About COMS-A

The Consortium of Medical Schools–Africa (COMS-A) is a bold, continent-wide initiative launched in March 2025 at the Medical Education 2025 Conference in Kigali, Rwanda. Bringing together more than 135 medical schools from 30+ countries, COMS-A provides a unified, African-led platform to strengthen medical education and research, harmonize curricula, foster collaboration, and shape policy in alignment with continental and global frameworks.

About the SHINE Initiative

COMS-A is launching the SHINE Initiative, a major continental program focused on two critical strategic priorities:

• Women in Leadership (WIL) in African medical education.
• Advancing Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) and Gender, Sexual and Reproductive Health (GSRH) through medical education, research, and simulation-based training.

To support these ambitious continental programs, COMS-A is recruiting this position for the Secretariat.

Position Summary

The Research Assistant will provide research, data, and monitoring and evaluation support to both SHINE workstreams: Women in Leadership (WIL) and MNCH and GSRHR. This includes supporting baseline and follow-up studies, providing quantitative and qualitative data support, coordinating surveys and research activities across COMS-A institutions, and contributing to literature reviews, policy briefs, and academic manuscripts. The Research Assistant will work closely with both Program Leads and the Secretariat team.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the continental baseline study on women in leadership in African medical schools, including data collection, management, and analysis.
• Assist with qualitative and quantitative research activities for both WIL and MNCH workstreams, including instrument development, data collection, transcription, coding, cleaning, and basic analysis.
• Coordinate online and institutional surveys across COMS-A member schools, ensure data quality, and maintain updated databases.
• Provide research and coordination support to the COMS-A MNCH Research Mentorship Program, including tracking projects, supporting training activities, and assisting with ethics and reporting requirements.
• Contribute to the development of MNCH and gender-responsive educational resources, curricula, and case studies by compiling evidence and supporting content drafting.
• Prepare literature reviews and contribute to policy briefs, technical reports, conference abstracts, and academic manuscripts.
• Support monitoring and evaluation for both workstreams, including indicator tracking, data visualization, and preparation of M&E summaries.
• Provide administrative and logistical support to meetings, workshops, and webinars, and maintain organized records and document repositories.
• Facilitate communication with COMS-A member institutions and partners, ensuring timely information sharing and follow-up.
• Perform M&E functions of both work streams.

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Public Health, Global Health, Education, Social Sciences, or a related field required; Master’s degree preferred.

Skills and Competencies

• Demonstrated research skills in both qualitative and quantitative methods.
• Prior experience supporting academic or programmatic research, preferably in health or education.
• Proficiency in data management tools such as Excel, and familiarity with software such as STATA, R, SPSS, NVivo, or similar is an advantage.
• Strong writing and editing skills, with the ability to synthesize information clearly and concisely.
• Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to meet deadlines.
• Ability to work collaboratively with multiple teams and stakeholders across different countries and time zones.
• High levels of professionalism, integrity, and discretion in handling sensitive information.
• Commitment to COMS-A’s values: Excellence, Equity, Collaboration, Integrity, Sustainability, and Social Accountability.
• Fluency in English is essential; proficiency in French or Portuguese is an advantage.

Terms of Employment

• Full-time position, based in Kigali, Rwanda.
• Initial contract of one year, renewable depending on performance and funding availability.
• Competitive salary and benefits commensurate with qualifications and experience.

• Support the continental baseline study on women in leadership in African medical schools, including data collection, management, and analysis.
• Assist with qualitative and quantitative research activities for both WIL and MNCH workstreams, including instrument development, data collection, transcription, coding, cleaning, and basic analysis.
• Coordinate online and institutional surveys across COMS-A member schools, ensure data quality, and maintain updated databases.
• Provide research and coordination support to the COMS-A MNCH Research Mentorship Program, including tracking projects, supporting training activities, and assisting with ethics and reporting requirements.
• Contribute to the development of MNCH and gender-responsive educational resources, curricula, and case studies by compiling evidence and supporting content drafting.
• Prepare literature reviews and contribute to policy briefs, technical reports, conference abstracts, and academic manuscripts.
• Support monitoring and evaluation for both workstreams, including indicator tracking, data visualization, and preparation of M&E summaries.
• Provide administrative and logistical support to meetings, workshops, and webinars, and maintain organized records and document repositories.
• Facilitate communication with COMS-A member institutions and partners, ensuring timely information sharing and follow-up.
• Perform M&E functions of both work streams.

• Demonstrated research skills in both qualitative and quantitative methods.
• Prior experience supporting academic or programmatic research, preferably in health or education.
• Proficiency in data management tools such as Excel, and familiarity with software such as STATA, R, SPSS, NVivo, or similar is an advantage.
• Strong writing and editing skills, with the ability to synthesize information clearly and concisely.
• Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to meet deadlines.
• Ability to work collaboratively with multiple teams and stakeholders across different countries and time zones.
• High levels of professionalism, integrity, and discretion in handling sensitive information.
• Commitment to COMS-A’s values: Excellence, Equity, Collaboration, Integrity, Sustainability, and Social Accountability.
• Fluency in English is essential; proficiency in French or Portuguese is an advantage.

• Bachelor’s degree in Public Health, Global Health, Education, Social Sciences, or a related field required; Master’s degree preferred.