Technical Officer - Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) Vacancy at African Field Epidemiology Network AFENET


Posted on: Thu 26-11-2020

Background: 

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is a specialized technical institution of the African Union that supports Member States in their efforts to strengthen their health systems. Africa CDC was officially launched in January 2017, and is guided by the principles of leadership, credibility, and ownership, and delegated authority, timely dissemination of information, transparency, accountability, and value addition. The institution works with all African countries to strengthen the capabilities of their public health institutions for disease surveillance, emergency response, prevention and control, including the capacity to detect and respond quickly and effectively to disease threats. It also serves as a platform for Member States to share and exchange knowledge and lessons from public health interventions. Effective public health interventions/actions require an adequately staffed, highly skilled, diverse and interdisciplinary workforce. Given the diminishing ratio of the African Public health workforce to the dual burden of disease on the continent, there is need to strengthen and build capacity of public health workforce in the continent to meet the current responsibilities. Moreover, at its establishment in 2017, Africa CDC was tasked with coordinating and supporting the training and operationalization of the African Volunteers Health Corps (AVoHC), which is an approximately 800-strong multidisciplinary public health standby workforce based in countries across the continent. Since then, Africa CDC has responded to requests for AVoHC deployments for emergency response operations. In seeking to achieve this objective and deliver on the mandate of the Africa CDC, the African Union intends to strengthen its capacity by the reinforcement of its organizational structure and expertise. The Africa CDC therefore seeks to recruit a national and citizen of any Member State of the African Union to the position of Technical Officer within the Emergency Preparedness and Response Division.

Job Title: Technical Officer - Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) 

Number of posts: 1 (one) 

Grade: AU P2/1 equivalency 

Department: Africa CDC Headquarters 

Supervisor: Head of Division, Emergency Preparedness and Response 

Duty Station: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Job Purpose 

Under direct supervision of the head of EPR Division, the technical officer will be responsible for carrying out a variety of technical and programs management support services in the area of pandemic preparedness and response and other public health programs implementation.

Major Duties and Responsibilities: 

The Technical Officer – EPR, shall perform the following major duties and responsibilities: 

  • Support the development of Pandemic preparedness plans for Member States.
  • Develop and recommend frameworks for multisectoral regional pandemic preparedness and response.
  • Assist in simulation exercise on emergency preparedness jointly with Member States and other partners including WHO.
  • Support Member States in responding to disease outbreak and other public health emergencies.
  • Assist in efforts to build pandemic preparedness response capacity of Member States.
  • Perform online directory management of the African Volunteer Health Corps (AVoHC) database and deployment of Emergency Response Teams (ERTs).
  • Review training needs assessments of the AVoHC/ERT in Member States.
  • Organize and conduct (AVoHC/ERT) capacity building trainings in Member States.
  • Develop operational guidelines that will guide effective implementation of the division work plan.
  • Perform any other duties as may be assigned by the Supervisor.

Requirements: 

The Minimum academic requirements are: 

  • Master’s degree in Public Health or a related field from an accredited academic institution with at least 2 years of relevant professional experience with demonstrated involvement in the successful development and management of emergency preparedness and response programs, or
  • Bachelor’s degree in the above fields with atleast 5 years of relevant professional experience in related fields.

Required Professional Work Experience: 

  • A minimum of 3 years of experience in supporting implementation of public health programs related to Emergency Preparedness and Response activities.
  • Experience working with an international organization is a valuable asset.
  • Previous experience working in Africa that reflects an in-depth knowledge of public health issues and public health workforce in general.
  • Demonstrable experience and knowledge of operations of the Africa CDC and Regional Collaborating 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.
  • 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

Personal Skills: 

  • 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 and Portuguese) is required. Knowledge of one or several other working languages would be an added advantage. 

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. Thereafter, the contract will be renewed annually subject to satisfactory performance and fund availability

Remuneration 

Competitive based on qualification and experience. 

How to apply: 

Submit your resume, application letter, and relevant documentation to: 

The Administration and HR Office email;[email protected] 

ONLY successful candidates shall be contacted for an interview. 

Please note that all applications should be sent online by close of business 5:30 pm (EAT) Friday November 27, 2020