Job Title:  Senior Program Officer, Vaccine Access and Delivery

PATH is an international organization that drives transformative innovation to save lives and improve health, especially among women and children. We accelerate innovation across five platforms—vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, devices, and system and service innovations—that harness our entrepreneurial insight, scientific and public health expertise, and passion for health equity. By mobilizing partners around the world, we take innovation to scale, working alongside countries primarily in Africa and Asia to tackle their greatest health needs. Together, we deliver measurable results that disrupt the cycle of poor health.

About VAD:

Vaccine Access and Delivery (VAD) supports the integration of vaccines for public health impact and disease control in developing countries. We focus on activities that facilitate vaccine introduction and widespread use in national immunization programs, such as determining disease burden, conducting clinical trials, establishing the health economics of vaccine use, raising awareness of disease burden and the impact of vaccination, increasing availability of technologies through licensing and commercialization, and advocating for appropriate policies. In addition, we implement activities that improve the accessibility of high-quality immunization services, including training, supervision, health information systems, and immunization safety, logistics, and communications.

Job Summary: The Senior program officer will offer technical guidance and direction to national immunization programs in Uganda and the African region. This person will sit within the Uganda Country Program and work as a member of a multi-country team of experts with strong field experience in design, implementation and evaluation of vaccine delivery programs, especially those supported by the GAVI Alliance (www.gavialliance.org). The work will focus initially on human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines and expand to other priority vaccines of PATH, such as inactivated poliovirus, rotavirus, malaria, etc. Responsibilities include:

Key Duties and Responsibilities: 

• Offer technical assistance to GAVI-eligible countries regarding design, implementation, and evaluation of demonstration projects.
• Offer technical direction to the Uganda National Expanded Program on Immunization for the planning, preparation, and implementation of the national rollout of HPV vaccination.
• Provide technical assistance to immunization program staff and partners in other GAVI-eligible countries, particularly those in East and Southern Africa, to develop program evaluation protocols, instruments and data collection plans for country compliance with GAVI requirements for HPV vaccine demonstration programs
• Provide technical assistance in data management and analysis, and monitor quality of data collection and protocol implementation in evaluations conducted by GAVI-eligible countries.
• Provide technical assistance to GAVI-eligible countries in the preparation and completion of successful applications for HPV vaccine support through demonstration programs or national scale-up.
• Act as country liaison for PATH’s HPV vaccine-related work in designated countries, at the direction of the project director/team lead.
• Work collaboratively with other international and country-level partners providing support for HPV vaccine delivery or evaluation.
• Provide team support in the collation and distillation of country reports and experiences of HPV vaccine delivery, in partnership with external stakeholders.
• Actively participate in weekly and monthly internal and external team teleconferences and meetings of project and country updates, problem-solving, and work planning.
• Represent technical assistance (TA) work with key partners, such as the World Health Organization, GAVI Alliance, UNICEF, UNFPA, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and others, at the direction of the project director/team lead.
• Stay current with latest technical knowledge/experience regarding HPV vaccine introduction, and other new vaccines of the investment portfolio of the GAVI Alliance (e.g., Japanese encephalitis, malaria, IPV, etc.).
• As with HPV vaccine, provide detailed technical support to both Uganda and other countries on aspects of vaccine delivery and vaccination program evaluations for other new vaccines, as needed.
• Work with technical, program, and country teams in Uganda and other countries to interpret and communicate results of technical assistance to relevant in-country and external stakeholders.
• Provide input to teams on technical matters related to vaccine introduction and system preparedness for vaccine implementation.
• Assist teams in preparing technical documents, reports, and manuscripts for self-publication, multimedia outlets, and peer-reviewed journals.
• Work with advocacy and communication staff to ensure the technical accuracy of materials in support of communication objectives. Alert staff to new developments in assigned technical fields, including disease burden, vaccine development and vaccine implementation.
• Participate in phone calls and meetings with other PATH project staff to discuss relevant program and country support activities.
• Represent the Country Preparedness Team work at international, regional, and national meetings, where appropriate, and present findings from technical assistance and/or country preparedness work.
• Significantly contribute to development and writing of proposals for new projects.
• Provide additional support to Country Preparedness Team Lead as necessary to build the portfolio of VAD global program and/or with country offices.
• Travel domestically, regionally and/or internationally, as required, up to 20%.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience: 

• The candidate should hold an advanced degree (MD or PhD highly preferred) in public health, epidemiology, medicine, or related field.
• A minimum of five to ten years of relevant work experience in public health with experience in the field of immunization in developing countries is preferred. Demonstrated experience employing epidemiological and operational research methods and approaches to design, conduct, and evaluate vaccination programs or vaccines in developing countries.
• Previous experience working on formative research and vaccine demonstration projects design and implementation in developing countries desirable.
• Field-based work experience in developing countries desirable but relevant work experience in developed countries with skills and knowledge that transfers to developing country contexts allowable.
• The candidate should have in-depth knowledge of immunization systems and country immunization programs.
• Specific knowledge of the structure and operations of the Uganda National Expanded Program on Immunization desirable.
• Detailed knowledge of vaccine-preventable disease epidemiology, qualitative and quantitative study design, and program evaluation of vaccine delivery.
• Extensive knowledge of HPV and cervical cancer epidemiology, HPV vaccines, and reproductive health in developing country contexts.
• Proven ability to conduct operational research and program evaluations in developing country contexts, preferably with vaccination programs.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a multi-country, team-based organizational structure.
• Strong experience in country or community-based field experience with vaccine delivery.
• Demonstrated skills in writing scientific reports for governments, stakeholders, and non-technical audiences.
• Highly articulate communicator, excellent written and verbal communication skills with strong interpersonal and presentation skills.
• Computer literacy skills i.e. Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other information processing software.
• Working knowledge of data analysis software such as SPSS, STATA, Nvivo, Atlas.ti, EPI-Info, or others.
• Strong organizational skills, ability to work independently, and to competent track timelines and deliverables with minimal guidance.

How to Apply for the job:

All applicants must have legal authorization to work in Uganda to be considered and confirm this in their cover letter. Application materials must be submitted in English. Please submit a cover letter with your resume describing your interest in this position and how you meet the requirements.  All suitably qualified candidates should visit the web link below for details on How to Apply and fill their profiles to express interest in the vacancy

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