Technical Officer – Preparedness and International Health Regulations (IHR) Capacity Development At Amref Health Africa

PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN AMREF AND AFRICA CDC

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), a specialized technical institution of the African Union (AU), has partnered with Amref Health Africa in pursuit of its vision, mission and strategic objectives. The ultimate objective of this partnership is to redefine Africa’s health security strategy in order to improve the public health systems on the African continent and in the global community by extension. This collaboration seeks to achieve but is not limited to the following:

1. Develop and strengthen the Africa health systems.
2. Enhance and strengthen African response capacity to public health emergencies.
3. Strengthen regional integrated surveillance and laboratory networks (RISLNET) in Africa.
4. Facilitate programmatic and scientific collaboration benefiting Member States.
5. Facilitate enhancement and strengthening of the programmatic and technical capacities via deployment of human resources.
6. Facilitate and enhance private sector engagement in the African health sector and other partnerships concerning workforce development, emergency response and public health networks.

This partnership has an ambition to strengthen Africa CDC capacity to improve public health systems across Africa, to enhance the continent’s readiness to respond to disease threats, including the on-going response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This will be achieved through scaling up the capacity of the five Africa CDC Regional Coordination Centres (RCCs) to support the continent to respond to health emergencies at the point of need, amplifying the capabilities and reach of the HQ team across all strategic pillars.

JOB PURPOSE

Under the direct supervision and guidance of the Head of Division, Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR), the Technical Officer – Preparedness and International Health Regulations (IHR) Capacity Development will carry out a variety of technical and programs management and implementation activities in the area of preparedness and other public health programs implementation.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop and recommend frameworks for multisectoral regional pandemic preparedness.
• Support in efforts to build pandemic preparedness capacity of Member States.
• Participate in the Incident Management Structure (IMS) during any disease outbreaks or pandemic.
• Work closely with Member States through its National Public Health Institutes (NPHI) and the Regional Coordination Centres (RCCs) in particular, in pandemic preparedness within the region.
• Build and maintain strong partnerships and relationship with partners interested in emergency preparedness and response on the continent.
• Support the development, utilization and maintenance of the Africa CDC Hazard and Threat – Atlas Map, for identifying and mapping continental threats and hazards; and define burden and impacts.
• Develop operational guidelines, tools, and manuals for preparedness capacity building in collaboration with partners on the continent.
• Provide technical support in simulation exercise on emergency preparedness jointly with Member States and other partners.
• Support IHR core capacity building and collaborative activities with country teams.
• Provide technical support for the conduct of IHR monitoring and evaluation framework activities and the development and revisions of National Action Plans for Health Security (NAPHS).
• Provide technical advice and expertise to strengthen country preparedness capacities for public health emergencies at all levels, including workforce development, through the organization of workshops, training programmes and assessments of country performance in liaison with appropriate internal and external stakeholders.
• Performs any other duties/responsibilities as assigned by the supervisor.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Academic Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Public Health, Epidemiology, Health Science, Health Services Research or related health discipline with two (2) years of relevant experience

Or

• Bachelor’s degree Public Health, Epidemiology, Medicine, Health Science, Health Services Research or related health discipline with five (5) years of relevant experience.

Required Professional Work Experience

• Experience in supporting implementation of public health programs related to Emergency Preparedness activities.
• Demonstrable experience and knowledge of operations of the Africa CDC and Regional Coordination Centres.
• Understanding of the African Union’s way of working and managing associated relationships with Member States and partners is a valuable asset.
• Experience with engagement and interaction with senior-level officials and other key stakeholders in both public and private-sector organizations.

Personal Skills

• Strong analytical capacities
• Demonstrated ability to work as part of a team and personal qualities of integrity and credibility
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with exceptional attention to details
• Ability to work under pressure, stay on track and meet deadlines
• Analytical and problem-solving abilities
• Proven ability to produce precise and intelligible reports and office briefs in line with the requirements of the African Union.
• Able to operate in a multicultural environment
• High level of autonomy at work, yet with profound team-spirit
• Adaptive, patient, resourceful, resilient and flexible
• Pro-active and solutions oriented
• Knowledge of results-based management

Language Requirement

• Proficiency in one of the African Union working languages (Arabic, English, French, Swahili, Spanish and Portuguese) is required.
• Knowledge of one or several other working languages would be an added advantage.

REMUNERATION

For internationally recruited staff, the indicative basic salary is US$ 35,044.83 (P2 Step 5) per annum plus other related entitlements, including post adjustment (46% of basic salary), a housing allowance of US$ 22,932.00 (per annum) and gratuity (15% of gross salary).

For locally recruited staff, the indicative basic salary is US$ 35,044.83 (P2 Step 5) per annum plus other related entitlements, including post adjustment (46% of basic salary), a housing allowance of US$ 6,879.60 (per annum) and pension (15% of gross salary).