Surveillance Program Officer (Central and East Africa) (9966) at PATH

Job Description

PATH is a global organization that works to accelerate health equity by bringing together public institutions, businesses, social enterprises, and investors to solve the world’s most pressing health challenges. With expertise in science, health, economics, technology, advocacy, and dozens of other specialties, PATH develops and scales solutions—including vaccines, drugs, devices, diagnostics, and innovative approaches to strengthening health systems worldwide.

PATH seeks a surveillance program officer to support a potential CDC-funded project entitled “Enhancing Global Health Security: Expanding Efforts and Strategies to Protect and Improve Public Health Globally.” The project goal is to build upon activities funded by CDC to support global health security through implementation of programs and activities that focus on protecting and improving health globally through partnerships with Ministries of Health and other governmental institutions.

The surveillance program officer would be based in Nairobi and would work closely with country and regional teams in Central and East Africa as well as global teams, and in collaboration with donors as well as national and international project partners. The surveillance program officer would provide technical leadership and support to the design, implementation, and monitoring of strategies and activities to integrate and strengthen disease surveillance systems within and across countries in Central and East Africa.

This position would operate under management and oversight of the project director based in Nairobi and report to the project director of Global Health Security based in PATH headquarters.

Key responsibilities include:

• Provide technical assistance to project partners for activity implementation in strengthening electronic integrated disease surveillance and response systems as well as cross-border surveillance networks.
• Support efforts to improve in real-time reporting, data sharing, and interoperability among surveillance and laboratory systems.
• Support the development and dissemination of surveillance standard operating procedures and guidelines.
• Participate in data quality assurance activities.
• Identify issues/challenges and develop strategies for effective implementation.
• Work closely with partners, regional, and country technical leads and other stakeholders to ensure coordinated approach to project implementation.
• Coordinate with the project team on laboratory information system strengthening activities.
• Represent PATH and the project on technical working groups and maintain contacts with other organizations engaged in project activities.
• Support project team members with monitoring and evaluation activities.
• Contribute to preparing reports to CDC and PATH headquarters.

Required Experience

• A graduate degree in public health, epidemiology, or related field with a focus on infectious disease detection and surveillance.
• Minimum of 6 years relevant experience implementing health systems strengthening projects.
• A minimum of 3 years project management experience with progressive work responsibility.
• Demonstrated skills in collecting, managing, and analyzing complex data sets.
• Experience with epidemiologic surveillance methodology preferred.
• Experience implementing public health projects including design, M&E, and reporting.
• Proven experience working with the ministries of health, donors, NGOs, and the private sector on infectious disease programming.
• Strong interpersonal skills with proven ability to work effectively with diverse project teams and partners at the local, national, and international level.
• Strong organizational, prioritization and workload management skills.
• Fluency in spoken and written English. Fluency in French a plus.
• Strong experience with Microsoft Office Products (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook).
• Willingness and ability to travel within Central and East Africa as requested.