Job Opportunities at Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation

Project Overview ((Anticipated UNITAID COVID 19 Project)

The emergence of the COVID-19 global pandemic has posed new challenges to already strained health systems worldwide. Governments have had to start prevention, containment and mitigation measures rapidly while evolving as new information becomes available. The anticipated UNITAID COVID 19 project will work with the national and county governments Covid 19 response teams to accelerate end-to-end access to novel solutions for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic through testing, isolation, care and treatment approaches adapted to the needs of low- and middle-income countries such as Kenya.  The Community Engagement Officer  will be based in Nairobi County and will work with MoH and partners at national and subnational levels on novel Covid-19 testing solutions and approaches to improve access to COVID-19 identification and management.

Job Summary

Under the supervision of the Project Country Lead, in collaboration with Ministry of Health (MoH), local partners and the UNITAID COVID-19 Project, the Community Engagement Officer will undertake the following activities to strengthen access to Covid 19 testing and community case management in Nairobi County.

Responsibilities

Take lead in Community awareness and demand creation for COVID 19 testing, care and treatment through:

• Engaging schools, churches, social sectors, community-based organizations, and local NGOs to support community engagement and community mobilization for SARS-COV-2 rapid testing and symptoms screening.
• Collaborating with Public Health Emergency Operations Centers and MOH to coordinate work plans and identify needs.
• Assessments on communities’ perception towards SARS-COV-2 rapid testing and engagement to counter negative perceptions.
• Collaborating with other stakeholders to design messaging for demand creation and community preparedness with active engagement of key community sectors /leaders.
• Organize SARS-COV-2 rapid testing campaign (Know your status SARS-COV-2) based on the formative assessment and key promotion messages.
• Work with the care and treatment officer in follow-up of the patients on homebased Covid-19 management as well as support for the identification and testing of contacts.

Required Qualifications and Skills

• Degree in Social Sciences, psychology or other equivalent degree.
• Previous work experience with in Covid-19 related community project highly preferred.
• Must have a minimum of 3 years’ experience in implementing community interventions in health-related fields.
• S/he should have experience in community participation and consultative-type projects.
• Experience in community system strengthening will be an advantage.
• Experience with donor reporting is desirable.

Competencies

The Foundation expects all employees to possess the fundamental competencies of interpersonal skills, communication, accountability, continual learning, and driving results. The ideal candidate will be either proficient or advanced in the following set of competencies, specific to this position’s level of Officer:

• Team Building – Team building is a person’s ability to inspire and foster team commitment, spirit, pride, and trust. He/she also facilitates cooperation and motivates team members to accomplish group goals.
• Customer Service – Customer service is a person’s ability to anticipate and meet the needs of internal and external customers while delivering high-quality products and services and being committed to continuous improvement.
• Decisiveness – Decisiveness is a person’s ability to make well-informed, effective, and timely decisions, even when data is limited or solutions produce unpleasant consequences. He/she will also perceive the impact and implications of decisions.

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Project Overview (Anticipated UNITAID COVID 19 Project)

The emergence of the COVID-19 global pandemic has posed new challenges to already strained health systems worldwide. Governments have had to start prevention, containment and mitigation measures rapidly while evolving as new information becomes available. The anticipated UNITAID COVID 19 project will work with the national and county governments Covid 19 response teams to accelerate end-to-end access to novel solutions for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic through testing, isolation, care and treatment approaches adapted to the needs of low- and middle-income countries such as Kenya.  The Care and Treatment Officer will be based in Nairobi County and will work with MoH and partners at national and subnational levels on novel Covid-19 testing solutions and approaches to improve access to COVID-19 identification and management.

Job Summary

Under the supervision of the Project Country Lead, in collaboration with Ministry of Health (MoH), local partners and the UNITAID COVID-19 Project, the Care and Treatment Officer will undertake the following activities to strengthen access to Covid 19 case management within the community and health facilities in Nairobi County.

Responsibilities

• Support COVID-19 patient management as per the SOPs, identifying opportunities to improve efficiencies including integrated care for populations who may be at high risk.
• Collaborate with country lead to develop nationally-adapted algorithm to improve care and treatment of COVID 19 patients.
• Take lead to develop /Adopt SOPs, tools, and job aids to improve treatment for SARS-COV-2.
• Collaborate with MOH and other partners to develop innovative and efficient patient pathways based upon disease stage (e.g., community-based management for mild and moderate cases; clinical facility-based care for severe cases).
• Champion and support integration COVID-19 care and treatment into existing health programs mainly in TB, HIV and MNCH clinics.
• Support introduction and implementation of a basic COVID-19 care package, including a new holistic patient management algorithm in the project sites.
• Support holistic national implementation plans for current and future treatments, including WHO-recommended therapeutic interventions.
• Support a Center of Excellence to generate evidence for national guidance and scale up.
• Collaborate with a supply chain management partner to provide site level or last mile data for appropriate forecasting and inform resource allocation.

Required Qualifications and Skills

• A clinical diploma or equivalent is required with minimum of 4 years’ clinical experience. Educational and programming experience in public health is an added advantage.
• Clinical experience in a Covid 19 treatment center with patients is desirable.
• In depth understanding of both home based and facility based Covid 19 treatment guidelines.
• At least two years’ experience in infectious disease management in health sector preferably hospitals.
• Ability to translate and adapt international guidelines into local context. In-depth understanding of the country’s health system.
• Demonstrated ability to work with senior MoH officials at national and subnational levels.
• Basic computer literacy in using (Word, Excel, Power point).
• Ability to work alone and in teams and have strong interpersonal communication skills.
• Able to travel to different sites within county based on need.
• An experience with donor related projects is desired.

Competencies

The Foundation expects all employees to possess the fundamental competencies of interpersonal skills, communication, accountability, continual learning, and driving results. The ideal candidate will be either proficient or advanced in the following set of competencies, specific to this position’s level of Officer:

• Team Building – Team building is a person’s ability to inspire and foster team commitment, spirit, pride, and trust. He/she also facilitates cooperation and motivates team members to accomplish group goals.
• Customer Service – Customer service is a person’s ability to anticipate and meet the needs of internal and external customers while delivering high-quality products and services and being committed to continuous improvement.
• Decisiveness – Decisiveness is a person’s ability to make well-informed, effective, and timely decisions, even when data is limited or solutions produce unpleasant consequences. He/she will also perceive the impact and implications of decisions.

go to method of application »

Project Overview (Anticipated UNITAID COVID 19 Project)

The emergence of the COVID-19 global pandemic has posed new challenges to already strained health systems worldwide. Governments have had to start prevention, containment and mitigation measures rapidly while evolving as new information becomes available. The anticipated UNITAID COVID 19 project will work with the national and county governments Covid 19 response teams to accelerate end-to-end access to novel solutions for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic through testing, isolation, care and treatment approaches adapted to the needs of low- and middle-income countries such as Kenya.  The Country Lead will be based in Nairobi County and will work with MoH and partners at national and subnational levels on novel Covid-19 testing solutions and approaches to improve access to COVID-19 identification and management.

Job Summary

Under the supervision of the Director of Programs, in collaboration with Ministry of Health (MoH), local partners and the UNITAID COVID-19 Project, the Country Lead will undertake the following activities to strengthen access to Covid 19 testing, care and treatment management in Nairobi County in relation to COVID-19 Pandemic.
 Responsibilities

• Strategic dialogue and advocacy with country policy makers and ministries on relevant innovative diagnostics including self-testing and therapeutics.
• Advocacy for integrating covid-19 testing, care, and treatment innovations into existing service delivery platforms (e.g., MNCH, TB, HIV) through evidence generation, including through rapid learning cycles.
• Re-design diagnostics networks, using hub and spoke models, in partnership with MOH authorities, to facilitate rapid roll out of testing and reporting of results as part of building an optimized diagnostics network.
• Work with MOH and other partners to identify effective and innovative models of care to improve detection of covid-19 cases.
• Oversee rapid uptake of and access to covid-19 care and treatment, including through the implementation of innovative models of care.
• Provide leadership in development of innovative and efficient patient pathways based upon disease stage (e.g., community-based management for mild and moderate cases; clinical facility-based care for severe cases).
• Work with the MOH to develop holistic national implementation plans for current and future treatments, including WHO-recommended therapeutic interventions.
• Provide leadership in generation of novel evidence and cost analysis to inform policy guidelines and further scale up by additional countries/counties, donors, and implementers.
• Work with the community health strategies and other stakeholders to elevate the Community awareness and demand creation for COVID-19 testing, care and treatment services.
• Oversee effective and sustainable transition to national programs at the project close out.

Required Qualifications and Skills

• A bachelor’s degree in medicine and surgery (MBCHB) or equivalent. At least 5 years in infectious disease program work experience (especially within the context of health systems strengthening or health systems development in capacity building); or quality assurance/quality management.
• Actively engaged in the Covid -19 response at national and sub-national level.
• Ability to translate and adapt international guidelines into local context. In-depth understanding of the country’s health system.
• Demonstrated ability to work with senior MoH officials at national and subnational levels.

Competencies

The Foundation expects all employees to possess the fundamental competencies of interpersonal skills, communication, accountability, continual learning, and driving results. The ideal candidate will either be proficient or advanced in the following set of competencies, specific to this position’s level of Manager:

• Developing Others – Developing others is a person’s ability to perform and contribute to the organization by providing ongoing feedback and by providing opportunities to learn through formal and informal methods.
• Managing Conflict – Managing conflict is a person’s ability to encourage creative tension and differences of opinions. He/she will anticipate and take steps to prevent counter-productive confrontations while resolving conflicts and disagreements in a constructive manner.
• Managing People – Managing people is a person’s ability to build and manage workforce based on organization goals, budget, considerations, and staff needs. He/she will ensure that employees are appropriately recruited, selected, appraised, and rewarded. He/she will also manage a multi-cultural workforce and a variety of workforce situations.