encountered in the development of CODA and will be heavily involved in building research agendas.

The project will be implemented in three phases:
1. Prototyping, 2. Experimentation, and 3. Piloting and Product Release (phase 3 to be undertaken as part of anticipated follow-on grant). It is envisioned that by the end of the project, CODA will be positioned for adoption by countries, supported by regional Centers of Excellence (COEs) in Africa and South Asia.

Job Purpose

The Senior Project Manager will manage the development and operational work plans of the CODA Consortium. This role will involve supporting the co-creation of a common product development roadmap, critical path workplan, and Target Product Profile for CODA. Together with the Project Director and Principal Technical Advisor, Research, the Senior Project Manager will also be responsible for facilitating the full engagement of all consortium partners and the donor in the co-creation of these resources.

Working closely with the Project Director, the role will be responsible for ensuring the timely performance of tasks and production of outputs from governance structures, and critical path product development plans across partners, including managing interdependencies and deadlines in the execution of the CODA product development cycle.

The Senior Project Manager will also support the development of the Research Agenda and implementation of research activities. Working closely with the Principal Technical Advisor, Research, the Senior Manager will ensure the timely and scientifically sound execution of field-based experiments to test and refine specific components of CODA and to test the product on a limited scale. The role will also ensure compliance with internal policies and consortium member adherence to applicable country-level regulations (e.g., navigating Institutional Review Board/Ethics approvals), and support the Principal Technical Advisor, Research, in the implementation of knowledge management activities to support the initiative.

Lastly, the Senior Project Manager will support the proposal development to secure subsequent funding for CODA pilot testing and public release.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Under the supervision and guidance of the Project Director, CODA, and working closely with the Principal Technical Advisor, Research, the Senior Project Manager will perform the following responsibilities:

Consortium Management, Coordination, Compliance & Governance -