1.Job Title: Director-Public Health Policy, Diplomacy and Communication (1)
Reports to: Director General-Zambia National Public Health Institute
Location: Zambia National Public Health Institute
Job Purpose: To effectively interface the Zambia National Public Health Institute (ZNPHI) with stakeholders and the general public in order to foster and coordinate partnerships and collaboration among Global Health Security stakeholders.
Specific Roles and Responsibilities
Internal ZNPHI Communications and Coordination
- Effectively coordinates internal ZNPHI information sharing and knowledge management in order to inform policy direction
- Standardize institutional communications through leading conversion to ZNPHI emails in order to attain effective communication
- Mentor ZNPHI staff to enhance effective communication in order to ensure feedback on various matters
External Communications and Public Relations
- Maintain and oversee ZNPHI image as a brand of excellence in public health security in order to attain is vision
- Ensure the office decorum and standards reflects a good standard
- Effectively coordinates the management of the ZNPHI website in order to ensure standard in its design, outlay and content is current and relevant.
- Draft speeches and talking points for ZNPHI and MOH officials in order to facilitate information and knowledge sharing
- Ensure public engagement and events are managed to the highest possible standard
- Manage media engagement and queries for ZNPHI in order to provide feedback
- Manages effectively the development and issuance of press statements and releases for ZNPHI in order to inform the general public on health security issues
- Engages various community stake holders as the voice for ZNPHI in order to ensure that the public is well informed on matters of public health issues and self-preservation against current and emerging health threats in Zambia and the region.
The Health Press Zambia
- Editor in Chief for the Health Press Zambia (HPZ) publication, including providing critical appraisal for key scientific products produced by technical teams at ZNPHI
- Promote the HPZ bulletin and lead quarterly regular issuing of publication in order to facilitate information sharing
- Effectively maintain engagement with global public health journals in order to ensure ZNPHI is an active member of among many, the Africa Journal Partnership Program (AJPP) and CDC Foundation Community of Practice,
- Support institutional efforts in publishing relevant activities and results in peer- reviewed journals
Partner Coordination
- Serve as point of contact between ZNPHI and other parts of GRZ and other stakeholders in order to enhance bilateral or multilateral partners.
- Coordinate partner mapping and quarterly partner meetings between the Director General (DG) and stakeholders and support routine meetings.
- Working with the DG, to assist establish and articulate strategic direction for ZNPHI and work with partners to coordinate support and effort to leverage different expertise and interest and limit duplication.
- Publish agendas and formulate supporting materials for meetings and associated follow-up events and documentation of key strategic decisions that could be shared with ZNPHI external partners.
Required Qualifications & Experience
- Full Grade 12 School Certificate with minimum five O level credits including English and Mathematics
- Bachelor’s Degree in Public Health, Health Communication or related.
- Masters Degree in Public Health, Epidemiology or related
- PHD in Public Health, Health Communication or equivalent is desirable
- At least 5 year’s experience in Public Health Policy and Communication
Desired experience
- Minimum of 5 years of work experience as Editor in Chief, Senior Liaison Officer or related responsibilities is desirable
- Experience working in or with a governmental agency preferably in Zambia
- Experience working in the health sector is desirable
- Familiarity with ZNPHI’s role in health security in Zambia
- Experience working with and on Donor funded projects is an added advantage
Knowledge and Skills
- Strong analytical skills
- Excellent oral and written communication skills
- team building skills
- Must be computer literate and proficient in MS Office
- Excellent interpersonal and public relation skills
- Capacity in decision-making and problem-solving
2. Job Title: Genomic Sequencing Technical Officer (1)
Reports to: Manager – Zambia National Public Health Reference Laboratory
Location: Zambia National Public Health Reference Laboratory
Job Purpose: The Genomic Sequencing Technical Officer for Pathogen Genomic Sequencing will be responsible for providing technical expertise and guidance for the implementation of pathogen genomics activities at the Zambia National Public Health Institute (ZNPHI). The officer will be key to support timely response to outbreaks/epidemics and improved surveillance and tracking of variants of pathogens of public health significance. The technical officer will be based at the Zambia National Public Health Reference Laboratory (ZNPHRL). The position is supported under a cooperative agreement between ZNPHI.
Specific Roles and Responsibilities
- Provide technical oversight for the effective implementation of the pathogen genomics programme at ZNPHRL to support efficient response to public health emergencies.
- Lead technical aspects of wet lab activities for genomic sequencing of pathogens of public health significance.
- Supports the function of the public health laboratory network including coordinating sample referrals as well as quality assurance systems for genomic surveillance.
- Provide technical assistance to sub national level facilities for strengthening the use of pathogen genomics for routine infectious disease surveillance
- Develop, maintain and extend methodologies, techniques, scripts, and related visualisation / data exploration tools related to the collection and validation of molecular surveillance data.
- Evaluate and implement software, data resources, databases, protocols and methods to aid in the analysis of genomic and genetics procedures and data outputs.
- Manage the running of bioinformatics analysis pipelines, monitor their use and enable results to be derived that can be interpreted and disseminated.
- Develop and manage ZNPHI databases for Genome Sequencing, molecular typing and other related data.
- Contribute to the analysis and interpretation of molecular typing and genomic sequencing data in the context of detecting, assessing, monitoring and communicating public health threats.
- Provide consultation and communication in data analysis, data mining, statistics, genomics and other areas of bioinformatics, to the ZNPHI/ZNPHRL and its stakeholders.
- Collaborate in developing Bioinformatics and computational biology capabilities within ZNPHRL and Zambia.
- Participate in and contribute to ZNPHI/ZNPHRL meetings, workshops and seminars. Serve as member of the Zambia Genomics Sequencing Consortium (ZGSC)
- Publish where appropriate.
- Contribute to training, scientific mentoring and supervision of staff and students where appropriate.
- Support to other activities of ZNPHI/ZNPHRL as required, within his/her field of competence.
- Draft periodic reports and publications for dissemination of genomic surveillance information
- Perform any other duties as requested by the Technical Assistance Lead
Required Qualifications & Experience
- Grade Twelve (12) School Certificate with Five (5) Credits or better including Mathematics and English
- Bachelor’s Degree in molecular epidemiology, biomedical sciences, genomics, genetics, bioinformatics, or other related science-based fields. At least 8 years work experience in public health laboratory setting.
- A Master’s Degree in Degree in molecular epidemiology, biomedical sciences, genomics, genetics, bioinformatics is desirable
Experience and skills
- Familiarity with the application of statistical techniques to biological data.
- A basic knowledge of molecular biology, genetics, model organisms and immunology.
- A broad comprehension of high throughput genomic technologies.
- A working knowledge of how to design and build data resources, and their use.
- Knowledge of WHO and other sequence database (e.g., GISAID) community standards for metadata and sequence quality and procedures for data submission
- Candidates need to have at least 5 years of supervisory and managerial experience.
- Proven ability in computer programming.
- Works with minimal supervision, organising and prioritising own workload.
- Excellent communication skills within a research environment, building highly effective working relationships with team and clients.
- Excellent scientific analysis skills.
3. Job Title: Laboratory Manager (1)
Reports to: Director – Laboratory Systems and Network, ZNPHI
Location: Zambia National Public Health Reference Laboratory
Job Purpose: To effectively coordinate implementation of appropriate laboratory technical standards, guidelines and programs in order to ensure adherence to laboratory processes and procedures.
Specific Roles and Responsibilities
- Provide scientific leadership at the Zambia National Public Health Reference Laboratory (ZNPHRL) by staying current of evolving laboratory technical standards, guidelines, and program developments in area of expertise.
- Effectively coordinate sharing new knowledge/evidence with the ZNPHRL team, partners and other stakeholders in order to inform appropriate decision making
- Time coordinate conducting of laboratory assessments, capacity building, strengthening of the laboratories and supporting strategies to enhance diagnostic surveillance systems; and support for improved and sustainable laboratory services both at the national and subnational levels
- Support the ZNPHI LSN cluster in achieving the goals of establishing a functional One Health public health laboratory system and network for Zambia.
- Support laboratory biosafety and biosecurity initiatives work and help to ensure safe working practices.
- Support ongoing development and management of ZNPHL with a focus on strengthening laboratory practice to achieve accreditation to ISO 15189 Standards for Medical Laboratories.
- Support expansion of sentinel surveillance sites for AMR and human and animal diseases.
- Support laboratory detection and reporting of priority pathogens and linking with surveillance systems using a one health approach.
- Support excellence in practice, service delivery and improvement in scientific and technical performance always. This includes supporting innovative ways of delivering services to ensure Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI).
- Contribute to development of laboratory standard operating procedures and other management documents compliant with national and international quality and governance standards.
- Support the development of policies and strategies that ensure effective and efficient day-to-day operational work.
- Support the development of management processes such as supply chain monitoring plan for the laboratories.
- Participating in activities relevant to laboratory committees, working groups and other expert groups as required
- Participate in developing and monitoring of annual work plans and budgets for ZNPHRL and execute the work-plan and budget using team effort.
- Participate and or facilitate in trainings for laboratory staff that include QMS, accreditation programs, laboratory management and any other.
- Conduct assessment of needs for expansion of laboratory testing profiles and placement of new equipment and support operationalization of satellite ZNPHI laboratory sites and public health laboratory network laboratories.
- Supports the development and implementation of continuous improvement initiatives to build laboratory capacity and quality with reference to accepted standards and requirements.
- Assist laboratories with preparing for accreditation through locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally accepted accreditation agencies.
- Supports laboratories in building laboratory network and support in fostering collaboration and networking between the laboratories.
- Support laboratories in data management and data sharing.
- Support the implementation of laboratory-based sentinel surveillance activities and ensure timely laboratory communication of results of notifiable disease from sub national to national level and within the national public health laboratory network.
- Assist with providing technical assistance to establish new diagnostics as they become available.
- Perform other duties as assigned by the Director – LSN.
Required Qualifications and Skills
- Bachelor’s degree in medical laboratory sciences or biological sciences or a clinical or diagnostic discipline is required.
- Postgraduate qualification in a Science field, Public Health field, or any relevant equivalent subject is required.
- At least 8 years work experience at senior level.
- Experience with laboratory quality control and quality assurance systems and implementation
- Member of relevant professional body
- Knowledge and experience with strengthening laboratories to achieve international quality standards including against ISO 15189 and/or SLMTA/SLIPTA.
- Familiarity with international biosafety regulations.
- In-depth understanding of relevant laboratory policies, standards, and guidelines.
- Good knowledge of laboratory management.
- Experience of participation in research and donor funded development projects will be an added advantage.
- Knowledge of the ZNPHI and the wider Zambia public health sector and laboratory network will be an added advantage.
- Experience of working with Laboratory Information Management System
- Experience working on a donor funded project will be an asset.
- Excellent communication skills (both written and oral) in English
- Proficiency in use of general computing applications such as MS Excel, Word, Power point
Required skills and Competencies
- A team player with strong interpersonal communication skills, relationship building and networking skills
- Strong analytical skills with an ability to evaluate and propose strategic options
- Ability to multi-task (prioritize, organize, schedule work)
- Ability to think critically and strategically in difficult conditions to diplomatically challenge the status quo and encourage shared ownership of outcomes;
- Commitment to ensuring that knowledge transfer and capacity building is central in the work;
- Ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines.
Personal Abilities
- Leadership and management abilities.
- Pro-active and solutions oriented.
- Analytical and problem-solving abilities
- Ability to build strong relationships internally and with external actors.
- Proven ability to use clear, concise language in correspondence as well as when preparing written briefs and reports
- High level of autonomy at work, yet with profound team spirit.
- Adaptive, patient, resourceful, resilient, and flexible.
Competencies
- Proven ability in computer programming.
- Works with minimal supervision, organising and prioritising own workload.
- Excellent communication skills within a research environment, building highly effective working relationships with team and clients.
- Excellent scientific analysis skills.
All interested persons meeting the above qualifications and experience should send their written applications to the undersigned with verified copies of academic and professional qualifications, detailed Curriculum Vitae and three references including their contact numbers.
The closing date for receipt of applications is Friday, 8th November 2024. All applications must be clearly marked on the envelope indicating the position being applied for. Kindly note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted. Interested candidates should address their application letters to:
Director General
Zambia National Public Health Institute (ZNPHI)
Stand 1186, Corner Addis Ababa Drive & Chaholi Road,
LUSAKA