Senior Technical Officer at African Union

As a Senior Technical Officer at African Union, you will contribute to strengthening immunization programs in African Union Member States, addressing the zero-dose agenda, building public trust in vaccines, and supporting the strengthening of primary healthcare systems for immunization service delivery across the life course.

Specific Responsibilities

Senior Technical Officer (Immunization) -Preparedness for Vaccine Preventable Disease

Major Duties and Responsibilities
Specifically, the Senior Technical Officer shall perform the following major duties and responsibilities:
Provide strategic guidance on vaccine preventable disease prevention and control

Mapping out epidemic prone vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs) across the continent
Develop targeted emergency preparedness measures for VPDs
Provide strategic guidance on strengthening surveillance VPDs at continental, regional, and national level
Provide strategic guidance on routine data monitoring of immunization coverage, analyse immunization/coverage data at all levels to improve ability to use data for operational decision-making.
Coordinate Africa CDC-GAVI JAP supported mission and field visits relative to immunization and prevention and control of VPDs.
Support to strengthen the active surveillance, reporting, and investigation of AEFI for COVID-19 vaccines

Public Trust and Advocacy:

Contribute to the development and implementation of communication strategies to address vaccine hesitancy and misinformation, promoting public trust in vaccines in Member States.
Collaborate with national and regional partners on communication campaigns to raise awareness about the importance of immunization.
Support the development and implementation of community engagement strategies to build trust in immunization services.

Strengthening Primary Healthcare Systems:

Analyze and assess the capacity of primary healthcare systems within the region to deliver immunization services effectively.
Collaborate with national counterparts on strategies to strengthen primary healthcare infrastructure, logistics, and workforce capacity for immunization service delivery.
Identify and promote best practices for integrating immunization services into primary healthcare systems.

Data Management and Reporting:

Provide technical assistance to African Union Member States for the collection, analysis, and interpretation of immunization data.
Collaborate with the Africa CDC headquarters on the development and maintenance of regional immunization data management systems.
Prepare reports on immunization program performance and primary healthcare system capacity for internal and external stakeholders.

Collaboration and Partnerships:

Work closely with Ministry of Health, stakeholder in Member States.
Build and maintain strong relationships with national and regional partners working on immunization and primary healthcare.
Participate in technical meetings and workshops related to immunization and primary healthcare.

Academic Requirements and Relevant Experience

Education Qualifications

Master’s degree in public health, Immunology, Epidemiology, or a related field with a minimum of 7 years of experience in public health immunization programs.
Applicants with bachelor’s degree would be considered provided they have 10 years of relevant work experience in public health immunization programs.
Strong technical expertise in immunization program development, monitoring, and evaluation.
Experience working on the integration of immunization services into primary healthcare systems
Excellent communication, advocacy, and interpersonal skills.
Ability to work effectively in a multicultural environment.

Required Skills

Required skills and Competencies:

Functional Skills

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
Excellent written and oral communication skills.
Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
Demonstrable skills to conceptualize, plan, develop, implement, and evaluate resource management support requirements.
Excellent organizational and time-management skills and a proven ability to deliver under tight deadlines and works well under pressure.
Excellent skills and abilities applied to translating technical information into presentations, briefings and report for both technical and lay audiences
Knowledge of oral communication techniques and skill in presentation delivery, programme consultation and credible verbal response to inquiries.
Knowledge of interpersonal relationship practices and skills to meet and deal with persons of diverse backgrounds.
Demonstrable proficiency in MS Word, MS Excel, Power Point, data visualization and statistical packages as well as data analysis skills are mandatory.

Personal Abilities

Ability to work under pressure, stay on track and meet deadlines
Analytical and problem-solving abilities
Proven ability to produce precise and intelligible reports and office briefs in line with the requirements of the Africa CDC.
Able to operate in a multicultural environment
High level of autonomy at work, yet with profound team-spirit
Adaptive, patient, resourceful, resilient and flexible
Pro-active and solutions oriented
Knowledge of results-based management