Research Fellow (PhD or Postdoctoral) - LMIC Family Planning

Department: Client Engagement

Employment Type: Contract / Temp

Location: Remote - Global

Compensation: $6,000 / year

Description

What you’ll achieve:

• Develop and lead a manuscript around an agreed priority research question, building on existing analyses and data and conducting additional analyses as needed
• Produce a submission-ready, publication-quality manuscript for a peer-reviewed journal
• Translate complex survey and causal-modeling findings into insights relevant to global health policy and program design
• Contribute to Surgo Health’s growing portfolio of family planning research and thought leadership in low- and middle-income country (LMIC) contexts
  
  

1. Couples-linked segmentation in Northern Nigeria (Kano and Kaduna): How do women's and their partners' own attitudes toward family planning align or diverge, and what does this mean for programs designed to shift partner-related norms? This work links directly to an active program partnership focused on norm-shifting interventions in the region. 
2. Rethinking how we measure FP intention (Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Pakistan/Sindh): Standard measures of contraceptive intention – a binary yes/no, or a 12-month time horizon – may obscure meaningful variation in fertility desire, intent strength, near-term planning, and confidence. This paper aims to describe how we have developed and tested a more multidimensional approach to measuring intent across three countries. 
3. Patterns of change in FP attitudes and behaviors over time in FP journeys (Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria [Kano and Kaduna], Pakistan [Sindh]): Using panel data collected roughly a year to two after baseline, this paper aims to characterize which women's contraceptive trajectories are "sticky", and tests which baseline predictors of conversion, intent development, and discontinuation generalize across countries versus which are context-specific. 

• Determinants of contraceptive intention, uptake, and method choice in Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria (Kano, Kaduna, Lagos), and Pakistan (Sindh)
• Causal inference approaches to family planning behavior (e.g., Bayesian networks, causal forests, propensity score matching, doubly robust/DoubleML methods, G-computation)
• Segmentation-informed analysis using belief- and behavior-based segments to explain heterogeneous contraceptive outcomes
• Comparative, cross-country analysis of family planning drivers and structural barriers
• Subgroup and geographic vulnerability (e.g., state-level variation, rural/urban differences, adolescent and youth subpopulations)
• Contraceptive discontinuation and continuation dynamics
• Comparative methodology, including analysis that contextualizes findings alongside established survey instruments (e.g., DHS, PMA)

• Develop and lead a research paper within agreed priority areas, either building on existing analyses and insights from the GF-funded multi-country family planning studies or developing a new research question using the available data, with additional analyses as needed.
• Synthesize and translate existing findings and/or generate new analyses to deepen understanding of the mechanisms, risk factors, and protective factors shaping family planning behaviors and outcomes.
• If applicable, utilize rigorous quantitative and/or causal inference methods appropriate to the research question
• Draft and revise a manuscript for submission to a peer-reviewed journal, incorporating feedback from Surgo’s research team
• Collaborate with Surgo’s research scientists for methodological guidance and framing
  
  

• One submission-ready manuscript for a peer-reviewed journal (primary deliverable)
• Clean, documented analysis code and supporting analytic materials if appropriate
  
  

• Access to de-identified, multi-country family planning survey data under a data use agreement
• Codebooks and methodological documentation
• Regular check-ins with Surgo’s research team for methodological guidance and feedback on drafts
• Methodological and analytic support
• Guidance on funder framing and positioning
• Co-authorship and publication support
• Opportunity to present progress to the broader research team
  
  

• Project Duration: maximum 17 weeks (~4 months)
• Earliest start date: Oct 15, 2026 

• (Week 1-2): Confirmed scope of work (Week 1–2): For papers requiring new analysis, this is an analytic plan. For papers building primarily on existing analysis or an established framing (e.g., the intent measurement paper), this is instead a confirmed research question, agreed division of remaining work between the Fellow and lead(s), and a manuscript outline.
• (Week 6 or earlier): Preliminary results or draft findings (midpoint review)
• (Week 12 or earlier): Draft initial manuscript for internal reviews delivered
• (Week 16-17 or earlier): Final submission-ready manuscript delivered
  
  

About you:

• PhD candidate, postdoctoral researcher, or early-career researcher in a relevant field (e.g., public health, demography, economics, biostatistics, epidemiology, data science)
• Strong experience in quantitative analysis, survey data, and/or causal inference methods
• Demonstrated ability to produce rigorous, publication-quality research
• Experienced in family planning, reproductive health in LMIC contexts is strongly preferred 
• Experience in behavioral science and program implementation context is a plus
• Comfort working with large-scale, multi-country survey datasets
  
  

1. Understanding: In your own words, what is the core analytic challenge this paper is trying to solve, and why does it matter? (2–3 sentences)
2. Approach: How would you approach the methodological question below for your chosen paper? Walk through your reasoning, including tradeoffs you'd weigh.

• Couples-linked segmentation in Northern Nigeria: How would you approach measuring alignment or divergence in paired partner responses on family planning attitudes? What would guide your definition of "alignment," and how would you handle the non-independence between partners' responses?
• Rethinking how we measure FP intention: How would you validate that a multidimensional measure of contraceptive intention (fertility desire, intent strength, near-term planning, confidence) actually captures distinct dimensions, rather than one underlying construct measured multiple ways?
• Longitudinal typologies of FP journeys: How would you define and empirically identify "sticky" versus "fluid" contraceptive trajectories from panel data, and how would you convince yourself the resulting typology reflects real behavioral patterns rather than measurement noise?

1. Framing & Evidence Needed: Based on what's described above, what angle or framing would you propose for this manuscript? What evidence or additional analysis would need to emerge from the data to support that framing — and what would change your mind if it didn't?
   
   

• CV or resume
• Path A: the written response described above (up to 1,000 words), indicating which priority paper you're applying to. This can be a Word document or PDF file attached to your application
• Path B: the concept note described above (up to 1,000 words). This can be a Word document or PDF file attached to your application
• One prior peer-reviewed publication (strongly preferred), as first author or a major contributing author. If that is unavailable, submit a scientific writing sample. This can be a Word document or PDF file attached to your application
• Contact information for two references

Benefits

• Fantastic, fun and collaborative colleagues; opportunity to solve tough challenges in healthcare and global health
• Ability to be entrepreneurial, with tremendous opportunities for growth
• Public Benefit Corporation with an impact and equity mission