Ebola Response Consortium Surveillance Coordinator

BACKGROUND:  The International Rescue Committee, one of the world’s largest humanitarian agencies, provides relief, rehabilitation and post-conflict reconstruction support to victims of natural disaster, oppression and violent conflict in 42 countries. The IRC is committed to bold leadership, innovation and creative partnerships. Active in public health, education, livelihoods, women's empowerment, youth development, and protection and promotion of rights, IRC assists people from harm to home.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is unprecedented in scale and in the response required. No previous outbreak has had as many confirmed cases, or as wide of a geographic spread.  The situation is complicated by the porous nature of the regions’ borders, inaccessibility of the terrain and the presence of multiple active sites of transmission. The outbreak in Sierra Leone started in May 2014 and has rapidly spread due to porous borders, insufficient contact tracing, community fears and misperceptions. 

SCOPE OF WORK:

The IRC is leading the Ebola Response Consortium (ERC), a group of eleven non-governmental organizations who are supporting the MoHS in the Ebola response. The ERC currently supported three key initiatives within the response: 1) support of a national strategy for Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) and screening of suspected EVD cases at all 1,118 PHUs in the country, 2) support for effective surveillance in 10 districts of the country, and 3) continuation of primary health care in 5 districts.   During the EVD outbreak, the ERC partners supported the following key areas of surveillance: 1) contact tracing supervision, 2) expanded case investigation teams, 3) emergency call center, 4) logistics support for surveillance, and 5) national roll out of Community Event Based Surveillance (CEBS). The ERC Surveillance Coordinator will lead the ERC’s work in surveillance during the EVD recovery period, providing technical support to partners and project management for all aspects of the ERC’s work on surveillance.  The ERC Surveillance Coordinator will work with WHO, CDC and MoHS to develop and implement a INGO supported strategy to support the MoHS in Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR), with a focus on Community Event Based Surveillance (CEBS).  The objective of this position is to be the technical lead for surveillance for the ERC, provide technical support to ERC partners, and coordinate activities with WHO, CDC and the MoHS.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

Technical oversight for surveillance

• Provide a technical lead for all the work that the ERC supports relating to surveillance including technical review of training manuals and M&E tools for surveillance
• Work with ERC partners, CDC, WHO and MoHS to support a strategy for improved Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) in Sierra Leone  
• Coordinate the ERC Technical Working Group for surveillance, made up of each member’s technical lead to  develop, implement and monitor harmonized approaches, guidelines and minimum standards for the ERC programs
• Represent the Consortium in external technical surveillance sector meetings or workshops and feedback recommendations, actions and decisions
• Lead the development of Community Event Based Surveillance (CEBS) from a strategy looking specifically at EVD “triggers”, to a more comprehensive approach for additional priority diseases, within an IDSR strategy
• Manage the Surveillance Manager (s) and Intern (s)

Program development

• Identify new areas for programmatic interventions and lead the development of any new proposals for the ERC’s work to improve the surveillance system in Sierra Leone. Identify areas where mobile technology could improve surveillance
• Support the development of assessment tools and detailed implementation plans for ERC support of surveillance  
• Production and submission of project reports, as well as accurate budgets and budget revisions for the project

REQUIREMENTS (Essential):

• Masters in Public Health (MPH) or equivalent, or Doctorate in Public Health or Epidemiology
• Minimum of 3 years experience working in disease surveillance in Africa  
• Previous work on surveillance in an emergency or post emergency setting is an asset
• Demonstrated experience coordinating and collaborating with INGO, UN and government partners
• Experience working in surveillance during the West Africa Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak is a plus, but not required
• Completion of a Field Epidemiology Training Program is an asset
• Experience with the project management cycle
• Excellent interpersonal and verbal communication skills
• Innovative and resourceful, with an ability to make solutions work in adverse conditions with limited resources

• Ability to start immediately

Length of Assignment: 6 months with potential to extend.