Job Description
Karna is working to staff several openings in support of a CDC (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention) contract. These positions will offer qualified candidates a great opportunity to work on projects in the field of public health internationally. Whether you have prior CDC experience or not, having the opportunity to join Karna and support the CDC will be a great addition to your list of career accomplishments. If you meet the requirements of this announcement and possess the ability to work in a team environment as well as independently please apply soon.
*These positions are contingent upon contract award*
Job Description:
Field Support Officer
We are currently seeking multiple Field Support Officer positions to support polio eradication and vaccine preventable disease (VPDs) activities. Karna is recruiting resources who have experience working in remote areas and are able to pair traditional with non-traditional approaches to track and manage polio and VPD initiatives for short term and long term assignments.
Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
- Developing effective and context appropriate strategies for to support immunization activities, both routine and supplemental;
- Evaluate data collection, quality control and data utilization methods used to study epidemiological problems and issues;
- Manage significant projects, programs and staff with full responsibility for carrying out all required monitoring and management duties for programmatic work.
- Assisting in the development of technical and financial reports;
- Collaborating with the Polio Eradication program and the Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals (IVB) program at WHO;
- Providing technical advice to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in Geneva, Switzerland;
- Problem-solving to optimize data collection, data management, and data presentation;
- Coordinating CDC responses and inputs and advising CDC regarding technical contributions to the Eradication and Outbreak Management Group (EOMG) at the United Nations in New York, NY;
- Planning and implementing activities to improve data management practices for vaccine preventable disease surveillance.
While the geographic scope for these activities is currently focused on the African, Asian and the Middle Eastern regions, requirements can change rapidly with the epidemiology of the VPDs, particularly concerning Polio and VPD outbreak response. Resources must be able to shift to address immediate, often urgent, field and research needs in all parts of the globe.
Resources must:
- Be willing to able to travel internationally for up to 75% of their assignment and/or live in country
- Be able to serve as a liaison on behalf of Karna and the CDC
- Be able to obtain visas, work permits, long term housing, and appropriate clearances within a reasonably short period of time (with the appropriate assistance);
- Be able to work with limited or no supervision;
- Collaborate with a team of partners such as CDC, WHO,UNICEF, USAID, and GAVI in support of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI);
- Oversee the quality and technical approaches for evaluating Polio and VPD initiatives;
- Monitor and evaluate issues in Polio and VPDs;
- Serve as a technical advisor on immunization initiatives;
- Assist in the development of technical and financial reports;
- Analyze epidemiological data;
- Support and participate in disease surveillance activities;
- Participate on working groups as needed;
- Conduct outbreak assessments.
Experience and Skills:
Resources must:
- Fluently speak and write in English (foreign language skills are not required, but strongly preferred)
- Have a Master’s degree or higher in medical or a public health related discipline
- Experience working in immunization programs in polio priority countries, and other low resource VPD countries such as:
- Nigeria
- Afghanistan
- Pakistan
- Cameroon
- Jordan
- Iraq
- Chad
- The Ukraine
- Laos
- Have experience in vaccination campaigns, data management, and disease surveillance;
- Have expertise and working knowledge of Polio and other VPDs;
- Have knowledge of research projects and using data analyzing and statistical tools relevant to disease surveillance, vaccine, and/or epidemiological studies;
- Have experience with organization of complex and multi-site research projects;
- Have basic familiarity with WHO, UNICEF and multi-lateral agency work in support of vaccination programs and implementation and their practices and procedures;
- Advanced MS Office Suite.
Both US and Non-US applicants are welcome to apply. Expats, TCN, and Locals are also encouraged to apply.
