Senior Research Methodologist — Principal Investigator, Multimodal Survey Experiment

ICF•Reston, VA

1d•Remote

About The Position

ICF’s Global Health and Development Practice is seeking a Senior Research Methodologist to serve as Principal Investigator (PI) for a methodological experiment comparing hybrid phone and in-person survey designs with contemporaneous Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). The study will assess how well hybrid designs preserve representative biomarker data, small area estimation, and measurement performance, and under what conditions and costs. It will field household-first and phone-first designs alongside contemporaneous DHS surveys in two countries in West and Central Africa, including malaria biomarkers, and produce an evidence-informed decision framework and guidance for the DHS Program and the broader survey-research community. The PI is the study’s single point of technical and coordinating accountability, leading a multidisciplinary ICF team and working closely with in-country co-PIs at national statistical offices. The grant-funded position spans two years, is 100% remote/telecommute, and includes international travel to the study countries. The role has no direct personnel-management authority, but includes project leadership and technical task management in collaboration with survey managers and finance and operations staff.

Requirements

Doctoral degree (Ph.D. or equivalent) in demography, statistics, biostatistics, epidemiology, public health, a social/behavioral science, or a related quantitative field; alternatively, a master’s degree in one of these fields with 20 or more years of relevant experience.
At least 15 years of experience in survey research design and implementation applied to population-based or public health surveys; alternatively, 20 or more years with a master’s degree, as specified above.
Deep expertise in probability sampling, weighting, complex survey design, and estimation.
Ability to independently conduct and interpret advanced analyses, such as dual-frame estimation, mode-effects analysis, small area estimation, and equivalence testing, and to mentor others.
Demonstrated experience with household survey operations in low- and middle-income countries.
Significant writing experience, including study protocols, client or funder reports, and peer-reviewed publications.
Demonstrated experience conceptualizing and leading research grants or contracts.
Demonstrated methodological thought leadership, such as conference presentations and peer-reviewed articles.
Strong attention to detail, organization, and initiative; ability to manage competing tasks and deadlines and negotiate priorities.
Exceptional verbal and written communication, including explaining methodological concepts to funders, country partners, and technical teams.
Ability to make sound methodological decisions under real-world timing and budget constraints while protecting scientific integrity.
Ability to drive progress across concurrent country tracks and a distributed team in collaboration with in-country co-PIs and ICF operations staff.
Comfort working across time zones and cultures with international partners.

Nice To Haves

Experience with DHS or DHS-like surveys and biomarker data collection, such as malaria rapid diagnostic testing.
Experience conducting survey research in West and/or Central Africa.
Familiarity with phone-based and multimodal data collection, including random-digit dialing, list-based, or hybrid designs, and their measurement challenges.
Experience partnering with national statistical offices, ministries, or other in-country institutions.
Working proficiency in French.

Responsibilities

Provide scientific leadership for the experiment from design through implementation, analysis, and dissemination, serving as the technical lead across two concurrent country tracks.
Convene and lead a technical working group of external experts, and finalize core design decisions with in-country co-PIs and partners, including content scope, representativeness targets, and content-triage grading criteria.
Lead development of the study protocol and oversee IRB and ethics submissions in coordination with ICF and in-country ethics committees.
Direct the study’s analytic work, including sampling and power design, dual-frame estimation, non-response and replacement protocols, mode-effects estimation, and small area estimation, in collaboration with the sampler, methodologist, and data scientist/modeler.
Develop and populate a cost-quality frontier using activity-based cost and time data captured during fieldwork.
Provide in-country and remote fieldwork support, coordinating one field workforce across two design arms alongside the contemporaneous DHS, including malaria biomarker collection.
Lead post-hoc simulation of untested design configurations and translate results into decision-tree and heuristic guidance for future survey designers.
Lead final reports and peer-reviewed manuscripts, and represent the study at conferences and stakeholder presentations.
Serve as the primary technical liaison to the funder and in-country partners, supporting country ownership and adherence to Global Access and open-data commitments.
Mentor and coordinate a multidisciplinary team and manage technical tasks in collaboration with survey managers and finance and operations staff.