IFAKARA HEALTH INSTITUTE
VACANCIES ANNOUNCEMENT
(IHI) is seeking qualified candidates to fill research positions within the Malaria Atlas Project (MAP) Node. IHI is a leading health research organization in Tanzania committed to generating evidence for improving health outcomes.
- POSITION: RESEARCH OFFICER INTERN (3 POSITIONS)
Location: Dar es Salaam
Opening Date: 18th February 2026
Closing Date: 28th February 2026
Job Summary
Ifakara Health Institute is looking for qualified Research Officer Interns who will be based in Dar es Salaam to support the Malaria Atlas Project (MAP) Node, an African-based regional office responding to growing demand for country-specific subnational risk mapping analyses, bolstering technical support to national programs, and enhancing leadership, research and development in advanced modelling and analytical capacity for endemic-country modelers and institutions.
Responsibilities
Practice dissemination and research skills while actively responding to questions from malaria control programs (NMCPs) and other malaria stakeholders from endemic countries in Africa.
Enhance analytical and programming skills.
Perform data gathering and extraction.
Perform data management and visualization.
Design and implement small projects with time-bound deliverables contributing to overall project objectives.
Abide by institutional policies and procedures.
Attend conferences and meetings.
Take reasonable care for own safety and health.
Identify and assess workplace hazards and apply controls.
Report every workplace injury, illness or near miss.
Desired Skills
Ability to use tools to examine, analyze and process data such as R, Python and QGIS.
Experience developing dashboards and machine learning tools.
Eagerness to expand technical skills.
High attention to detail and self-scrutiny.
Good time management abilities.
Strong adherence to IHI core values.
Qualifications Required
Bachelor’s degree in relevant fields including statistics, mathematics, data science or similar quantitative disciplines.
Knowledge of public health, disease epidemiology, vector-borne diseases and ecology is desirable.
Preferred Language
Multilingual proficiency in English, Swahili, French or Portuguese.
- POSITION: RESEARCH SCIENTIST INTERN (3 POSITIONS)
Location: Dar es Salaam
Opening Date: 18th February 2026
Closing Date: 28th February 2026
Job Summary
Ifakara Health Institute is looking for qualified Research Scientist Interns who will be based in Dar es Salaam to support the Malaria Atlas Project (MAP) Node, responding to growing demand for country-specific subnational risk mapping analyses, bolstering technical support to national programs, and enhancing leadership, research and development in advanced modelling and analytical capacity for endemic-country modelers and institutions.
Responsibilities
Practice dissemination and research skills while actively responding to questions from malaria control programs and other stakeholders.
Enhance analytical and programming skills.
Perform data gathering and extraction.
Perform data management and visualization.
Design and implement small projects with time-bound deliverables.
Abide by institutional policies and procedures.
Attend conferences and meetings.
Take reasonable care for own safety and health.
Identify and assess workplace hazards and apply controls.
Report every workplace injury, illness or near miss.
Desired Skills
Ability to use tools for data examination, analysis and processing such as R, Python and QGIS.
Experience developing dashboards and machine learning tools.
Strong motivation to expand technical skills.
High attention to detail and self-scrutiny.
Good time management abilities.
Strong adherence to IHI core values.
Qualifications Required
Master’s degree in relevant fields including statistics, mathematics, data science or similar quantitative disciplines.
Knowledge of public health, disease epidemiology, vector-borne diseases and ecology is desirable.
Preferred Language
Multilingual proficiency in English, Swahili, French or Portuguese.
- POSITION: SENIOR RESEARCH SCIENTIST (2 POSITIONS)
Location: Ifakara Health Institute
Opening Date: 23rd February 2026
Closing Date: 6th March 2026
Job Summary
Ifakara Health Institute is seeking a Senior Research Scientist with advanced modelling skills to contribute to the Malaria Atlas Project (MAP) East Africa Node’s mission of developing cutting-edge geospatial analytical architectures to understand malaria risk and estimate burden of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax malaria. The role focuses on assessing intervention impacts and providing National Malaria Control Programmes with high-quality evidence for optimal resource allocation in malaria-endemic countries.
The Senior Research Scientist will be expected to follow coding and data management standards, develop methodologies for team use, and take leadership in preparing scientific reports and peer-reviewed publications. The role includes collaboration with malaria stakeholders, translation of model outputs to NMCPs, and capacity building through training, mentoring and supervision. Applicants from Africa, especially women and individuals from malaria-endemic countries, are strongly encouraged to apply.
Responsibilities
Provide statistical expertise in developing and implementing spatiotemporal models for malaria research including risk estimation, morbidity and mortality, transmission profiles and intervention impact optimization.
Guide others in analysis presentation, interpretation of results and formulation of conclusions.
Manage own academic research and administrative activities, including small-scale project management.
Lead collaboration and engagement with NMCPs to translate and communicate MAP modelling outputs.
Work closely with data science and data engineering teams on data pipelines, computational infrastructure and NMCP data requests.
Collaborate with the wider MAP group to produce malaria estimates.
Apply rigorous scrutiny of model outputs for all project deliverables.
Maintain high standards of data and code management, documentation and version control.
Contribute to development of new research projects and generation of research income.
Lead preparation of scientific reports and journal articles for publication in open-access journals.
Present research findings at regional and international conferences.
Travel to collaborators across Europe, the United States, Africa and Asia as required.
Take reasonable care for own safety and health.
Identify and assess workplace hazards and apply appropriate controls.
Report every workplace injury, illness or near miss.
Abide by institutional policies and procedures.
Desired Skills
Experience working with ministries of health in low- and middle-income countries, funding agencies and bilateral organizations.
Strong understanding of malaria epidemiology and public health surveillance systems.
Proficiency in one or more programming languages such as R, Python or Stata.
Knowledge of additional statistical software and data visualization tools.
Qualifications Required
PhD in biostatistics, mathematics or a related quantitative discipline with strong epidemiological knowledge.
Required Experience
Expertise in Bayesian modelling using Gaussian processes, including model scaling, validation, performance assessment and sensitivity analysis.
Experience in multi-metric analysis and covariate selection for large, complex spatial datasets.
Experience with advanced statistical libraries such as INLA, TMB or similar tools.
Strong commitment to best practices in coding, documentation and version control.
Experience working with national disease programmes and managing senior stakeholder relationships.
Experience in research design, implementation and analysis of routine health data in low-resource settings.
Understanding of data quality and utilization challenges in low-resource environments.
Ability to manage independent research activities, mentor junior staff and meet defined milestones.
Demonstrated success working in collaborative, team-based research environments.
Strong publication record in high-quality peer-reviewed journals.
Experience working with NMCPs and malaria surveillance systems including DHIS2.
Experience in developing and delivering training for diverse audiences.
Preferred Language
Excellent oral and written communication skills delivered in a professional and courteous manner.
HOW TO APPLY
Qualified candidates should submit their applications through Ifakara Health Institute’s official recruitment channels before the respective closing dates.
IMPORTANT NOTES
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
Ifakara Health Institute is an equal opportunity employer.
Women and applicants from malaria-endemic countries are strongly encouraged to apply.
ABOUT IFAKARA HEALTH INSTITUTE
Ifakara Health Institute is a leading health research organization in Tanzania with a strong track record in generating evidence to improve health outcomes. The Institute conducts research across a wide range of health areas including malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, child survival and health systems strengthening.