Senior Technical Advisor for Surveillance Systems at John Snow Inc - JSI

Position Category: Local hire, paid in country
Starting Date: 8th August, 2018.

Job Descriptions

• MEASURE Evaluation Phase IV is a cooperative agreement awarded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to a consortium of partners lead by the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, and includes John Snow, Inc. (JSI), Palladium Group, Tulane University, ICF International and Management Sciences for Health (MSH). The overall objective of MEASURE Evaluation Phase IV is to enable countries to strengthen their systems to generate high quality health information that is used for decision making at local, national, and global levels. The project will work to achieve this by concentrating on four result areas:
  • Strengthened collection, analysis and use of routine health data;
  • Improved country-level capacity to manage health information systems (HIS), resources and staff;
  • Methods, tools and approaches improved and applied to address health information challenges and gaps; and
  • Increased capacity for rigorous evaluations.
• In Nigeria, MEASURE Evaluation Phase IV activities contribute to the results mentioned above by supporting the Nigeria Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) to develop a strong, sustainable and fully functioning HIS operating at national and sub-national levels. This includes building local capacity in M&E and strengthening structures and systems capable of producing quality data and promoting the use of data for evidence-based decision-making.
• The Senior Technical Advisor for Surveillance Systems position is located within office of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in Abuja, Nigeria.
• The incumbent will devote at least 10% -15% of LOE to the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Program (NTBLCP) to ensure coordination between the NCDC and strengthening of tuberculosis (TB) surveillance and reporting system.
• The Senior Technical Advisor will work closed with the HQ-based Activity Lead in the implementation of this activity.

Responsibilities
In close collaboration with the NCDC and other key FMOH partners, the incumbent will perform the following duties and functions:

Specific Responsibilities will include, but are not limited to the following:

• Provide technical support to the NCDC and the NTBLCP of the FMOH and State Ministries of Health with the aim of strengthening the national capacity for disease surveillance systems and TB in particular;
• Disseminate findings from completed rapid assessment of the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR);
• Identify how the IDSR can improve completeness of TB notification in public and private health sector;
• Expand the IDSR to report on TB diagnosis and outcome in public and private sector – with an emphasis on health facilities not currently enrolled or reporting to the NTBLCP;
• Support NCDC and NTBLCP in the implementation of actionable results of the rapid assessment of the IDSR to improve the quality of TB cases notification through IDSR;
• Ensure standard reporting of TB cases in the IDSR system with data quality adequate for global notification;
• Provide TA in the review of the current IDSR tools to include adequate reporting of TB cases;
• Collaborate with WHO state surveillance officers to ensure reporting of TB cases by disease notification officers at state and local government area (LGA) levels;
• Facilitate and ensure collaboration/partnership between NCDC, NTBLCP, Department of Health Planning Research and Statistics (DHPRS) and WHO to strengthen TB notification in the context of the IDSR; and
• Attend monthly update meetings and submit a quarterly report to USAID/Nigeria TB team

Qualifications

• Medical Degree with a post graduate qualification in Public Health or PhD in Epidemiology from a recognized university preferred
• Minimum of 7 years of relevant work experience including experience at the international level, and planning and implementing TB programs at national and sub national levels in developing countries
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience in surveillance and control of infectious diseases
• Knowledge of the Nigeria epidemiological policies and activities relevant to the duties listed above
• Experience in providing technical support to implementing USAID/USG programs or interventions will be an advantage
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work well in team
• Strong communication skills to work effectively and harmoniously across partners, host country counterparts, USAID, consultants, other donors and international organizations
• Written and spoken fluency in English

Remuneration

• Commensurate with experience.