COVID-19 Case Management Technical Advisor

Job Description

Employment Duration:Full time
Location: Harare, Zimbabwe
Reports to: EGPAF Senior Technical Lead and collaborating with Director Clinical Services Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals and MoHCC Directorates

EGPAF Global TA Project Background

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), a recognized leader in the global effort to eliminate pediatric AIDS, is also one of the most successful international implementation organizations for pediatric, adolescent, youth, and adult HIV prevention, care, and treatment programs. Through support from the U.S. government as well as private and multilateral donors, EGPAF currently provides technical assistance (TA) at the health facility, community, district, and national levels in 20 countries to effectively support implementation, scale-up and evaluation of HIV, TB and coronavirus disease (COVID-19) programs. EGPAF is able to provide high-impact, high-quality, innovative, contextually responsive TA across a wide range of areas including health system strengthening, strategic information and evaluation, operational research, community engagement, organizational development, innovation/emerging technical priorities, project management, and HIV/TB/COVID-19 service delivery. Recognizing the immediate threat of the COVID-19 pandemic on the communities it serves, EGPAF leveraged its core expertise in service delivery and capacity building to begin direct COVID-19 interventions in June 2020. EGPAF’s decades of experience in epidemic prevention and control as a technical leader in the global fight against HIV/AIDS has made the organization uniquely prepared to respond to pandemics. As of early 2022, EGPAF in close collaboration with Ministries of Health is providing direct COVID-19 interventions in SARS-COV-2 testing, COVID-19 treatment, vaccine roll-out, data management and surveillance Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
For more information, please visit the EGPAF website: www.pedaids.org

Assignment Overview

The assignment presented will be implemented as part of the global cooperative agreement for the delivery of technical assistance (DELTA2), a five-year, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-funded cooperative agreement implemented by EGPAF. The purpose is to provide comprehensive, effective and efficient TA, capacity building, and program implementation expertise for PEPFAR and Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM)-supported global health activities. Through this assignment, EGPAF DELTA2 will provide TA to the direct COVID-19 pandemic response, and towards mitigating the effects of COVID-19 on ongoing programs and service delivery in Zimbabwe primarily through the identification and secondment of Technical Advisors to national and regional response efforts.

Job Summary

The COVID-19 Case Management Technical Advisor is responsible for timely adoption of the WHO Living guidance for clinical management of COVID-19 to include new therapeutics, capacity building of healthcare workers on COVID-19 case management, development/adoption of COVID-19 care packages, enhanced pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reaction surveillance (ADRS) for high quality comprehensive COVID-19 care and treatment programs resulting in better health outcomes including low morbidity and mortality. The COVID-19 Case Management Technical Advisor directly reports to the EGPAF Senior Technical Lead and work closely with the Directorates in the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) and other Implementing Partners.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Support the development and roll out of COVID-19 treatment guidelines and COVID-19 case management capacity building /training materials
• Support the introduction and implementation of new COVID-19 therapeutics
• Support MOHCC to review and implement a basic COVID-19 care package including a holistic patient management algorithm, and integrate COVID-19 linkage, care, and treatment into TB, HIV
• Collaborate with other partners to build high-quality skills among health workers through training of clinical mentors and frontline health workers; organize mentorship support to COVID-19 treatment center staff, including through a Community of Practice (COP) and facilitate case discussions, as appropriate
• Develop and implement quality improvement activities on COVID-19 case management
• Work with MOHCC and other partners to identify effective and innovative models of care to improve detection of COVID-19 cases
• Oversee rapid uptake of and access to COVID-19 care and treatment, including through the implementation of innovative models of care
• Provide leadership in development of innovative and efficient patient pathways based upon disease stage (e.g., community-based management for mild and moderate cases; clinical facility-based care for severe cases).
• Support Pharmacovigilance and ADRS for COVID-19 therapeutics
• Provide support at the national level to conduct COVID-19 mortality and case audits
• Facilitate and support partners to conduct Supportive supervision and clinical mentorship to HCWs on COVID-19 case management
• Support Parirenyatwa Hospital Centre of Excellence to generate evidence for national guidance and scale up of COVID-19 treatment through TREAT study implementation
• Support operational research on COVID-19 and other emerging health threats
• Ensure the development of quarterly and monthly COVID-19 case management updates, presenting data on behalf of the Case Management Pillar
• Coordinate the COVID-19 Task Force Case Management Pillar meetings
• Support and strengthenCOVID-19 Case Management partnership between Zimbabwe MOH and Local and International organizations
• Plan, implement and support COVID-19 Case Management programmatic activities to national level, including Global Fund
• Contribute to quantification and stock management of COVID-19 therapeutics and consumables
• Provide technical expertise in COVID-19 global fund grant writing
• Perform other relevant duties as assigned by senior management

Qualifications and Skills

• A Bachelor’s degree in medicine and surgery (MBCHB) or equivalent, Masters in Internal Medicine or equivalent is an added advantage
• At least 5 years’ experience in infectious disease program work (especially within the context of health systems strengthening, service delivery or health systems development in capacity building); or quality assurance/quality management
• Actively engage in the COVID-19 response at national and sub-national level
• Ability to translate and adapt international guidelines into local context
• In-depth understanding of the country’s health system
• Demonstrated ability to work with senior MOHCC officials at national and subnational levels
• Ability to travel to different sites within the country based on need
• Experience with donor related projects is desired
• Ability to work effectively as member of a dynamic team in a fast-paced environment

Competencies

• The Foundation expects all employees to possess the fundamental competencies of interpersonal skills, communication, accountability, continual learning, and driving results. The ideal candidate will either be proficient or advanced in the following set of competencies, specific to this position’s level of Manager:
  • Developing Others – Developing others is a person’s ability to perform and contribute to the organization by providing ongoing feedback and by providing opportunities to learn through formal and informal methods.
  • Managing Conflict – Managing conflict is a person’s ability to encourage creative tension and differences of opinions. He/she will anticipate and take steps to prevent counter-productive confrontations while resolving conflicts and disagreements in a constructive manner.
  • Managing People – Managing people is a person’s ability to build and manage workforce based on organization goals, budget, considerations, and staff needs. He/she will ensure that employees are appropriately recruited, selected, appraised, and rewarded. He/she will also manage a multi-cultural workforce and a variety of workforce situations.