Technical Officer – Communication & Information Technology (Nairobi) at African Field Epidemiology Network

The five strategic priority areas include: (1) public health surveillance and disease intelligence; (2) public health emergency preparedness and response; (3) public health laboratory systems and networks; (4) public health information and technology systems; and (5) public health research and public health institutes. For effective implementation of its strategic plan, Africa CDC underlines the need for collaboration, innovation and partnership. It is through this spirit of partnership that the institution has formed a strong partnership with Ford Foundation to recruit and deploy who will contribute to continent’s efforts in combating the COVID-19 pandemic and other public health threats. To better prepare and effectively respond to emerging public health events, African countries needs to be capacitated on hazard identification, hazard mapping, vulnerability and its implied risk. Using part of funds from Ford Foundation, Africa CDC will deploy experts through the regional collaborating centers (RCC) to help strengthen capacity building to the Member States present at these regions. It is in this premise that the Commission of the African Union invites applicants who are national and citizens of Member States for the following positions: –

Major Duties and Responsibilities

Based in the Eastern (RCC), the technical health officer will work to ensure that the RCC objectives are achieved in full.
Specifically, the officer will:

• Provide technical input on RCC strategic plans, implementation guidelines, monitoring and evaluation tools.
• Assumes primary responsibility for planning, developing and implementing communication strategies to promote Africa CDC’s strategic pillars and the Eastern Africa Regional Collaboration Centre mandates.
• Prepares and maintain up to date RCC work plan reports.
• Prepares Programs for RCC Communications, advocacy and awareness
• Develops partnerships with Member States and other relevant organizations to disseminate information and create awareness about public health events, Africa CDC’s initiatives well as activities in the region with the guidance of the Eastern Africa RCC Coordinator.
• Receives technical guidance from Africa CDC Policy, Advocacy and Communication Division.
• Facilitate inter-country collaboration on health data sharing and use.
• Develops communication materials such as Human Interest Stories, activity reports, proposals, factsheets, info graphs etc.
• Disseminates information to Member States and target groups through relevant media and network channels
• Develops and maintains contact information, materials and relationships with journalists and media outlets (print, TV, radio, web etc.) within the region and to increase coverage of conservation issues in the media (print, broadcast and digital).

Specific activities may include:

• Draft and edit articles, press releases, human interest stories and other advocacy/information materials.
• Collaborate with the media by organizing project site visits, facilitate photo coverage and TV footage and utilizing both web-based and traditional media as appropriate.
• Monitor and evaluate the use and effectiveness of media materials. Maintain a library of media coverage, clippings etc.
• Maintain Africa CDC Eastern Africa RCC website and social media sites (Facebook, Twitter and YouTube) such as daily monitoring, posting and content development.
• Coordinate and facilitate Eastern Africa RCC ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcome) platform for public health information sharing.
• Ensure timely and quality production of advocacy and branding materials such as periodicals, annual and partners reports, supplements, calendars, briefing notes,
• Develop and archive communication materials, including digital, such as publications, press releases and clippings, photographs, audio-visual materials, web resources etc.
• Support the Public Health Risk communication and community engagement community of Practice for Africa (PH-RCCE-CoPA) activities.
• Assists in organizing and generating public support for special events and campaigns to promote strategic conservation goals.
• Support the Africa CDC strategic pillars in facilitating smooth communications with the 14 Member States focal points in the Eastern Africa region for better coordination, early outbreak detection/verification and response.
• Participate in the implementation of RCC work plan
• Engage on different technical working groups and intervene towards action points taken
• Evidence of strategic thinking and proven ability to organize, plan and prioritize work
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with people in a multi-cultural environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity
• Builds strong relationships internally and with external actors

Qualifications:
Education:

• At least a university degree in the field of Communications with additional training on other fields related to the scope of work for this post
• Master’s degree on communication, public health and any other related field is an added advantage Experience
• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in communication, Public health practice and risk communication
• Having experience on public health communication, risk communication or any other communication
• Language: Excellent knowledge of either English, French or Arabic.
• Tenure of appointment: The appointment will be made on a fixed term contract for a period of one (1) year, of which the first three months will be considered as a probationary period