Job Description
Right to Care has the following vacancy and encourages suitably qualified candidates to apply.
Position: Technical Assistant (HIV Diagnostic Services) - National HIV Program - EQUIP
Location: Department of HIV and AIDS (DHA), Ministry of Health (MOH), Lilongwe, Malawi
Reporting to: Country Director, Right to Care - EQUIP Malawi and Director of DHA, MOH
Main Purpose of Job:
This position will provide critical support to the MOH for the successful implementation of the 5-year National Strategic Plan (NSP) for HIV 2015-2020. The position will focus on the core diagnostic services that are key to access to and quality of prevention interventions and antiretroviral therapy:
- HIV and syphilis rapid testing
- DNA-PCR testing for early infant diagnosis of HIV
- HIV viral load testing for routine monitoring and targeted diagnosis of first line treatment failure
- Genotyping for diagnosis of treatment failure for patients on second line ART
- Diagnosis and management of viral hepatitis
In close collaboration with other MOH departments and technical partners in Malawi, the position will support the national program in:
- Development of policies and protocols adapted for the local service delivery context
- Improvement of efficiency and program impact focusing on appropriate targeting, diagnostic yield and accuracy
- Coordination of service implementation
- Development and implementation of rigorous quality assurance mechanisms
- Supply planning and management for HIV diagnostic services
- Development and implementation of appropriate training and mentoring tools and materials
- Performance monitoring and reporting
- Resource mobilization, writing of funding applications and grant implementation
The TA will collaborate with the National Reference Laboratory, Diagnostics Unit and Logistics Unit of the MOH to ensure adherence to the quality HTS National standards. The TA will also provide support to stakeholders, MOH staff, and service providers in the public and private sector.
Training and mentoring of Malawian program staff will be a major component of the TA’s functions.
Qualifications and Experience:
- Post-graduate degree in medical laboratory sciences from an internationally recognized university
- At least 3 years of experience in provision and management of diagnostic services for HIV prevention and treatment in the Sub-Saharan Africa
- At least 3 years of experience in mentoring program staff in implementation of diagnostic services
Desirable requirements:
- Experience in managing a public health laboratory services in resource-limited settings
- Able to forge strong professional links with partners and experts in relevant international agencies.
- Proven track record of publication of relevant papers in peer-reviewed journals and presentation of abstracts at international conferences
- Working experience in Malawi preferred
Key Performance Areas amongst others include:
- Strengthen HIV diagnostic services through hands-on support and mentoring of MOH counterparts in consultation with the Director and other TAs in the DHA.
- Provide leadership and technical expertise for the development, updating, and implementation of strategies, policies, guidelines, training materials, monitoring and evaluation tools and job aids for the HIV diagnostic services.
- Coordinate with national and international partners to support timely and efficient implementation of the diagnostic services in the National Strategic Plan for HIV.
- Support the HIV testing team at DHA in the periodic revision of training curricula for front-line providers of HIV diagnostic services
- Participate in facilitation of trainings for trainers, mentors and supervisors.
- Support coordination at national and district level for quarterly supportive supervision of service delivery sites.
- Support review and implementation of evidence-based models for improved access to high quality HIV diagnostic services at health facilities and in outreach and community settings.
- Provide technical leadership to HTS sub-group and core-group to ensure enhanced coordination.
- Promote and support the core interests and responsibilities of the MOH.
- Facilitate efficient implementation of HIV diagnostic services in collaboration with implementing partners and other relevant departments within MOH.
- Collaborate with the National Reference Laboratory to strengthen QA standards for HIV diagnostic services.
- Collaborate with Logistics team at DHA on supply chain management for HIV diagnostic commodities.
- Collaborate with the Monitoring & Evaluation team at DHA on collection of high quality service data for reporting to donors and for data use for policy development and program management.
- Support the DHA management to effectively work with all national and international stakeholders at policy and implementation level.
- Help in identifying innovative cost effective practices in HTS program by implementing partners and promote replicating them in other districts or nationwide.
- Contribute to HIV diagnostic strategies, annual work-plans, quarterly reports and other ad hoc reports.
- Facilitate the development of a prioritized operations research plan relevant to Malawi and develop the capacity of national counterparts in designing, implementing, evaluating, writing and disseminating operations research findings in the area of HIV diagnostic services.
- Support relevant junior staff in developing and conducting small/short research work.
Technical skills and behavioral competencies:
- Must be able to work under pressure.
- The position requires the discipline and flexibility to keep track of a wide variety of projects, interpret briefs, and schedule work in order to meet strict deadlines.
- Excellent oral and written communication skills are required for effective communication with internal customers and external suppliers and stakeholders.
Interested applicants must submit their CV, Qualifications, ID Copy, letter of motivation and 3 professional references, stating full name of referee, relationship, email address and contact telephone numbers by:
E-mailing: Keshan.Naidoo@equiphealth.org
This also confirms that by applying for the above mentioned position you consent to Right to Care to conduct qualification, ID, Criminal and Reference checks which is part of our recruitment process.
Should you not receive a response to your application from Right to Care within one month of this advert being placed, kindly consider your application as being unsuccessful, we nonetheless want to thank you for your interest shown in our organization. Right to Care web-site: www.righttocare.org
Date Advertised: 17 February 2017
Closing date: 23 February 2017
About the Organization
Right to Care (RTC) is a non-profit company with a vision that all HIV-positive patients receive high quality treatment, care and support, improving their quality of life and productivity in South Africa and other African Countries.
The EQUIP Consortium is led by Right to Care (RTC) in collaboration with four other Africa based Partners. The EQUIP Consortium provides countries with innovative and customized solutions that increase HIV testing and linkage to care, widens the coverage of ART, expands capacity for viral load monitoring and improves retention of patients on ART. With the support of USAID, EQUIP is designed to provide rapid responses to the needs of high-priority PEPFAR countries.
s.
