Overview

The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low-and middle-income countries, while strengthening the capabilities of governments and the private sector in those countries to create and sustain high-quality health systems that can succeed without our assistance. For more information, please visit: http://www.clintonhealthaccess.org

CHAI's global malaria program provides direct technical and operational support to countries around the globe to strengthen their malaria programs and reduce the burden of this preventable, treatable disease. We support governments to scale up effective interventions for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and surveillance, with the goals of sustainably reducing the number of malaria-related illnesses and deaths worldwide in the short-term and accelerating progress towards malaria elimination in the long term.

Background

Malaria in Namibia is endemic in 10 out of the 14 regions, with approximately two thirds of the population at risk from malaria. Between 2000 and 2012, malaria cases and deaths in Namibia declined significantly allowing the country to set a goal of national malaria elimination by 2022. Since 2014, the National Vector-borne Disease Control Programme (NVDCP) has continued to increase malaria testing rates and improve malaria surveillance, permitting a better understanding of remaining gaps in malaria diagnosis and treatment gaps, and of key drivers of continued malaria transmission in remaining hotspots. As Namibia moves towards elimination, the dynamics of malaria transmission between Namibia and Angola is also a key consideration.

CHAI has worked with the NVDCP since 2010 to catalyze improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of government-owned systems and processes for surveillance, analytics, planning, case management, and vector control at the national level. CHAI is now expanding direct, embedded support to a sub-set of high priority regions for malaria elimination.

Overview of Role

The Namibia Vector Borne Disease and Control Programme (NVDCP) and Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) are seeking a highly motivated individual as a Country Associate to provide technical and operational support to national and sub-national level teams in Namibia. The individual will be expected to strengthen existing and new surveillance platforms, analyze and monitor disease-related data to inform optimal interventions, and develop and execute new strategies to successfully eliminate malaria.

The Associate will be a part of CHAI's country team that works in close partnership with the NVDCP, country partners and relevant stakeholders. The candidate must have excellent communications skills and cultural sensitivity, strong organizational and project management skills, and will be capable of conducting rapid quantitative analysis and communicating such analysis on a regular basis in a clear and concise manner to colleagues and partners. The successful candidate will be able to function efficiently in a semi-independent setting, and thus will be a self-motivated individual capable of managing multiple tasks at once and making sound independent decisions that are data-driven and operationally sound. CHAI places great value on relevant personal qualities including resourcefulness, tenacity, independence, patience, humility, and strong work ethic.

The position will be based in northern Namibia with domestic travel and some travel to provinces in Angola. Prior experience in health and development programs within Ministries of Health, and field work in infectious disease endemic setting or in low malaria transmission areas in southern Africa would be an advantage.

Responsibilities

  • Provide direct regional technical and operational support to the Namibia and/or Angola malaria programmes for malaria elimination across all thematic areas with focus on strengthening disease surveillance;
  • Identify key impediments to successful collection, reporting, analysis and use of malaria data and work with malaria programmes, CHAI teams and partners to develop solutions to rapidly and sustainably address these bottlenecks in consultation and approval by the NVDCP;
  • Provide analytic and strategic support to the region and district management teams on the malaria policy implementation. They will support regions to determine effective interventions, and plan for efficient implementation at sub-national levels;
  • In coordination with NVDCP and regional health teams, strengthen adherence to national policies and protocols including facilitating trainings for the implementation of surveillance and surveillance components in other elimination activities (e.g. IRS campaigns monitoring and evaluation, training of CHWs and supervisors on data reporting, protocol and systems development for active case investigation and detection, etc.);
  • Serve as a liaison between CHAI's malaria technical teams, CHAI program manager, the NVDCP and regional malaria programmes to support translation of global guidance on elimination activities at national and regional levels; and leverage CHAI's resources and expertise to meet country goals;
  • Develop strong working relationships with key stakeholders in government and technical partners to ensure coordination of resources and efforts at the national and sub national;
  • With support from CHAI program manager, execute project work plans approved by the NVDCP and the regional management teams with clear deliverables (objectively measurable indicators) and timelines;
  • Support monitoring and evaluation of progress towards malaria elimination at district/regional level;
  • Draft presentations and reports for internal and external stakeholders;
  • Any other duties as assigned by program manager.

    Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree with 3+ years of working experience in a demanding private sector or public health environment with increasing levels of responsibility and leadership

  • Fluent in English, proficiency in both written and verbal

  • Practical experience in the provision of technical or program management support in developing countries preferably in Southern Africa

  • Experience working and communicating with governments officials and multilateral organizations in Africa

  • Exceptional interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills, and an ability to build professional relationships with key stakeholders, negotiate and achieve consensus

  • Self-starter with demonstrated experience launching new projects or initiatives

  • Excellent problem solving, analytical and quantitative skills

  • Strong quantitative, presentation, and writing skills, including fluency in MS Excel, PowerPoint, and Word

  • Demonstrated ability to work independently with a diverse set of counterparts, in unstructured settings and to adapt to new environments and challenges

  • Excellent organization and management skills, including time management and project management

  • Ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously and set priorities in remote settings

  • Ability to work on complex problems without extensive support and self-motivate

  • Ability to react quickly to ad-hoc requests while managing an existing workload and meeting deadlines

  • Strong work ethic, integrity, credibility, and dedication to CHAI's mission

  • Ability and willingness to live and work in high-risk countries

Advantages

  • Master's degree in public health, Epidemiology or a related field
  • Strong verbal and written skills in Portuguese
  • Experience working with governments and global health institutions
  • Experience working in Namibia or southern Africa

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