Technical Advisor 

Job Description

Internal/External Vacancy Announcement

Overview: 

Jhpiego, an affiliate of Johns Hopkins University, has strengthened public health programming for five decades in several countries through evidence-based, quality-focused public health interventions. Jhpiego has worked closely with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone (MOHS) since 2018 through Momentum Country and Global Leadership Program focusing on Reproductive Maternal Newborn and Child Health and IPC/WASH projects, the US-CDC-funded Global Health Security project, the Health Resources and Services Administration-funded Global Reach II, and the USAID-funded Impact Malaria project 

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed many weaknesses in health systems across the globe and raised important issues in health security. USAID has provided support to many countries through the COVID-19 Response Mechanism (C19RM), including Sierra Leone. Three key areas for ongoing support, which were identified by USAID, the Ministry of Health  (MoH), Global Fund, and other partners, are a) Integrated Waste Management (IWM), b) Community Led Services Assessment, (CLSA), and c) Medical Oxygen Ecosystem (MOE).

MOH has an existing National Healthcare Management Policy and Strategy. However, with the advent of COVID-19, the policy and strategy needs to be updated to interventions on the transport, storage, and destruction of Covid-19 and other infectious diseases related medical waste. The Directorate of Environmental Health of the MoH is thus seeking the services of a TA to provide technical assistance in updating the National Medical Waste Management Policy and Strategy to include Covid-19 and other infectious diseases medical waste management, and at the same time develop a detailed work plan and budget for implementation of the updated policy and strategy document among other tasks.

Through C19RM funding from USAID, Jhpiego will recruit a Technical Advisor to provide technical assistance to the MoH Healthcare Waste Management Strategy to include COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, SOPs development, and capacity building 

The Technical Advisor will work in close collaboration with the Director of Environmental Health, Program Manager for Waste Management, MoH, the Jhpiego team in Sierra Leone, and representatives from different Jhpiego US departments to support the successful implementation of the project. 

The following vacant position is available for immediate filling: 

Position: Technical Advisor 

Technical Area: Healthcare Waste Management 

Location: Freetown, Sierra Leone

Specific responsibilities include: 

Technical

• Work closely with technical partners to guide and support the development of protocols and or standard operating procedures (SOPs) applicable to Sierra Leone’s health system and in line with WHO guidelines and recommendations on medical waste management,
• Conduct capacity and training needs assessment at national and sub-national levels and map out key existing capacity gaps.  
• Develop a training guide and a hub and spoke mentorship network to cascade training to current and future staff (health care workers and other relevant staff) at national and sub-national levels based on identified capacity gaps.
• Strengthen HR and institutional capacity from the start of implementation of the updated Policy and Strategy.
• Identify other opportunities for Global Fund investments in medical waste management in Sierra Leone.
• Explore innovative and collaborative approaches with non-health system actors on waste management, circular economy of waste, and environmental sustainability. 
• Support high-level leadership engagement in advocacy and awareness creation programs on medical waste management – development of IEC materials, the orientation of health workers 
• Facilitate and coordinate monitoring visits to health facilities on waste management 
• Facilitate Healthcare Waste Management Technical Working Group meetings at periodic intervals in close coordination with key national and sub-national stakeholders.

Program Support and Compliance 

• Contribute to/draft project documents such as weekly, monthly, quarterly reports and final technical reports
• Capture insights from stakeholders through engagement: interviews, workshops, field visits 
• Support monitoring of progress on key deliverables and activities outlined in the work plan 
• Support planning and execution of workshops and activities
• Support timely deliverables of project activities 
• Ensure compliance with Jhpiego and JHU operational policies and regulations
• Ensure compliance with Donor policies and regulations
• In coordination with project leadership, provide management support for routine and ad-hoc meetings, including agenda planning and development, and follow-up on key action items, etc.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Master’s degree or higher in Public health, Environmental engineering or Environmental Health, Waste Management, Sanitation, or a related field with 5 years of related experience 
• Prior Experience in designing and implementing WASH and Medical Waste Management and Sanitation   interventions in resource-constraint settings
• Experience implementing similar programs funded by USAID preferred
• Prior experience in management and strategy consulting will be preferred
• Experience handling program tasks across project phases (e.g., work plans, reporting)
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
• Ability to work proactively, organize and manage own work, and assist others to do the same
• Experience preparing high-quality reports for donors/funders preferred
• Excellent written and oral English language skills, 
• Good communication skills with diverse groups
• Ability to travel up to 20% of the time.

Qualified persons are required to send their Curriculum Vitae (CV) and application letter to:  sl-recruitment@jhpiego.org.

Kindly state in the subject area the position and location you are applying for. CVs without proper labeling will not be considered.

The deadline for the submission of applications is 14th December 2023. Given the likely high number of applications, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.