Emergency Management and Response (EMR) Specialist and Outbreak Coordinator

Monday, January 4, 2021

BASIC FUNCTION OF POSITION:

The incumbent will serve as the Global Health Security (GHS) Emergency Management and Response (EMR) Specialist and Outbreak Coordinator seconded to the CDC Uganda Global Health Security Team. The position is responsible for public health EMR activities, primarily infectious disease outbreaks, but also including natural, accidental and intentional disasters with public health implications. The incumbent serves as a key advisor to the CDC Division of Global Health Protection (DGHP) Program Director on public health EMR activities in Uganda and in support of the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA). The incumbent serves as the primary liaison between CDC Uganda and the Ministry of Health (MOH), the Public Health Emergency Operations Center (PHEOC), other Government of Uganda (GOU) entities, collaborating USG agencies (USAID, DOD, State Department), non-governmental organizations, and CDC headquarters. The incumbent participates in identifying and prioritizing EMR activities in order to strengthen national, regional and district level public health response capacity and maintain a highly functional PHEOC and incident command system in Uganda.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: % OF TIME (50%)

Coordination of Emergency Management Program

The incumbent will serve as a point of contact for requests pertaining to public health emergency preparedness and response. The incumbent will proactively liaise with CDC program personnel, GOU entities, and other partners to facilitate emergency awareness, planning, preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation efforts. The incumbent will ensure coordination between CDC Uganda and relevant stakeholders for outbreak and emergency response activities by participating in MOH PHEOC meetings and keeping leadership and subject matter experts abreast of EMR activities. The EMR Coordinator will also participate in the planning and management of EMR training programs, protocols, exercises, and drills for personnel involved in national and district level response efforts.

In collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and partners, the incumbent participates in identifying and prioritizing EMR activities in order to strengthen national and district-level public health response capacity. The incumbent is expected to stay abreast of the region’s current state of preparedness for complex, international public health emergencies in order to support the Uganda MOH PHEOC during the event of activation and to support its functionality and workforce capability in anticipation of an activation. The incumbent provides coordinated training, mentorship, and technical assistance to strengthen the overall capacity of the MOH PHEOC and Incident Command Systems.

Technical Assistance and Reporting (35%)

As a seconded staff, the incumbent may be requested to represent CDC Uganda on institutional committees at national and international EMR meetings, conferences, and other fora. The incumbent serves as a liaison for emergency management with CDC subject matter experts based in Atlanta, other USG agencies (USAID, DOD, State Department, NIH, etc.), the Uganda Ministry of Health, Non- Governmental Organizations (NGO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The EMR Coordinator will provide technical assistance in coordination with subject matter experts to develop and strengthen public health emergency operational plans and SOPs with partnering agencies, the MOH, and the PHEOC. The incumbent will proactively identify training, mentorship, and technical assistance opportunities to strengthen incident command systems in preparation and during an activation.

The incumbent also provides technical assistance to the CDC Uganda office and its GHSA implementing partners (IP) on public health emergency management program planning and implementation. The incumbent supports the development of partner program activities, strategies, and workplans to meet broader GHSA programmatic objectives.

The EMR Coordinator prepares required quarterly, semi-annual, annual progress reports, and other adhoc reports as deemed necessary. The Incumbent responds to informational requests and prepares program specific materials.

Administrative Management (15%)

The incumbent maintains files and records pertaining to activities/programs for which they are responsible. Program files include, but are not limited to, reports, meeting summaries and minutes, copies of all grants/cooperative agreements/contracts, research determinations, panels, and awards, etc. The incumbent is responsible for data integrity and security of information in reporting databases, particularly pertaining to the protection of PII. Whenever possible, these records will be filed electronically for recordkeeping purposes.

Note: This position description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by incumbent. Incumbent will be required to perform other duties as assigned by the agency.

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED:

Education: Masters (MPH, MSHP) degree or host country equivalent in Medicine, Public Health, Nursing, Laboratory Sciences or Epidemiology is required.

Prior Work Experience: The candidate should have at least 1 year of mid to senior level public health experience in a field directly related to emergency management, outbreak response, and/or field epidemiology is required. Completion of a field epidemiology training program is strongly preferred.

Language Proficiency: (List both English and host country language(s) proficiency requirements by level and specialization)

Level IV (fluent) English ability is required.

Required Knowledge and skills:

a. Job Knowledge: The incumbent must have knowledge and experience in field epidemiology, outbreak response, biosafety/biosecurity, and overall management of public health emergency response programs.

The incumbent must have a general knowledge of the local emergency management processes and/or systems and the role of the Uganda MOH and PHEOC in public health emergencies. The incumbent should have a good working knowledge of global public health preparedness methodologies.

The incumbent must have extensive knowledge of the development of emergency management and response program goals and objectives, the sequence and timing of key program events and milestones, knowledge of the development and implementation of capacity and program assessments, and methods for evaluating program accomplishments. S/he must have extensive knowledge of global public health activities and strategies, including advanced knowledge of the Incident Command System framework (ICS).

The incumbent must also demonstrate an awareness of safety hazards in the work environment; working knowledge of administrative, budgetary, procurement, and travel issues related to government purchasing and funding guidelines.

b. Skills and Abilities: Position requires a highly innovative and well-trained public health professional with strong leadership and interpersonal skills to work with all levels of staff in a team setting to accomplish program goals. A high level of oral and written communications skills is required in order to convey program progress, technical requirements and to influence other collaborative organizations engaged in emergency management and response programs to adopt appropriate strategies for their program activities. Strong working knowledge of computer software programs such as Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. is required. Experience using Office 365, MS Teams, SharePoint and other O365 programs and willingness to learn new technology is preferred. Ability to gather, analyze and interpret quantitative data, provide factual and interpretive reports and communicate findings to a variety of audiences is required. Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively and effectively in a high- performance environment under tight deadlines is required.

The incumbent must also have skills in diplomacy in order to work effectively with the Ministries of Health (MOH), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), United Nations Disaster Assistance Coordination (UNDAC), Department of State (DOS), Embassies and international public health entities.

Term of position

This position is a temporary, 1 year full-time position. At the completion of a successful first year, there will be an opportunity for an additional 1-year extension. The incumbent will be seconded back to the US CDC in Uganda, but will not be an employee or either the US CDC nor the US Government.

 

APPLICATION PROCESS

i) Qualified and interested candidates are invited to submit the following application documents and a motivation letter clearly highlighting the position being applied for and address this to;

The Dean,

Makerere University School of Public Health,

College of Health Sciences, Makerere University,

P.O. Box 7072, Kampala, Uganda

ii) Application Documents

a) Motivational Letter

b) Resume with contacts of 3 professional referees

c) Copies of all relevant academic documents

iii) Soft copies of the applications should be submitted as one PDF file to the following email address mets@musph.ac.ug by 5:00pm on January 4, 2021.

 

Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.