Ebola Response Consortium Hospital Improvement 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 Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) cases at all 1,118 Peripheral Health Units (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. The ERC is currently developing a proposal to support improved Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) and improved WASH infrastructure at 19 government hospitals. The ERC Hospital Improvement Coordinator will support the technical development and implementation of this project and any future project working towards improving health care at the hospital level.

The ERC Hospital Improvement Coordinator will provide technical oversight and project management for all hospital level work supported by the ERC, including the IPC work and future work of the ERC to support improvements in government hospitals. The Coordinator will be supervised by the ERC Coordinator.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES:

Technical oversight for ERC supported projects

• Technical lead for any projects the ERC supports to improve the quality of care and management in government hospitals
• Work with ERC partners, CDC, WHO and MoHS to develop and implement SOPs and protocols on core hospital improvement plans
• Coordinate the ERC Technical Working Group for the IPC in Hospital project, made up of each member’s technical lead to develop, implement and monitor harmonized approaches, guidelines and minimum standards for the ERC programs
• Lead on the technical review of training manuals and M&E tools for hospital improvement
• Represent the Consortium in external technical IPC and Hospital improvement sector meetings or workshops and feedback recommendations, actions and decisions
• Maintain and strengthen existing partnerships, and develop new partnerships to strengthen the quality of the ERC support for hospital improvements

Program development and project management

• Identify new areas for programmatic interventions and lead the development of any new proposals for the ERC’s work to improve the quality of services at government hospitals
• Production and submission of project reports, as well as accurate budgets and budget revisions for the project
• Support the development of assessment tools and detailed implementation plans for IPC in Hospitals, including the IPC project
• Monitor ERC partner progress on all projects supported in hospitals

REQUIREMENTS (Essential):

• Clinical qualification (Doctor, Nurse, Midwife)
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience working in a hospital setting, including experience in a low resource setting (particularly sub-Saharan Africa)
• Experience in quality improvement projects in a hospital setting, ideally a low resource setting
• At least two years working in public health, with experience with the project management cycle
• Excellent knowledge of Infection Prevention and Control protocols
• Experience in West Africa Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak is a plus, but not required
• Demonstrated experience coordinating and collaborating with INGO, UN and government partners
• Excellent interpersonal and verbal communication skills
• Innovative and resourceful, with an ability to make solutions work in adverse conditions with limited resources

Length of Assignment: 10 months