Democratic Republic of the Congo: Community Officer

Overview:

Community Officer needed to build capacity of facility-based personnel at district level for an upcoming UNITAID project to expand access to preventive chemotherapy for pregnant women in Democratic Republic of the Congo. This project aims to scale up an innovative, community-based approach to expand coverage of intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp), with quality assured sulfadoxine-pyrimithimine (SP), for pregnant women. The Community Officer will mentor and build capacity of Community Health Workers (CHWs) in IPTp at district level as well as supporting ANC providers on the most up to date guidance in IPTp. S/he will ensure adherence to antenatal care protocols for malaria case management and malaria in pregnancy (MIP).

This position is contingent upon award from UNITAID. Congolese nationals are strongly encouraged to apply.

Responsibilities:

• Work closely with Malaria Technical Advisor to design the implementation of community IPTp with linkages to ANC, per project outcomes and outputs

• Work closely with civil society organization and/or community partners to support strengthening and expansion of community IPTp

• Develop and coordinate community level communication campaigns that modify behavior and inform key stakeholders at the community

• Provide mentoring and support capacity building and follow up support to Community Health Workers implementing project efforts.

• Liaise closely with district leaders and ANC staff to help strengthen the link and partnership between communities and facilities

• Develop and implement service delivery strategies for accessing hard-to-reach populations, including the identification of opportunities to integrate antenatal care services

• Facilitate collaboration across public and private, and for- and non-profit sectors

• Ensure adherence to ANC protocols malaria in pregnancy.

• Assist with execution of annual work plans within established budgets and timelines.

• Monitor supportive supervision activities, SP restocking and CHW referrals to ANC.

• Report knowledge gaps and bottlenecks to Program Officer.

• Assist with C-IPTp promotion activities and reinforce WHO guidelines for early IPTp uptake and sequential IPTp doses.

• Monitor CHW performance and help address issues of service quality.

• Assist with drafting, editing and proofreading of technical materials and appropriate reports of program activities and results to the donor, including progress reports, activity charts, and annual reports as requested

• Work collaboratively with project and headquarters finance staff to prepare and track the progress of project and activity budgets

• Ensure compliance with UNITAID operational policies and regulations

• Work collaboratively with other project team members to ensure necessary project planning, resource availability and management activities function smoothly and efficiently

Required Qualifications:

• A medical degree (doctor or nursing) or Master’s in Public Health

• At least 5 years’ experience applying malaria in pregnancy programs

• At least 5 years’ experience in implementing $10M per year in donor-funded projects and in the design and implementation of overseas health projects; preferably in the East and Southern Africa

• Qualification as a “master trainer”; experience training health workers on clinical aspects related to malaria case management

• Experience building capacity at individual and organizational levels

• Skill in at least two or more of the following technical areas: strengthening service delivery programs, training, performance and quality improvement

• Experience with a mix of practical technical skills in malaria necessary for strengthening malaria service delivery at the provincial, clinic and community-level

• The ability to liaise with senior MOH officials and dignitaries, executives of NGOs, FBOs, CBOs, the for-profit business community, and senior members of the donor community;

• Demonstrated in-depth understanding of Democratic Republic of the Congo healthcare system, particularly the public health system, experience living and working in Democratic Republic of the Congo preferred

• Strong presentations skills in French; presentation skills in English preferred

• Familiarity with UNITAID, management and reporting procedures and systems

• Ability to work in a complex environment with multiple projects/tasks, short deadlines, competing deadlines and intense pressure to perform

• Appreciation for socio-cultural differences in countries, preferably having lived and worked in one or more low resource settings

• Awareness of, sensitivity to, and experience in working in multiple socio-economic settings and with multi-cultural staff and groups

• Ability to develop productive working relationships with counterparts in other agencies and organizations worldwide

• Ability to work effectively with diverse international teams

• Proficiency in word processing and Microsoft Office

• Fluent in written and spoken French; English fluency preferred

• Excellent facilitation, oral and written communications skills

• Ability to travel nationally

Please apply at: https://jobs-jhpiego.icims.com/jobs/2784/community-officer/job

Jhpiego offers competitive salaries and a comprehensive employee benefits package.

Applicants must submit a single document for upload to include: cover letter, resume, references, and salary history.

For further information about Jhpiego, visit our website at www.jhpiego.org

Note:The successful candidate selected for this position will be subject to a pre-employment background investigation.

Jhpiego is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer