[Hiring] Senior Research Methodologist @ICF

Role Description

The Senior Research Methodologist position sits within ICF's Global Health and Development Practice, which serves clients such as the U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of State, philanthropic funders, multilateral organizations, and national governments to strengthen health systems, generate evidence, and improve population health and development outcomes in low- and middle-income countries.

ICF seeks a Senior Research Methodologist to serve as Principal Investigator (PI) for a methodological experiment testing hybrid (phone + in-person) survey designs against contemporaneous Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). The study aims to preserve standard DHS elements under hybrid designs and will produce an evidence-informed decision framework for the DHS Program and the broader survey-research community.

This position is 100% remote/telecommute, with international travel to study countries.

What You'll Be Doing

• Provide overall scientific leadership for the experiment from design through implementation, analysis, and dissemination.
• Convene and lead a technical working group (TWG) of external experts, finalizing core design decisions with in-country co-PIs and partners.
• Lead development of the full study protocol and oversee IRB/ethics submissions in coordination with ICF and in-country ethics committees.
• Direct the analytic core of the study, including sampling and power design, dual-frame estimation, and small area estimation.
• Lead development and population of a cost-quality frontier, integrating activity-based cost and time data captured during fieldwork.
• Provide in-country and remote support to fieldwork, coordinating a single field workforce across two design arms.
• Lead post-hoc simulation of untested design configurations and translate findings into transferable decision-tree guidance.
• Lead the final report(s) and peer-reviewed manuscripts, and represent the study in conference and stakeholder presentations.
• Serve as the primary technical liaison to the funder and in-country partners, ensuring strong country ownership.
• Mentor and coordinate a multidisciplinary team, responsible for project leadership and technical task management.

Qualifications

• Doctoral degree (Ph.D. or equivalent) in demography, statistics, biostatistics, epidemiology, public health, a social/behavioral science, or a related quantitative field; OR a master's degree in one of these fields with 20+ years of relevant experience.
• Minimum 15 years of experience in survey research design and implementation, applied to population-based or public health surveys.
• Deep expertise in probability sampling, weighting, complex survey design, and estimation.
• Demonstrated experience with household survey operations in low- and middle-income countries.
• Significant writing experience, including study protocols, client/funder reports, and peer-reviewed publications.
• Demonstrated experience conceptualizing and leading research grants or contracts.
• Demonstrated track record of methodological thought leadership, such as conference presentations and peer-reviewed articles.

Requirements

• Experience with DHS or DHS-like surveys and with biomarker (e.g., malaria RDT) data collection.
• Experience conducting survey research in West and/or Central Africa.
• Familiarity with phone-based and multimodal data collection and the measurement challenges they raise.
• Experience partnering with national statistical offices, ministries, or other in-country institutions.
• Working proficiency in French.

Professional Skills You Will Use

• Attention to detail, organized, and proactive; able to manage multiple competing tasks and deadlines.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills.
• Able to make sound methodological decisions under real-world timing and budget constraints.
• Able to drive project progress across concurrent country tracks and a distributed team.
• Comfortable working across time zones and cultures with international partners.

Submission Materials

• Resume/CV.
• One writing or work sample on which you were solo or primary author.

Pay Range

The pay range for this position based on full-time employment is: $119,323.00 - $202,850.00.