Ebola Transit Unit Coordinator

BACKGROUND:

Founded in 1933, the International Rescue Committee is a prominent international organization working in relief, rehabilitation, protection, post-conflict development, resettlement services and advocacy for those uprooted or affected by disaster, violent conflict and oppression. 

Since the start of West Africa’s Ebola epidemic, the International Rescue Committee has played a key role in Ebola containment activities including policy formulation, partner coordination, community engagement and health care delivery.  In January of this year, the IRC began assisting the Liberian Ministry of Health reopen its main secondary hospital- Redemption just outside of Monrovia.  To further assist this process, the IRC is taking over operations and staffing of a ten-bed Ebola Holding Unit (EHU) currently run by MSF-Belgium and converting it into a high risk treatment unit, where patients will be cared for in full personal protective equipment (PPE) until patients’ Ebola status is known.  The formal handover date is April 1.  Staff safety is an absolute priority and strict adherence to infection prevention and control (IPC) procedures with be undertaken to protect staff. The facility will also designed to provide the highest quality of care to sick patients including care to women in labor and critically ill children.   

SCOPE OF WORK/RESPONSIBILITIES

Under supervision of the IRC Senior Health Coordinator Ebola, the Coordinator of the Ebola transit Unit will be responsible for coordinating activities between environmental health and clinical teams to ensure high quality patient care while keeping facility staff safe and infection from spreading within the unit.  The Coordinator will work closely with Environmental and Nurse lead and supervise clinical and environmental teams to staff the unit 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

In addition, responsibilities of the Ebola Transit Unit Coordinator will include:

• Trouble shooting problems and maintaining best practices in the unit Supervising environmental and nurse leads
• Hiring additional clinical and auxiliary staff if needed
• Coordinating training of facility staff and maintenance of their skills
• Ensuring correct application and practice of infection prevention and control protocols by facility staff 
• Ensuring provision of excellent medical care to all patients in the unit
• Ensuring complete documentation of clinical staff work and attendance and patient progress and status.
• Monitoring staff physical and emotional well-being
• Overseeing and reviewing facility data collection and sharing results with the Senior Health Coordinator Ebola and Project Director
• Ensuring sufficient supply of PPE, drugs, and medical supplies in unit through monitoring of the facility’s use patterns and advanced procurement of commodities according to IRC systems
• Ensuring Ebola testing that follows facility protocols and rapid test result turnover time
• Ensuring proper body management and disposal when applicable
• Representing the IRC to and leading facility tours with Ministry, UN, community and International guests
• Other duties as assigned by the supervisor

REQUIREMENTS:

The ideal candidate will be a doctor, nurse practitioner or physician assistant who has clinical experience in isolation wards and in emergency care.  Also:

• Advanced degree, preferably in Public Health or Public Administration
• Experience in health care delivery in West Africa
• Program management experience in a development setting including designing of work and monitoring and evaluation plans
• Strong leadership, clinical, planning, analytical, interpersonal, multi-tasking and communication skills
• Ability to live and work in stressful and insecure environment;
• Able to work under pressure and good at timely decision making
• Training or teaching experience
• Excellent professional approach and strong team building and capacity building skills
• Fluency in English is required; must have excellent English-language writing skills. 
• Ability to live and work under pressure.

Other details: 

The position is base in Monrovia, Liberia, and will work within the Ebola Transit Unit. This position is unaccompanied. International staff are provided with staff housing, close to the office, and access to transportation.   

All international Staff must comply with all IRC Liberia security policies and procedures. While there is a great deal of media coverage about the risks of working in an Ebola affected country, both the CDC and WHO have stated that the highest risks remain for those directly treating Ebola patients which this position would not be involved in. Furthermore, you will be working with a team of fellow international staff who continue to work confidently in the country, following robust IRC hygiene protocols to minimize any risk. At any point the position holder has the option to end the assignment should you feel unsafe in any way, with no repercussions in terms of employment in other IRC programs.

Standards for Professional Conduct:

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct.  These are Integrity, Service, and Accountability.  In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation .