Strategic Information Specialist

REPORTS TO: Strategic Information Unit, Director

LOCATION: New York, NY

ICAP receives funding from the U.S. Government through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to strengthen HIV-related strategic information (SI) systems in four Central Asian republics and Cameroon. ICAP works with the Ministries of Health (MOH) in these countries to build local capacity for SI, with a specific focus on strengthening surveillance and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems. ICAP receives funding from the U.S. Government through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to strengthen HIV-related strategic information (SI) systems in four Central Asian republics and Cameroon. ICAP works with the Ministries of Health (MOH) in these countries to build local capacity for SI, with a specific focus on strengthening surveillance and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems. 

The New York-based SI Specialist will provide high-level technical direction in support of the two ICAP projects described above.  Specifically, the SI Specialist will serve as the primary headquarter-based technical point person for the development and implementation of surveillance activities in Central Asia, and for strengthening M&E systems for the Cameroon national prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) program. The incumbent will also serve as an in-house resource for a range of other surveillance related activities. Depending on the incumbent’s training and experience, involvement in an academic department of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health may be possible.

MAJOR ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Surveillance in Central Asia:
• Assess and strengthen sentinel surveillance systems and HIV case-reporting systems (15%)
• Participate in the design and implementation of formative assessments of HIV and bio-behavioral surveys among most at risk populations (MARP) (15%)
• Analyze and summarize data from HIV surveillance systems for program evaluation purposes (10%)
• Work with partners, MOH and CDC to prepare relevant training materials to build capacity around surveillance activities (10%)
• Other duties as directed (5%)

PMTCT M&E in Cameroon:

• Develop and implement tools, standard operating procedures and training materials to strengthen M&E of PMTCT programs (5%)
• Advise country team on the development, implementation and monitoring of data quality assessments using standardized methods and tools (5%)
• Support country M&E teams to devise and execute data dissemination plans to build capacity of MOH to use data for program improvement (5%)
• Design and conduct key program evaluations to contribute to the knowledge base on PMTCT efforts in Cameroon (10%)

In-house surveillance resource:

• Support New York staff and country teams to develop proposals, protocols and related materials for bio-behavioral surveys and population size estimation among MARP and other evaluations using probability sampling (5%)
• Support country teams to analyze and summarize data from bio-behavioral surveys and other evaluations using probability sampling (10%)
• Provide technical support for other surveillance activities as needed (5%)

EDUCATION:

• Master in public health, social sciences, international and public affairs, or related discipline required
• PhD in epidemiology, demography or related discipline strongly preferred

EXPERIENCE, SKILLS & MINIMUM REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Minimum of 3 years of experience in surveillance
• Experience conducting population size estimation and bio-behavioral surveys to assess HIV risks MARP
• Experience analyzing data collected using probability sampling
• Strong oral and written French-language skills
• Minimum 3 years of experience working with data collected as part of routine health service delivery

EXPERIENCE, SKILLS & PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Experience in resource-limited settings and collaborating with international and national staff
• Experience and knowledge of monitoring and evaluation practices and methodologies.
• Experience and knowledge of public health surveillance methods
• Working knowledge of PMTCT programs
• Exceptional problem-solving skills and analytical capabilities
• Experience working with U.S. government or other bilateral donors, especially CDC
• Strong written and oral communications skills
• Flexibility to adapt to changing requirements
• Culturally sensitive and strong team-building skills

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS: 
Frequent travel of up to approximately 2 weeks per trip is required - up to 6 trips per year.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

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Please note that the job title is listed as an Associate Research Scientist on the Columbia University Job Posting Site.

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