Jobs in Zambia and Zimbabwe

Job Alert – Pediatric and PMTCT Technical Advisor: Catholic Relief Services- Zambia Country Program

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The CRS Zambia country program was established in 2000, and administers a varied and diversified portfolio of nutrition, health systems strengthening, food security, economic growth and livelihoods, orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) research and HIV and AIDS programs. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of Bishops of United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas.

BACKGROUND:

The Pediatric and PMTCT Technical Advisor (PPTA) for EPIC 3-90 program is based in Lusaka, Zambia. The Epic 3-90 program is funded with funding from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDSRelief through the Center for Disease Control (CDC), The consortium members, led by the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), includes the Churches Health Association of Zambia (CHAZ) and the Chreso Ministries. CRS, as the lead agency for EPIC 3-90 is required to support the programming, planning and core technical assistance aspects of the program as well as to train, advise, and monitor sub-recipients’ use of Federal Awards.

JOB SUMMARY:

The EPIC 3-90 project is an integrated team that brings all the consortium members under one senior management team to improve efficiency and communication. The Pediatric and PMTCT Technical Advisor is responsible for providing technical support to supported health facilities. She/he reports to the HIV Care and Treatment Senior Technical Advisor. S/he maintains relationships with project partners and key stakeholders in project clinical implementation; contributes to development of annual country operation plan (COP) submission, health facilities system strengthening, strategic plans and reports; develops/utilizes systems to track program clinical quality in collaboration with the Continuous Quality Improvement Advisors.   The primary function of this position is to provide technical support, to supported health facilities, in the area of Pediatric and PMTCT to supported health facilities. This position will support cooperation and communication with all health facilities in the management of the EPIC 3-90 project and other community development activities related to the project.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Pediatric and PMTCT Technical Advisor (PPTA) will primarily be responsible for providing Pediatric HIV and PMTCT support to all project supported health facilities. S/he will support the CTSTA in communication with health facilities, development of the Country Operating Plan (COP), planning annual targets and ensuring appropriate use of resources. The PPTA will also assist identify areas of concern within the project and work with the program team to find viable solutions.  S/he sources, supervises and mentors clinical teams. S/he will work with the M&E team to ensure continuous quality improvement.  The position reports directly to the HIV Care and Treatment Senior Technical Advisor (Clinical Lead) and will work closely with the Strategic/M&E team and other clinical staff to ensure quality of services provided health facilities activities.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Provide Pediatric HIV and PMTCT technical support and mentorship to supported sites and district health offices.
  • Document Pediatric HIV and PMTCT best practices from supported sites and support M&E team in continuous quality improvement.
  • Attend relevant pediatric HIV and PMTCT meetings/conferences and share project’s successes around Pediatric HIV and PMTCT activities implementation.
  • Support the dissemination and implementation of the National Test and Start operational plan
  • Support the conversion of all Option B+ facilities to static ART sites
  • Improve Linkage to Treatment
  • Support the recruitment and retention of adequate number of community health workers to allow for optimal counselling and coverage of patient escort and other support services.
  • Support the scale up of differentiated models of service delivery to decongest clinics, increase ART retention, and improve quality of care.
  • Support the implementation of Community Based ART distribution points and Community Health Worker ART dispensation
  • Support monitoring the retention of patients initiated on ART to identify and address losses to follow-up.
  • OVC support with economic strengthening to incentivize pediatric ART enrollment including educational support for in and out of school ALHIV.
  • Promote and support the incorporation of pediatric ART into EMR system or on mobile/tablets devices to simplify pediatric ART enrollments.
  • Pediatric ART dispensing training
  • Lead and develop action plan for Accelerating Children Treatment (ACT) and closely monitor pediatric ART enrollment and retention.
  • Support and implement community Based Pediatric and Adolescent Support services including Community Based Drug dispensing and Community Adolescent Treatment Supporters.
  • Develop a Pediatric Package of Care/Toolkit for all ART sites
  • Evaluate the National Pediatrics ART program to identify factors associated with delays in enrolling HIV infected children onto ART.
  • Train and Mentor health care workers and community health workers to ensure improvement HIV testing and treatment services along the MCH platform; coupled with support for facility exchange visits for learning best practices as part of capacity building.
  • Support provision of routine HIV testing services to all Pregnant and Breastfeeding women.
  • Support provision of ART within MCH and community support systems to ensure improvement of adherence and retention of HIV positive PBFW.
  • Support scale up of viral load monitoring for all HIV positive PBFW (6-monthly).
  • Support scale up and improvement of EID services and linkage to treatment for HIV infected infants; this will involve scale up of EID QI collaborative.
  • Support operations of the EID system (supplies, accurate forecasting), specimen transportation, improve turnaround time for results (fast tracking positive) and facilitate procurement of back up supplies for DBS bundles and reagents.
  • Any other duties as assigned by the supervisor.

KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS:

Internal: Chief of Party, Deputy Chief of Party (Operations), Health System Strengthening Advisor, Consortium Members (CHAZ and Chreso), Continuous Quality Improvement Advisors (CQIAs) and Health Facilities,

External: Host country government agencies, international and national non-governmental organizations.

JOB SPECIFICATIONS:

  1. Have a medical degree, MD preferred, or an advanced degree in a public health or medically related field.
  2. Experience with antiretroviral therapy (ART) and understanding of Zambian ART guidelines
  3. Experience in HIV and AIDS programming in resource-poor settings at the field level and providing technical assistance to partner organizations.
  4. Excellent analytical skills,
  5. Proficiency in MS Office suite, including Word, Excel, Outlook Express and Internet Explorer. SPSS and Epi-info, a plus.
  6. Five years’ relevant post-qualification experience, familiarity with USG procedures.
  7. Good command of spoken and written English.
  8. Self-guided, strong organizational and planning skills; Ability to work independently and under pressure
  9. Excellent communication, coaching and facilitation skills

APPLICANT INSTRUCTIONS:

Please email a cover letter, curriculum Vitae which must include three references to: [email protected].

Please include the position you are applying for in the subject line.

The closing date for receiving applicants is 20th March 2017. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.