Technical Advisor – HIV Pediatric and Adolescent HIV Prevention and treatment

ELIZABETH GLASER PEDIATRIC AIDS FOUNDATION (EGPAF)

Technical Advisor – HIV Pediatric and Adolescent HIV Prevention and treatment

Job Title : Technical Advisor – HIV Pediatric and Adolescents HIV Prevention and treatment

Job openings : 01

Locations : Yaoundé

Reports to : Director of Clinical Services

Start date : April 1 st , 2019

Applications Due: March 17, 2019

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation is a global leader in the fight against pediatric HIV and AIDS, working in 19 countries and at over 5,500 sites around the world to prevent the transmission of HIV to children, and to help those already infected. Today, because of the highly successful work of the Foundation and its partners, pediatric AIDS has been virtually eliminated in the United States. With a growing global staff of over 1,000—nine of 10 who work in the field—the Foundation’s global mission is to implement HIV prevention, care, and treatment programs; further advance innovative research; and to execute strategic and targeted global advocacy activities to bring dramatic change to the lives of millions of women, children, and families worldwide. For more information, please, visit our page: www.pedaids.org.

With funding from CDC/PEPFAR Cameroon for the Atteindre95 project, EGPAF is supporting the Ministry of Public Health and the Government of Cameroon to scale-up HIV Testing Services (HTS) to ensure that 95% of people living with HIV know their status, that 95% of them are initiated on ART, and that 95% of those on ART are virally suppressed. EGPAF is also supported by other donors such as Unitaid to implement innovative approaches for Early Infant Diagnosis of HIV and catalysing Pediatric Tuberculosis services.

Job Summary:

Reporting to the Director of Clinical Services, the Pediatric/Adolescent HIV Prevention and Treatment (HPT) Technical Advisor serves as the lead pediatric/adolescent/youth health, prevention and treatment specialist within EGPAF Cameroon. S/He will strengthen EGPAF's technical leadership and program support in the areas of HIV prevention and treatment programming for children and adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV), adolescent pregnant women, non-infected adolescents and youth, all in support of EGPAF's mission of elimination of pediatric AIDS throughout all continuum of prevention and care from infancy into adulthood. The TA will work with country programs to build on current program strengths and accomplishments, taking into account the national and global context, existing stakeholders, and programming opportunities. The Technical Advisor will lead a coordinated EGPAF approach for Adolescent programming and interventions to enhance the impact of country programs through the expansion of a standardized and comprehensive platform of effective HIV prevention and treatment services for children, adolescents and youth. The Technical advisor will be responsible for maintaining a high level of expertise in the national pediatric/adolescent/youth agenda, issues of adolescent health and youth programming, in particular the areas of HIV prevention, uptake of HIV testing, sexual and reproductive health, antiretroviral treatment with focus on disclosure, adherence and retention in care, viral load suppression, transition into adult care, and mental health.

Key Responsibilities -

· Provide technical oversight and capacity building to program officers and health care workers in supported sites to assure delivery of quality, relevant and quantifiable paediatric and adolescents HIV services.

· Coordination of the development of weekly, monthly and quarterly pediatric work plans and review budgets and requisitions for technical soundness.

· Coordinate identification of training needs and support implementation of relevant training modules targeting medical staff and other HIV providers.

· Support the program officers in their routine weekly site supportive supervision along with national, regional and district health team members to ensure quality service delivery

· Monitor implementation and progress of HTS coverage, ART initiation, OI management, viral load suppression, and retention and cohort outcomes for children and adolescents living with HIV.

· Work closely with the Care and treatment as well as the Prevention, HTS and Adherence, retention and liaison Technical Advisors to ensure coverage, retention and cohort outcomes.

· Will be a member of project management team as well as take part in the donor review meetings on a quarterly basis and SIMS sites visits

· In liaison with the lab-supply chain interface coordinator, monitor the continuous availability of pediatric formulations of ARVs at national, regional, district and site levels as well as the various monitoring and evaluation tools required for a functional HIV program

· In liaison with the Adherence, retention, and Community Liaison Technical Advisor, identify and mobilize NGOs/ FBOs / CBOs that will be the link to the community for pediatric and adolescent’s HIV activities.

· Participate in the various relevant TWGs and technical meetings at national and regional levels;

· Optimize Identification and linkage of HIV-positive adolescents to HIV care and treatment services.

· Develop Terms of Reference (TOR) for Adolescent peer educators.

· Work with Retention Adherence and Linkage (RAL) team to ensure Adolescent peer educators are well supervised at facilities.

· Support program officers to implement children and adolescents differentiated Care model at supported sites, including age specific children and adolescents peer support groups;

· Train healthcare workers (HCWs) and provide continuous mentorship on the pediatric and adolescent package of care (APOC).

· Assist the MOH to develop programmatic tool for mental health of ALHIV and support program officers to roll them out in all EGPAF supported sites;

· Liaise with the Adherence, retention and liaison technical advisor to institutionalize express systems in the health facilities by using adolescent peer educators to help newly identified HIV-infected adolescents navigate the health system and ensure an increased uptake of viral load (VL) testing for all adolescents on ART through treatment literacy and support for line listing of all the adolescents on ART.

· Support sensitization workshops for teachers in selected schools in the supported districts to improve retention and adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for school-going adolescents.

· Support the focal point to implement the Committee for African Youth Advisors (CAYA) initiative in Cameroon which aims at creating a dynamic partnership with youth across EGPAF presence countries to better align global investments towards EGPAF’s mission.

Required qualifications

Medical Doctor/Master’s in Nursing/ with at least 7 years of continuous HIV program implementation of continuous HIV program implementation. Registration with the required regulatory bodies (Nursing council, Medical Council) is mandatory . A Master’s degree in Public health or other related degree is a distinct advantage. Being fluent in English and French is a distinct advantage.

Required competencies, skills and experience

· Experience in managing a large, diverse and dynamic team of health professionals providing integrated HIV Testing, care and treatment services;

· Experience in establishing and sustaining working relationships with the Ministry of Public Health at National, Regional, District, and health providers at site level;

· Significant and up to date knowledge of the current HTS, ART and PMTCT guidelines, standards, tools and best practices. Up to date knowledge of general HIV management is a pre-requisite;

· Demonstrated experience in organizing and facilitating mentorship and capacity building in HTS and HIV service areas;

· Thorough knowledge of PEPFAR Program and MOH/NACC reporting requirements including familiarity with the data collection and reporting tools used by MOH/NACC;

· Proficiency in computer basic skills- MS Office; Internet; Basic data analysis skills;

· Self-managed, self-driven, results oriented individual with excellent communication, interpersonal, report writing and analytical skills;

· Dedicated team player with ability and experience to work in a multidisciplinary team.

· Creativity/Innovation – Develops new insights into situations; questions conventional approaches; encourages new ideas and innovations; designs and implements new or cutting edge programs/processes.

· 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.

How to Apply:

Qualified candidates should submit a CV and cover letter through the following link: https://chj.tbe.taleo.net/chj05/ats/careers/searchResults.jsp?org=PEDAIDS&cws=1

Screening of applications will be on a rolling basis. Please note that only shortlisted applicants meeting the above requirements will be contacted.

Applications are only acceptable through the above link.

This position is subject to donor funding.

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, EGPAF complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the Foundation has facilities.