Overview

The Response Advisor will support the emergency response capacity building work for the DoS funded Meeting Targets and Maintaining Epidemic Control (EpiC) project that serves the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) and other related initiatives. The project supports select governments and their relevant ministries to implement complementary strategies and activities, building on previously made investments, to achieve the desired regulations and improved GHSA capacities to strengthen in-country laboratories and surveillance systems. In addition, the project will help to strengthen the capacity of Burundi to detect priority infectious diseases and improve Joint External Evaluation (JEE) scores.

Position Summary

The position will be based in Bujumbura, Burundi and will involve in-country travel. The Response Advisor will be required to work with a diverse group of national organizations including the Government and other health security and response leaders, development partners, other regional and global project staff and local staff to implement agreed upon strategies to enhance infectious disease emergency response and management systems and activities in the approved project work plan.

Responsibilities:

  • Leads preparedness and response efforts for public health emergencies, ensuring timely coordination and implementation of strategies to mitigate risks and protect communities.
  • Provides technical assistance to project staff to implement activities/interventions to support enhancements in support of the country national action plan for health security and improve joint external evaluation (JEE) scores.
  • Participates in the implementation of in-country emergency response enhancement activities.
  • Helps coordinate emergency preparedness planning, exercises and training, evaluation of incident response, exercise performance and coordinating with stakeholders on public health emergency planning and response.
  • Provides technical guidance to project staff and government counterparts on surveillance, reporting, data use, and M&E related to emergency response.
  • Supports national stakeholders in developing or updating national emergency response and management strategic plans, disease specific response operating procedures, and policies.
  • Supports the development and enhancement of operational plans, procedures and capabilities that support emergency operation centres.
  • Support the updating and implementation of the national multi-hazard public health emergency response plan.
  • Provides support and training to facilities as part of overall capacity building and continuous improvement programs.
  • Assists with technical development and documentation guidelines in the form of SOPs, process documents, and other related tools as required.
  • Assists with emergency communications and drills for public health emergency events for infectious diseases.
  • Support the preparation of a compendium of existing and new guidelines and tools for management of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases and other outbreaks.
  • Provides administrative support to technical components of country-level project activities.
  • Contributes to a variety of financial, administrative, and logistics support needs as requested by the project.
  • Contributes to the annual work planning, budgeting processes as well as the development of semi-annual and annual reports.
  • Other duties as assigned

    Minimum Requirements:

    • Masters’ degree in Public Health, plus a minimum of 8-10 years of experience in emergency operations management, public health, infectious disease response and management or related area; Masters’ degree preferred
      • Prior experience with:
        • Emergency management principles, response operations, and the fundamentals of establishing and implementing an emergency management and response effort, or developing, providing TA to an organization/MOH Emergency Operations Center.
        • Emergency response management, administration, and event/emergency management system policies, plans, protocols, and procedures.
        • Outbreak response planning and operations; and managing outbreak information
          • Understanding of evidence-based priority actions based on JEE and National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS) to improve health security.
          • Awareness of the mechanisms and strategies that are being deployed under the GHSA and other similar mechanisms to combat emerging infectious threats.
          • Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases experience is a plus.

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