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Organization Information

Organization Information
Reports to:  Head of Surveillance and Disease Intelligence
Directorate/Department/Organ: Surveillance and Disease Intelligence  Africa CDC 
Division: Surveillance and Disease Intelligence
Number of Direct Reports: -
Number of Indirect Reports: -
Job Grade: P3
Number of Positions: 1
Contract Type: Fixed Term 
Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Purpose of Job

The Senior Technical Officer Event-based surveillance (EBS) will be responsible for providing technical assistance on disease surveillance by advancing the implementation of Africa CDC’ EBS framework on the continent. This program is designed to improve the health of the people of Africa through early detection of and response to public health threats and wider health emergencies (including outbreaks, man-made and natural disasters, and public health events of regional and international concern) and building capacity to reduce disease burden in the continent.  In carrying out the work of the Division, the EBS program officer will support the implementation of activities within the epidemic intelligence unit in alignment with the other strategic pillars of the Africa CDC. 
 

Main Functions

• The Senior Technical Officer Event-based surveillance (EBS) will lead the implementation of the Africa CDC’s internal early warning system and oversee the establishment of EBS in Member States (MS) by; 
• Leading routine media scanning, signal filtration and triage, event verification and reporting to enhance early detection of public health threats on the continent.  
• Supervising the Africa CDC EBS processes and lead the generation of EBS products including weekly reports, spot-reports etc. 
• Support the development of regional and national guidelines, tools and training materials to foster the implementation of EBS at regional and national levels. 
• Represent Africa CDC in sharing experiences of implementation and advancing the vision of EBS in regional, global meetings and workshops. 
• Support the establishment of EBS in MS and the operationalization of EBS community of practice in all 5 AU regions   
   

Specific Responsibilities

• Implement EBS programmes across the continent in routine and emergency settings, in line with the Africa CDC EBS framework version 2 in collaborations with regional EBS analysts. 
• Support the operationalization of EBS communities of practice in the five AU regions. 
• Provide support in strategic planning on the implementation of EBS on the continent including developing annual plans and joint planning with regional and global partners. 
• Support the coordination of Africa CDC’s internal event-based surveillance processes, including media scanning, event verification, risk assessment and characterization, report writing, and report dissemination. 
• Work with Africa CDC’ staff responsible for artificial intelligence to improve the sensitivity of Africa CDC’ epidemic intelligence system. 
• Coordinate partner efforts (for Africa CDC supported programmes) in the rollout of EBS programs in the continent, maintain key relationships with partners and stakeholders, and engage them in designing and implementing relevant EBS strategies. 
• Represent the programme, share its vision and position at continental and global meetings and conferences. 
• Support development and improvement of regional and national EBS guidelines, protocols, procedures, training materials. 
• Support in the preparation of reports and the publication of Africa CDC manuscripts on EBS. 
• Perform regular monitoring and evaluation of regional early warning system to analyze effectiveness e.g. sensitivity for detecting true signals, ratio of signal: noise, etc. 
• Support inter-country coordination between MS’s for verified events with potential for regional spread. 
• Coordinate and support regional analysts in providing regular bidirectional communication and feedback to MSs for situational awareness and preparedness efforts. 
• Coordinate with other cross-sectoral regional early warning mechanisms across the continent. 
• Support any other duties as assigned by the head of division.

Academic Requirements and Relevant Experience

• Master’s degree in public health, Epidemiology or related fields, with a minimum of 7years of relevant work experience out of which three (3) years should be at the supervisory level.

Or 

• Bachelor’s degree in public health, Epidemiology or related fields and a minimum of 10 years of relevant work experience out of which three (3) years should be at the supervisory level.

Required Skills

• Demonstrable experience in supporting the implementation of public health programs with emphasis on EBS and epidemic intelligence
• Demonstrable technical expertise and experience in the development of policies, processes, procedures and tools for EBS  
• Knowledge and experience in supporting the establishment of disease and/or public health surveillance programs at national, regional and continental level. 
• Ability to engage effectively and diplomatically with external partners including national governments, donor institutions, inter-governmental agencies, and academia.  
• Demonstrable experience and in-depth knowledge of operations of the Africa CDC, Regional Coordinating Centres and National Public Health Institutes is preferred.
• Clear understanding and experience with the health systems on the continent and fair knowledge of operations of the Ministries of health in Member States.
• Excellent computer skills, including word-processing capabilities, proficiency with e-mail and internet applications, power-point and experience in using statistical, database, and analytic tools like R, ArcGIS, MS Word and Excel etc is desirable.
• Strong interpersonal and communications skills with the ability to convey key messages to a variety of audiences and serve as an advocate for the Programme’s activities

Leadership Competencies

Core Competencies

Functional Competencies