The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low-and middle-income countries, while strengthening the capabilities of governments and the private sector in those countries to create and sustain high-quality health systems that can succeed without our assistance. For more information, please visit: http://www.clintonhealthaccess.org

CHAI is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and is committed to providing an environment of fairness, and mutual respect where all applicants have access to equal employment opportunities. CHAI values diversity and inclusion, and recognizes that our mission is best advanced by the leadership and contributions of people with diverse experience, backgrounds, and culture.

CHAI’s global malaria and neglected tropical disease (NTD) program provides direct technical and operational support to countries around the globe to strengthen their programs and reduce the burden of preventable, treatable diseases. We support governments to scale up effective interventions for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and surveillance, with the goals of sustainably reducing the number of illnesses and deaths worldwide in the short-term and accelerating progress towards elimination of malaria and NTDs in the long term.

Overview of the role

Countries of the Mesoamerica and Hispaniola region have committed to eliminating malaria. To achieve this, countries need to rapidly detect and effectively treat infections, to identify and aggressively target areas where malaria transmission persists, and to coordinate efforts closely to ensure movements of people and parasites do not jeopardize success. CHAI is supporting malaria programs in Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic to strengthen surveillance systems, devise targeted and evidence-based plans, successfully implement these plans, scale-up case management and vector control interventions in high-risk and hard-to-reach populations, and coordinate activities regionally.

CHAI is seeking a highly motivated individual to oversee CHAI’s malaria vector control work in the region. The position requires outstanding analytical and problem-solving skills, and the successful candidate will be capable of conducting rapid quantitative analysis and communicating such analysis in a clear and concise manner to colleagues and partners. The successful candidate must also exhibit a passion for results and commitment to excellence. The candidate must have excellent communications skills, patience, and cultural sensitivity, as they will be working on complex topics with global and country partners as well as multiple teams at CHAI. The successful candidate will have strong organizational and project management skills and should be a self-motivated individual able to function efficiently in a semi-independent setting. CHAI places great value on the following qualities in its staff: resourcefulness, responsibility, patience, tenacity, humility, independence, energy, and work ethic.

The candidate must have demonstrable ability to engage with diverse stakeholders, conduct assessments, and manage multiple workstreams in ambiguous situations. In addition, the candidate must be able to work with in country and regional stakeholders to jointly build strategies and execute on them. This position will report to the global malaria vector control team, and will be based in Panama City, Panama.

• Serve as a trusted adviser to national malaria programs on issues related to vector control and entomology
• Provide technical and operational support with implementing vector control interventions, including insecticide-treated nets, larval source management, and indoor residual spraying, in targeted foci of malaria transmission. This includes ensuring that vector control campaigns are planned and executed well, and identifying and disseminating lessons learned after intervention implementation
• Support national programs with translating evidence, current research, and normative guidelines on vector control, entomological investigation and monitoring and surveillance into practical programmatic and field operations. This includes updating and reviewing national strategic plans, guidelines, and policies for vector control technical content in order to align with global recommendations, as well as communicating information on available and pipeline products and interventions for tool selection decisions
• Support NMCPs with developing detailed operational plans, operating procedures, and associated training materials related to vector control, in order to support government capacity and effective execution of malaria program
• Work in close coordination with internal analytics team to facilitate implementation of operational research projects, including conducting background research, designing surveys, writing and editing protocols, conducting data analysis, and writing reports
• Support national and sub-national government partners with evidence-based decision making, including analyzing, interpreting, and using data
• Disseminate findings through high-quality and clear presentations, reports, and publications
• Proactively develop and maintain strong working relationships with key stakeholders across government and non-governmental organizations at the regional level, including technical partners like PAHO and the Inter-American Development Bank.
• Support identifying potential sources for potential resource gaps in vector control, and mobilize additional funding to address these gaps
• Explore the utilization of new tools and interventions to eliminate malaria, and develop operational plans and other materials to support the implementation of these tools
• Coordinate with Senior Malaria Regional Manager and country teams on programmatic and budgetary aspects of vector control implementation
• Co-manage vector control technical associates based in countries of operation, including training and mentoring these associates, overseeing the technical components of their work, and supporting staff to ensure high quality delivery of vector control support
• Establish effective communication and coordination mechanisms within the CHAI malaria team to ensure a motivated and well-functioning team and well-coordinated work streams to maximize impact of CHAI’s support to national program
• Support other strategic and technical areas as necessary
• Coordinate with the Regional Director and other CHAI teams as necessary

• Fluency (reading, writing, and speaking) in Spanish and English
• Master's degree in public health, epidemiology, entomology, social sciences, biology, or related fields and 3 years relevant experience 
• Proven experience in building and maintaining relationships with partners from government and/or other complex organizations
• High levels of proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Knowledge of major global infectious disease problems, preferably malaria
• Superb problem-solving skills, and enthusiasm for applying analytical methods to solve global health problems
• Excellent written and oral communications skills, including report-writing skills
• Exceptional attention to detail
• Excellent organization and management skills, including time management and project management
• Demonstrated ability to work independently in unstructured settings and to adapt to new environments and challenges
• Ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously and set priorities in remote settings
• Ability to be effective, patient, and thoughtful in high-pressure situations
• Ability to work in a fast-paced and multicultural environment
• Demonstrated ability to quickly learn and act upon technical information
• Demonstrated ability to translate scientific knowledge into actionable insights for decision-making
• Ability and willingness to work effectively in cross-cultural environments
• Strong capacity for diplomatic work with policy-makers and other partners
• Willingness to work in higher-risk, developing settings for extended periods of time
• Able to travel within the region up to 60% of the time

Advantages:

• A PhD in public health, medical entomology, or other related field
• Experience working in public health, particularly international health/health policy and management
• Experience in vector control or entomology
• Experience working in Mesoamerica and Hispaniola or other developing countries, particularly on health-related issues
• Experience working with governments and institutions, especially from Mesoamerica and Hispaniola
• Experience working remotely with a decentralized team

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