Principal Technical Advisor, Pharmacovigilance at Management Sciences For Health - MSH

About the Project

• About the USAID Medicines, Technologies and Pharmaceutical Systems (MTaPS) program: Funded by USAID and implemented by a consortium led by MSH, MTaPS aims to help low- and middle-income countries strengthen their pharmaceutical systems to ensure sustainable access to and appropriate use of safe, effective, quality-assured, and affordable essential medicines and pharmaceutical services.
• The five-year program builds on the work of its predecessor program, the USAID-funded Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) Program. As a core part of its work, MTaPS supports USAID’s efforts under the Global Health Security Agenda to combat AMR. These efforts are directed toward building countries’ capacity to optimize their use of antimicrobials and avert infectious disease threats, thus securing health nationally and globally.

About this Role

• MSH is seeking a qualified candidate to serve as a Principal Technical Advisor, Pharmacovigilance (PTA) on the global MTaPS activity.
• The PTA conceptualizes and leads Field support, core- and regional-funded pharmacovigilance activities and provides technical guidance to countries in the implementation of field-based pharmacovigilance activities, selection of technical strategies, and the development of innovative approaches and programs to strengthen pharmacovigilance as part of the broader regulatory systems strengthening work of USAID MTaPS.
• The PTA-PV leads MTaPS’ collaborative efforts with the World Health Organization (WHO), Uppsala Monitoring Centre (UMC), and other international partners in the area of PV.
• The PTA guides the development of core, regional, and country-level work plans and activities related to PV to ensure that the work is of the highest technical quality, is consistent with MTaPS approaches and mandate and are based on and informed by country-level needs and priorities.

How Will You Accomplish This?
As the Principal Technical Advisor you will be expected to carry out the following:

• Conceptualize and lead country support, core and regional funded PV activities, and support the development of innovative strategies and programs to strengthen PV as part of the broader regulatory system strengthening work in each country.
• Support countries or regions to review their operational processes, develop long-term institutional development or strategic plans, and support the development and implementation of related action plans to improve pharmacovigilance
• Support countries to prepare and plan for the assessment of their PV systems using the WHO Global Benchmarking tool and support implementation of institutional development plans (IDPs) in collaboration with the WHO.
• Support countries to use relevant electronic tools including Pharmacovigilance monitoring systems (PViMS) and the VigiFlow to manage, analyze and use adverse events data for risk evaluation and regulatory decision making
• Contribute to the design, implementation and monitoring of capacity building activities for country or regional teams to strengthen the capacity and improve PV implementation including developing eLearning courses
• Train MTaPS country teams and government counterparts in the use of PViMS for data management, analysis and decision making.
• Develop written technical briefs, peer-reviewed publications, country and global updates on technical issues and/or issues of strategic importance.
• Represent MTaPS on specific internal and external initiatives.

The listed job responsibilities are not exhaustive. The PTA position is an opportunity to be both innovative and strategic in suggesting and implementing new methods to achieve the outcomes desired by our clients and needed by the people our projects aim to serve.

What Do You Need to Apply?

• MSH employs people of passion, we seek those individuals who dream of a better world. We look for professionals who combine experience, local knowledge, and an understanding of international best practices.

Requirements
Education:

• A post-graduate Degree in a health-related field with specialized training and/or experience relating to pharmacovigilance, pharmaceutical management, and regulatory system strengthening required; a physician or pharmacist qualification preferred.

Experience:
Required:

• A minimum of 8 years relevant experience in pharmacovigilance working with a national regulatory authority and/or the pharmaceutical private sector in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in Africa and/or Asia; minimum of 2-3 years resident working in LMICs required.
• Demonstrated experience working with and familiarity with USAID.
• Significant experience in strengthening regulatory systems with particular focus on working with pharmacovigilance systems at regional level.

Preferred:

• Experience in working or collaborating with international agencies such as the UN (WHO preferably) and GFATM preferred.
• Experience working with public health programs and the pharmaceutical private sector will be an added advantage.