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Program Officer, Diagnostics

Papua New Guinea

  • Organization: CHAI - Clinton Health Access Initiative
  • Location: Papua New Guinea
  • Grade: Junior level - Entry Level - Open for both International and National Professionals
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Public Health and Health Service
    • Project and Programme Management
  • Closing Date: Closed

Program Officer, Diagnostics

Country
Papua New Guinea
City
Port Moresby
Type
Full Time
Program (Division)
Country Programs - Papua New Guinea
Overview

Founded in 2002, by President William J. Clinton, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) is a global health nonprofit organization committed to strengthening integrated health systems around the world and expanding access to care and treatment for HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other illnesses. Based on the premise that business-oriented strategy can facilitate solutions to global health challenges, CHAI acts as a catalyst to mobilize new resources and optimize the impact of these resources to save lives, via improved organization of commodity markets and more effective local management. By working in association with governments and other NGO partners, CHAI is focused on large scale impact, expanding access to life-saving technologies using a sustainable model that can be owned and maintained by governments.  To date, CHAI has secured lower pricing agreements for treatment options in more than 70 countries. In addition, CHAI’s teams are working side-by-side with close to governments over 35 countries to tackle many of the largest barriers to effective treatment and care.

CHAI PNG overview

In 2006, CHAI commenced its mission in Papua New Guinea and worked to assist the National Department of Health in scaling up HIV care and treatment in urban and rural communities. The program span for eleven years from 2006 – 2017, during which CHAI established its presence in the National Capital District (NCD), Eastern Highlands, Western Highlands and Southern Highlands, but also impacted the health system at the national level. Currently, CHAI is assisting the government to deliver its expanded program in immunization at the national level, whilst supporting Central and Morobe Provinces at the subnational level. CHAI PNG is also starting a Labs program, focused on scale-up of antigen testing as part of the country’s overall COVID-19 response.

Position overview

The Program Officer, Diagnostics will support efforts in PNG to deliver the objectives of the CHAI PNG Labs program, under the guidance and direction of the Program Manager, Diagnostics. The position will be based in Port-Moresby with some travel to other provinces of PNG, as needed and as conditions allow.

Responsibilities
  • Work closely with Lab Program Manager to build and maintain strong relationships with relevant MoH, partners and stakeholders in the laboratory space
  • Support NDoH, National COVID-19 Testing Program Coordinator and CPHL in testing strategy and treatment guidelines revision and implementation of national COVID-19 testing plans, including strategic and operational planning, costing, and technology selection decisions, algorithms, etc
  • Support NDOH and CPHL to coordinate and conduct antigen RDT trainings and supervision in four provinces to ensure efficient and quality testing, improved data management systems, and utilization of data for program management
  • Work with the national procurement/pharmaceutical team and CPHL to expedite catalytic procurement of new antigen tests and ensure a sustainable and strong model for COVID-19 laboratory commodities procurement and distribution
  • Work with the National COVID-19 Testing Program Coordinator and CPHL to review, re-assess and ensure that the antigen testing support systems (lab/sites testing network, sites communication, result reporting, assay quality monitoring etc..) are in place
  • Support the continued implementation, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the rapid antigen testing to measure the impact and assess progress against project goals on regular basis
  • Provide regular updates of work progress to Lab Program Manager
  • Perform other tasks that maybe assigned by the Lab Program Manager
Qualifications
  • B.S. in Clinical Laboratory Science or Medical Technology
  • A minimum of 4 years’ experience in private or public laboratory settings as a laboratory manager
  • Lab and diagnostics-related experience, either in a programmatic or clinical setting
  • Strong analytical skills and technical proficiency with MS Excel and PowerPoint
  • Ability to solve challenging problems without extensive structural or operational support
  • Able to adapt to fast-paced and changing environments, both internally and externally
  • English language fluency, both written and verbal required

Advantages:

  • Experience on the bench in either microbiology, molecular diagnostics, flow cytometry (CD4 testing), hematology, chemistry
  • Previous successful experience supporting national lab systems, central Labs or partner/donor-supported labs in resource constrained environments
  • Demonstrated growth in responsibility in current or previous roles
This vacancy is now closed.
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