Public health – Epidemics Technical Specialist

Humanity & Inclusion (HI) is an independent and impartial international aid organization working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. Working alongside persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups, our actions and testimonies are focused on responding to their essential needs, improving their living conditions and promoting respect for their dignity and their fundamental rights.

Humanity & Inclusion is a not-for-profit organization with no religious or political affiliation. It operates as a federation made up of a network of associations that provide it with human and financial resources, manage its projects and implement its actions and social mission.

For more details on the association: https://www.hi.org

The actual intervention context is characterized by remote management modalities of intervention, through Partners. Bring constant support and guidance to the teams and maintain technical quality in the frame of HI integrated approach is the main challenge to take up.

Under the responsibility of the Technical Unit Manager, the technical specialist contributes within the country where he/she is based to the implementation of the mandate and the 10-year strategy of Humanity & Inclusion. He/she ensures optimal quality and impact of the projects implemented in specific areas of the country, through a delegation system with appropriate control mechanisms. He/she shares with all HI managers the responsibility of a sound management and successful functioning of the global organization, through paradigm changes.

The technical specialist’s main role will be to provide technical guidance to the design, implementation and quality assurance of adapted activities in response to the Covid-19 crisis, such as for instance awareness campaigns on Covid-19 and hygiene, identification of and assistance to suspected cases and their families, identification of and assistance to other vulnerable persons during confinement, transportation of suspected cases with ambulances, etc.

In the current global Covid-19 crisis, this position is expected to work remotely from their current location. If/when movement restrictions are eased and travel from their location to Jordan-Amman becomes possible, the candidate and HI will decide consensually whether to transfer the duty station to Amman (with HI’s standard expat package) or maintain it in the current location of the candidate until the contract’s end, with visits to Amman if relevant and feasible.

The technical specialist must keep all the data confidential, and share it only with the authorized persons.

Reporting to: Technical Unit Manager

Line manager+1: Country Director

1. Expertise
   1. Contributes to the country strategies in line with the global strategies
      1. Provide sectorial technical inputs to the STRATOPs of the Programme under his scope and in his sectorial scope, in line with the global STRATECH and ensure relevant follow up
   2. Enusre technical support to projects in line with the global technical frameworks and standards on this sectorial scope
      1. Provide adequate adequate technical guidance and support to Project Managers when relevant (adapt standards to PM’s tools, contribute to proposal writing and reporting) in line with strategies, standards and mandatory transversal approaches
      2. Ensure adequate support to multi-sector responses within projects, in line with the other Specialists
      3. Ensure a local sectorial watch, best practice capture on his sectorial scope
      4. Contribute to recruitment and briefing when relevant
   3. Ensure technical learning from projects
      1. Contribute to projects’ capitalization and ensure technical learning from projects in his sectorial scope.
   4. Ensure the control and monitoring of the technical quality and the relevance of HI’s activities in the programmes under his scope
      1. Ensure a regular regular technical quality control of projects and programmes and issue warnings and recommendations
      2. Monitor the implementation of audit recommendations, if applicable, in his sectorial scope
   5. Ensure compliance of the technical proposition with nexus stakes
   6. Contributes to the development of research and innovation projects in the region when relevant, in his sectorial scope
      1. Suggest and steer technical innovation projects
      2. Identify the priorities of Research and Studies and steer Research and Studies
   7. Contribute to the Technical Divisions professional channel animation
      1. Contribute to the global animation of the professional channels under his sectorial scope coming from the Technical Divisions (community of practice)
      2. Animate a local talent pool in his sectorial scope (carry out techncial interviews of candidates and produce recommendations, identify the needs regarding trainings)
2. Influence

Contribute to the local external prestige and influence of HI throughout the local relevant networks

1. Represent the technical expertise of HI throughout the local relevant networks
2. Contribute to advocacy on specific themes in line with the global advocacy priorities
3. Contribute to communication messages locally in line with the global communication priorities

1. Business development

Ensure the development of major opportunities or new projects in the country under his sectorial scope

1. Contributes to the context analysis in his sectorial scope
2. Contributes to the design and writing of new projects in the country and when asked in other countries within the Geographic Division
3. Identify & transform major opportunities in the country under his scope
4. Contributes to the conception of major projects (multiple areas, one theme) or of new projects in the country
5. Identify & develop local partnerships and/or consortium with NGOs, Institutions, Companies on technical priorities or important topics in the country under his sectorial scope

REQUIREMENTS

Education:

• Essential: Formal degree in  Medicine, or Formal Bachelor degree in a Health discipline and Master in Public Health
• Preferable: Master / Specialization in Epidemiology and/or Infectology

Experience:

Essential:

• At least 5 years of work experience in public health programs and/or health humanitarian programs, either for public or INGO sector
• At least 2 years of direct field experience in response to epidemics, either in humanitarian agencies and/or national health systems

Preferable:

• Previous experience with HI
• Previous experience working in humanitarian programs in the Middle East
• Previous experience in remote control programs
• Arabic language skills are a strong asset

Professional Skills:

Knowledge:

• The different schools of thought and explanatory models of disability and the application of certain tools
• International human rights frameworks
• Frameworks and mechanisms of international development cooperation and humanitarian assistance
• Strategies for fighting exclusion and discrimination
• The technical issues concerning his/her service sector, and the stakeholders and professionals in his/her service sector
• Full knowledge of at least one profession in his/her sector

Know-how (practice):

• Producing written and oral institutional communication in French and English
• Producing clear, concise and responsible communication suited to the interlocutor (adult or child); adapting communication and messages to an intercultural environment, and remotely
• Negotiating and managing problems and conflicts
• Establishing clear frameworks, rules and limits
• Supporting and motivating a person or group
• Adapting leadership to the group to lead it towards a shared objective
• Planning the activities by setting clear, specific and measurable objectives

• Developing new resources or adapting existing resources in order to improve them and/or adapt them to the context, if necessary (able to identify and respond to Nexus Emergency/Development issues)
• Assessing the impact/effects of the activities implemented in his/her service sector
• Promoting participation and cooperation in the activities in his/her service sector and in multi-disciplinary/sector-based work
• Using capacity-building techniques with adults (training of adults)
• Using different pedagogical models
• Some knowledge of training engineering
• Experience of project management
• At least 5 years of experience in his/her professional field, including work in low-to middle-income countries

Interpersonal skills and attitudes:

• Audacious (shows initiative/entrepreneurial)
• Good reaction capacity
• Working as part of a team/network, cooperating
• Respect for the opinion and enhancement of the skills of others with a view to shared action
• Ability to give and receive constructive feedback; discussing with multi-disciplinary teams, working as part of a network and collaborating
• Empathy
• Showing interest in what each person is experiencing and feeling, putting oneself in the other person’s shoes, listening to his/her needs, being accepting rather than judgmental
• Resilience to stress and uncertainty

Computer Skills:

• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office (Excel, Outlook and word).
• Master Microsoft Excel (Advanced knowledge and experience in Excel and ability to work and understand complicated formulas)

Language:

• English and Arabic are mandatory (oral and written)
• French is a plus

JOB CONDITIONS

• Remuneration: according to HI salary grid
• Starting date: 15 April 2020
• Duration/ Type of contract: 6 months renewable based on a project timeline and performance