Public Health Specialist Pretoria - U.S. Embassy & Consulates in South Africa - South Africa

The U.S. Mission in Pretoria is seeking eligible and qualified applicants for a position of Public Health Specialist, Counseling & Testing, in the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention. Job Overview The incumbent of this position is a public health advisor to the HIV Testing Services (HTS) in the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Durban, KZN office (HTS) in the External Partnership Branch of the CDC's Global HIV/AIDS and TB Program (DGHT) in South Africa (CDC/SA) that implements or supports Prevention programs under the President's Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in South Africa. As a Prevention Specialist, the position is responsible for the day-to-day program and administration management, design, implementation, coordination, and evaluation of a broad range of HIV/AIDS prevention program activities and studies including coordination and collaboration with other USG agencies that implement or support PEPFAR programs in with a specific focus in KZN. Job holder is the prevention program public health specialist and advisor to the host country KZN Provincial Department of Health (DoH), Ministry of Education (MoE), Department of Social Development (DSD), partners and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as contractors and implementing partners of Prevention program activities and studies. The incumbent may represent the CDC/SA Prevention Branch on HIV prevention issues at technical, policy and strategic planning meetings, including meetings with collaborators and donor agencies. Job holder serves as the Activity Manager/Program Management Specialist for HIV/AIDS Prevention grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements and coordinates the funding, reporting, and administration with the extramural team to assure projects are conducted and USG funds are appropriately utilized. The incumbent also works to integrate prevention with care and treatment, conducts site level visits, and supports PEPFAR policies. The position is directly supervised by the Associate Director of Programs- KwaZulu-Natal. Major Duties and Responsibilities I. Program Development 70% Job holder prepares directives, memoranda, policy statements and proposals to introduce new initiatives and to recommend effective operations consistent with overall program objectives in support of the PEPFAR Prevention Program in South Africa, and specifically in the KZN Province. Prevention programs include, but are not limited to, education/outreach, HIV Testing Services, youth-directed programs, prevention of transmission of mother to child (PMTCT), targeting highly vulnerable populations. The annual agency budge for HIV/AIDS Prevention programs in South Africa in fiscal 202010 is approximately $80Million awarded via 5 cooperative agreements in the KZN Province. Serves as a technical advisor to the KZN Provincial Health Department (PDOH), Ministry of Education (MoE), and other ministries or government/non-government entities as appropriate in furthering their HIV/AIDS prevention programs, focusing on non-duplication of services provided by USG agencies, cooperative partners, and contracts. Works closely with host provincial government, international organizations, as well as partners funded by the Government of South Africa or the Global Fund as indicated, and non-governmental organizations to influence other collaborative organizations engaged in HIV/AIDS Prevention programs to adopt strategies for their program activities. Provides technical evaluation of all Prevention programs grants, contracts or cooperative agreement applications and proposals for which he/she is responsible including the Siyenza initiative. Works with the CDC/SA offices and branches that manage grants or contracts, and partner representatives to ensure that most current Prevention protocols are included in the awarded agreements. Provides guidance and direction to grantees, program collaborators and contractors on management and implementation of cooperative agreement activities to ensure consistency with PEPFAR policies and guidance, and the Government of South Africa policy regulations. Participates with partners in the development of work plans and spending plans for implementation of activities following cooperative agreement awards. Working closely with MOH staff involved in public health programs, private sector providers and implementing partners, incumbent is required to monitor all programs under his/her purview to assure that the specific objectives for the program are achieved and/or appropriate remedial activities are instituted. In liaison with the CDC/SA Epidemiology and Strategic Information Branch, the job holder develops program evaluation strategies, methodologies and indicators for monitoring HIV/AIDS Prevention programs in accordance with standard guidelines and protocols. Provides advice and recommendations to the External Partnership Branch Chief and Prevention Branch Chief in interpreting data on health objectives and indicators related to specific HIV/AIDS Prevention, specifically HTS, programs. Monitors activities and collaborates with each collaborating partner organization on a regular basis to make sure program results are achieved and all Prevention programmatic activities and study protocols meet human subject requirements and pass through ethical review with the CDC GAP Associate Director for Science. This involves regular site visits and meetings with representatives of each organization to review progress. The job holder draws attention to organizational needs such as inadequate medical supplies, equipment, facilities and staffing. Provides updated technical information to partners as it becomes available. Designs practical training courses as required for various target audiences on how to implement, monitor and evaluate HIV/AIDS Prevention programs and activities, uses Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) data and reports progress to key stakeholders. Conducts on-the-job training sessions to ensure partner staff is up to date with Prevention protocols. Responds to requests from NGOs, health care organizations and medical professionals for information and technical assistance on HIV/AIDS Prevention strategies. Leads site assessments of PEPFAR Prevention programs carried out by implementing partners of the USG. Collects data and prepares the technical assistance requests to be sent to the US Embassy PEPFAR Coordinator and/or designated agency leaders and develops scopes of work as needed for the requests. Prepares oral and written reports on the progress of program activities. Readers of these reports include agency and post management, other agency PEPFAR officials, U.S. headquarters offices, and these reports are ultimately used in reports to the U.S. Congress. Reporting responsibilities are monthly, quarterly and annually. As the Activity Manager for Prevention cooperative agreements and contracts, job holder oversees the public health technical aspects in development of the Scope of Work (SOW) and Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), review of applications, supplemental awards, and requests for extensions. Once the implementing agreement is in place, oversees performance of cooperating partners/contractors, carries out technical reviews, reviews progress, identifies potential issues and informs supervisor, recommending actions for resolution. II. Administrative Management 15% Job holder maintains files and records in the CDC/SA Prevention Branch office specific to the activities/programs for which incumbent is responsible. Job holder is responsible for data integrity and security of information in the reporting databases that does or may relate to HIV/AIDS infection (particularly as related to named individuals). Other program files include reports, meeting summaries and minutes, copies of all grants/cooperative agreements/contracts, research determinations, panels, and awards. Whenever possible, these records will be filed electronically and entered into the reference system. Prepares and presents briefings for VIP visitors, participates in making arrangements for visits and serves as spokesperson as required on matters within their technical expertise. In coordination with his/her supervisor or PEPFAR Country Coordinator, serves as control officer for site visits to prevention program activities by agency and inter-agency PEPFAR officials. III. Interagency Coordination 15% As a regional and international advisor on matters pertaining to HIV/AIDS Prevention, job holder represents CDC/SA at technical, policy and strategic planning meetings, including meetings with collaborators and donor agencies. Briefs agency officials on the results of such meetings and prepares written reports for submission to other interested parties. May be required to serve as a member and advisor on provincial committees for HIV/AIDS Prevention issues. The purpose of these committees is to assess program needs and issues at the local level and communicate these needs/issues to the national level. The committees help to ensure consistency in the implementation of best practices for HIV/AIDS Prevention on a national level. Based on information received in the nation committees, job holder may recommend revisions to the unit's program policies and guidelines for Prevention. Serves on intra- and inter-branch PEPFAR projects, frequently taking the project lead role. These projects are generally short-term in nature and most often have to do with special requirements for VIP visits, special PEPFAR taskings etc. There tend to be 3-4 projects per year where the job holder would take a lead role. Note: This framework job 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. Education Graduation from an accredited university with a master's level degree in public health, behavioural or social work, or health education is required. Experience Five years of progressively responsible work experience in HIV/AIDS prevention and behavioral related programs including 2 years of program management experience. Past experience will demonstrate the incumbent's ability to consult and collaborate effectively with all levels both within and outside the agency . Language Fluent of English; speaking/reading/writing, may include the ability to translate Knowledge The incumbent must have a detailed understanding of the structure and functions of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), including detailed knowledge of CDC/SA's role and function in support of PEPFAR, and CDC and USG policies, guidelines and procedures for administration of grants, contracts and cooperative agreements; and intra-agency procedures for coordination with CDC headquarters and Embassy management. The job holder must have a detailed and broad knowledge of the host country operational environment, including a detailed knowledge of the structure and operations of the MOH, the environment for health care delivery at the national, regional, district and community level in South Africa, structure and function of endemic and international NGOs providing HIV prevention services in South Africa with HIV prevention programs. The job holder must have detailed knowledge of the policies, procedures and regulations of the Government of South Africa related to health care delivery and issues commonly encountered in the provision of prevention programs and activities in South Africa. Skills & Abilities Skill in providing, direction, and technical expertise in the management and evaluation of public health programs. This includes the development of evaluation designs, use of reliable and valid instruments, and methods for data collection, analysis and reports. Ability to participate in project teams and workgroups to develop effective working relationships with provincial, national and international working partners. The incumbent will be expected to exercise considerable ingenuity in applying guidelines to unique and different settings as the work is highly complex and can be threatening to stakeholders. Incumbent must have advanced computer skills with experience/training for word processing, basic statistical analysis and spreadsheets Basic Salary: R847,979.00 - R1,187,164.00 per annum Non-cash benefits include medical, pension and others where applicable Apply Now

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Public Health Specialist Pretoria - South Africa

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