Project Coordinator: Routine Vaccination at The Center for International Health, Education and Biosecurity (CIHEB)

Job Summary

Reporting to the Program Director, the Project Coordinator will provide expertise in the design, implementation, evaluation and documentation of interventions to strengthen catch-up vaccination for infants in select counties. This will include providing technical input in the design of catch up vaccination to improve the planning, implementation, data analysis and use, management, coordination, training, monitoring, and/or evaluation of immunization services (linked also with primary health care, universal health coverage, and broader health systems, as appropriate). The Project Coordinator will work with the Ministry of Health’s National Vaccination and Immunization Program-NVIP and the county health management teams  to implement activities under this project. This role will support the Technical Assistance to Ready and Accelerate Capacities of Public Health Programs in Kenya (TRACK) program in achieving its deliverables within the specified counties.

Roles and Responsibilities

• In collaboration with NVIP, support protocol development on strategies for catch up vaccination and finalization for approval by the local and CDC IRBs.
• Identify missed opportunities for vaccination in routine vaccination in identified counties to inform the design of strategies to address these
• Coordinate the situational assessment of routine vaccination status in identified counties including the conduct of focus group discussions and indepth interviews to determine facilitators and barriers to access to routine vaccination
• Participate in identification and implementation of 1-5 key strategies for optimizing catch up vaccination.
• Support in designing and implementation of the M&E plan for catch up vaccination for routine immunization.
• Liaise with NVIP to update policies, guidelines and documents regarding catch-up and routine vaccination based on successful strategies
• Participate in the target setting for catch-up vaccination in the counties assigned and provide oversight in the achievement of set targets.
• Ensure optimal coordination of routine immunization at the county, sub-county, and facility level for increased vaccination coverage amongst the target population.
• Provide facility mentorship to effect a step-wise increase in routine and catch-up immunization coverage by embracing a health systems approach to enhancing vaccines uptake.
• In liaison with the county vaccines coordinator, ensure vaccines commodity management is optimal by ensuring all antigen vaccines are collected at the respective regional stores and distributed to the sub-counties and to health facilities on time.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s Degree in health-related field
• A Master’s Degree in Public Health or a related field will be an added advantage
• Experience: Minimum seven (7) years direct experience providing technical assistance on routine immunization at the national or sub-national level in Kenya.
• Experience in qualitative research
• Travel: Ability and willingness to travel.

Competencies

• Experience collaborating with the national and county governments, international agencies and/or NGO public health programs.
• Proven ability to assess routine immunization needs and to develop and implement successful program interventions, including prior experience with: 1) national or sub-national immunization planning including mass vaccination campaigns and Periodic intensification of routine immunization (PIRI); skills in microplanning, forecasting, target setting and inventory management; design of community-oriented strategies to increase coverage, equity, and sustainability; 4) use of immunization data for monitoring and decision making; assessment of cold chain and logistics performance and needs; and, 6) other actions to sustain quality immunization services.
• Excellent interpersonal, supervisory skills, and demonstrated ability to build and manage professional relationships effectively with technical experts, other partners and donor agencies.
• Experience working with USG rules and regulations is highly desirable.
• Experience and success working in complex environments, with teams whose members are physically located in different time zones and geographic areas.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze, assess and organize information and communicate to a diverse audience effectively.
• Ability to work independently, manage multiple tasks concurrently, and meet deadlines with attention to detail and quality.
• Excellent written and oral communication and computer skills (including with various electronic platforms); technical writing experience (guidelines, publications)
• Strong initiative and self-motivation required, with a commitment to teamwork and effectiveness within a non-hierarchical, participatory management environment.

Before 24th  May 2022.