Technical Officer, One Health – AMR Programme, Africa CDC
Position: Technical Officer, One Health – AMR
Organisational Unit: GIZ African Union, 1740
Place of Assignment: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Initial Contract Period: December 2024 – December 2027
Application Deadline: 27 October 2024
About GIZ
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, GIZ is a global service provider in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development dedicated to shaping a future worth living around the world.
Since 2004, GIZ has been a reliable and trusted partner of the African Union (AU) to enhance inclusive growth and sustainable development on the African continent in line with the AU’s Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want.
Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is a specialized technical institution of the African Union established to support public health initiatives of Africa Union Member States and strengthen the capacity of their public health institutions to detect, prevent, control, and respond quickly and effectively to disease threats. Africa CDC supports AU MS in providing coordinated and integrated solutions to the inadequacies in their public health infrastructure, human resource capacity, disease surveillance, laboratory diagnostics, and preparedness and response to health emergencies and disasters.
The “Strengthening One Health Coordination in Africa: Support to Africa CDC” is a jointly cofinanced Action of the European Union, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Agence française de Développement (AFD). The Action is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD). The part of the Action implemented by GIZ is part of the BMZ commissioned projects “Strengthening Crisis and Pandemic Response in Africa in the African Union” and “Global Programme for Pandemic Resilience, One Health (GP PROH)”.
The Action is part of and contributes to the Team Europe Initiative with Africa on Sustain-able Health Security using a One Health Approach (TEI HSOH) in the context of European Union and Team Europe and African Union engagements in health.
The Overall Objective of the Action is to strengthen health security in Africa through strengthening One Health surveillance and early warning surveillance of emerging threats from wildlife and livestock, and here specifically by strengthening Africa CDC’s institutional and operational capacities for the coordination of emerging zoonotic disease surveillance, prevention, preparedness and response.
Africa CDC recognizes antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as one of the areas in greatest need of a collaborative One Health approach across African nations. To this end, GIZ seeks to support Africa CDC with the recruitment of a Technical Officer for AMR to support Africa CDC’s contribution to the implementation of the Africa Union’s Framework for Antimicrobial Resistance Control.
Hence, GIZ invites applicants who are citizens of Africa Union Member States to apply for this position.
Core Tasks
In your role as the Technical Officer Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), you will be responsible for driving and implementing Africa Union’s Framework for Antimicrobial Resistance Control. As a subject matter expert in AMR and One Health approach, you will work with Member States, other agencies of the African Union, and partners to improve monitoring, delay emergence, limit transmission, and mitigate harm from AMR. You will also contribute to the development and implementation of an African Union-wide AMR strategy and related efforts within Africa CDC’s One Health Unit.
Where appropriate and reasonable, you will perform further tasks assigned to you by your line manager outside the scope of the job description.
This position is assigned to GIZ salary band 4 (AU P2).
Main Activities
The Technical Officer for AMR shall:
- Guide and support African Union’s activities to implement the Framework for Antimicrobial Resistance Control
- Coordinate with other AU agencies on the implementation of the African Union-wide AMR control efforts
- Support Regional Economic Communities and Member States in design and implementation of AMR control efforts
- Engage with civil society partners to build capacity and involvement in AMR control
- Coordinate multisectoral interventions at the national, regional, and continental levels
- Support the implementation of Africa CDC Antibiotic Treatment Guidelines in Regional Economic Communities and Member States.
- Support the Antimicrobial Stewardship activities (ASP), providing input on relevant policies and procedures, conducting risk assessments, educating and coaching health care workers
- Act as the technical focal point for the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and strategies for the prevention of AMR in Member States, and to develop and implement innovative approaches, adapted to region/country as needed for the prevention, control and management of AMR.
- Be the technical expert on matters related to AMR and be able to develop appropriate tools and technical guidance to enhance capacities and skills of AMRCCs in carrying out their AMR function.
- Liaise closely with AMRCCs in Member states as well as foster partnership in AMR across international organizations such as WHO, FAO, WOAH, UNEP and other UN institutions,
civil society partners, donors. - Support data collection and analysis on existent and emerging AMR drivers to ensure programme interventions are in line with current realities
- Support efforts to collect, collate, analyse, and synthesize knowledge to build the evidence for policy and appropriate AMR programme adaptations as required.
- Support cross-cutting activities across One Health Division, to drive achievement of division goals
- Supports data collection, analysis and knowledge generation including regular reports and policy briefs, scientific articles and other products
Day to day supervision will be from the One Health Division Lead in Africa CDC with formal line management from GIZ.
Qualifications
a. Functional skills - Working experience in supporting the implementation of public health programmes with emphasis on AMR surveillance.
- Advanced expertise in infectious diseases with demonstratable technical expertise and experience in the development of policies, processes, procedures and tools for AMR.
- Demonstrated ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team to deliver a global health programme.
- Excellent writing skills to enable translation of technical concepts into understandable and useable documents at field level is also essential. At the same time, excellent scientific
writing skills are necessary to enable contribution to publications/reports and scientific articles. - Knowledge and experience in supporting public health emergencies programmes under government ministries and external donors.
- Demonstrable experience and in-depth knowledge of operations of the Africa CDC, Regional Collaborating Centers and National Public Health Institutes is preferred.
- Clear understanding of the health systems on the continent and fair knowledge of operations of the Ministries of Health in Member States.
- Excellent computer skills, including word-processing capabilities, proficiency with email and internet applications, experience in using office software applications such as MS Excel, Power Point and Word
b. Personal Abilities - Strong problem-solving abilities
- The incumbent must have excellent interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to function in a rapidly changing and sometimes high-pressure environment and be comfortable operating within a multicultural team.
- Ability to plan and predict potential and emerging barriers
- Ability to build strong relationships internally and with external stakeholders
- High level of autonomy at work, yet with profound team spirit
- Ability to work under pressure, with minimal supervision, and in a culturally diverse team
- Adaptive, patient, resourceful, resilient, and flexible
Education and Work Experience Requirements.
Bachelor’s degree in medicine, public health, veterinary medicine, medical sciences, nursing or related field with a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience working in AMR, infectious diseases
with expertise/experience in implementing public health programmes
Or
Master’s degree in medicine, public health, veterinary medicine, medical sciences with at least 2 years of relevant experience working in AMR, infectious diseases with expertise/experience in implementing public health programmes - Previous experience in supporting One Health, public health, Veterinary and environment public health or other public sector projects and programmes under government ministries and external donors is required
- Previous experience working in Africa is desirable
Language Requirement
Proficiency in English is essential; knowledge of further African Union working languages (French, Arabic Portuguese, Spanish or Kiswahili) would be an added advantage.
Application Procedure
The application should include - a motivational letter / letter of application,
- a recent CV with emphasis on similar assignments, including at least three referee contacts.
Applications should be submitted via email to hr_au@giz.de with the subject line
“Technical Officer – AMR Program – Your Name”.
Closing date for applications: 27 October 2024, midnight EAT. Only Shortlisted Candidates will be contacted.
GIZ is an equal opportunity employer and welcome applications from individuals regardless of gender, disability, race, ethnicity, religion, age, or any other protected characteristic. We embrace
diversity and believe that inclusivity in the workplace is essential to our success and we are committed to creating a work environment where all employees are valued and respected.