Project Officer for latent TB infection

JOB TITLE: Project Officer for latent TB infection

POSITION SUMMARY:

Location: Ho Chi Minh City

Contract Type: Local, Full Time (100% FTE)

Duration: One year (with possibility of extension based on performance)

Application deadline 31 March 2020

BACKGROUND:

Friends for International Tuberculosis Relief (FIT) is a registered non-profit organization working in the field of tuberculosis (TB) prevention and care, service delivery, research, technical assistance and advocacy. FIT is a young, dynamic and growing organization. FIT now has over 30 office-based staff working across five cities in Viet Nam. We work in close collaboration with Provincial and National TB Programmes and other in-country partners to implement projects funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program, the Stop TB Partnership’s TB REACH initiative, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNITAID and Johnson & Johnson. We also have multiple active research partnerships, including with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK, the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, the KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation in the Netherlands, and Ceres Nanosciences and SureAdhere Mobile Technology in the United States. FIT staff have supported the implementation of other TB programs in South and Southeast Asia, and represented Viet Nam at multiple regional and international forums on TB technical assistance. Finally, FIT was chosen to represent civil society organizations from Viet Nam at regional events and at multiple events in the lead up to and during the United Nations High Level Meeting on TB in New York City.

In collaboration with the National TB Control Program (NTP), FIT is helping to build a comprehensive Search-Treat-Prevent TB program across five cities in Viet Nam (Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Noi, Hai Phong, Can Tho and Hoi An). In the short term, we are aiming to 1) increase TB detection and treatment in key populations, such as household contacts, children and people visiting private healthcare providers; 2) provide social support and adherence monitoring options to improve TB treatment outcomes; and 3) scale up TB infection screening and treatment services. We hope these efforts will lead to declines in Viet Nam’s TB burden over the medium and long term.

As part of the Prevent component of our comprehensive strategy, FIT is conducting testing and treatment for latent TB infection (LTBI) among high risk groups. This project officer would coordinate supply distribution, participant recruitment, sample & data collection, treatment initiation and follow-up activities, while coordinating with government partners and various teams within the organization.

We are fast growing organization and we are looking for someone who is self-motivated, highly contentious, passionate about helping the poorest TB patients and willing to travel across the city.

For additional information please refer to our website at www.tbhelp.org

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Field work and training

• Conduct site visits to support project implementation in communities;
• Coordinate with PNT hospital to organize refresher trainings on tuberculin placement;
• Assist with the engagement of elderly and women’s associations to mobilize the correct type of participants at community-based screening events.

Project development

• Develop protocols, questionnaires, data collection tools, process indicators, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and other documents in collaboration with FIT Directors and Project Managers;
• Support training and capacity building of staff, particularly in relation to standard operating procedures and processes specific to FIT and its partners;

• Coordinate with the administrative team at FIT for supply procurement, including tuberculin, syringes, etc;
• Bundle supplies and send to districts in advance of community screening events;
• Maintain inventory lists;
• Communicate with FIT Directors and Managers about procurement needs.

Participant recruitment

• Follow project protocols and SOPs to recruit participants for latent TB testing;
• Monitor recruitment to ensure that the organization meets donor targets;
• Routinely check demographics of participants to ensure that the proper patients have been recruited.

Treatment initiation & follow-up

• Support government staff in enrolling people with confirmed LTBI on preventative treatment;
• Monitor paper-based LTBI registers and complete periodic data quality checks;
• Track loss to follow-up and adverse events;
• Support people on preventative treatment in the community to minimize loss to follow up;
• Enter data into the eMRS ensuring complete and accurate transcription of the paper-based LTBI registers;
• Conduct data quality assessments regarding LTBI treatment initiation in collaboration with the M&E team;

Data collection

• Enter LTBI testing and treatment data into an electronic medical registration system (eMRS);
• Support the compilation of project data and relay to M&E team;
• Trouble-shoot issues with project implementation, data quality and productivity;
• Collaborate with FIT’s M&E team to correct any errors found in the data.

Operational research

• Produce summary tables to track progress to targets and operational research deliverables;
• Assist project staff with drafting scientific manuscripts about LTBI implementation.

Other tasks

• Ensure that all project administrative documents are accurately updated and maintained;
• Maintain detailed notes on project activities;
• Draft summaries of activities and quarterly implementation performance assessments for donor reports; Translate documents between Vietnamese and English when required.
• Ensure effective, timely responses to key stakeholder inquiries and concerns;
• Provide regular status update to supervisors and other key project stakeholders;
• Attend periodic meetings to report project progress;
• Facilitate and accompany, if possible, project site visits by external parties;
• Assist in all aspects of the implementation of the interventions of the grant;
• Other activities requested by FIT Managers & Directors.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS REQUIREMENT:

• Comfortable interacting directly with TB patients
• Detail oriented
• Experience working with Microsoft Word and Excel
• Knowledge of electronic data entry is preferred
• Strong verbal and written communications skills required
• Ability to work well in a team setting
• Ability to balance numerous tasks simultaneously and meet tight deadlines

MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor’s degree in a field related to health, epidemiology, or development and three years of relevant work experience is required

• Master’s degree in aforementioned field and one year of relevant work experience
• Willingness to travel throughout all districts in the city of employment
• Willingness to work on some weekends to supervise LTBI testing at community screening events
• Driver’s license and motorbike are required

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS:

• Fluency in Vietnamese
• Intermediate written and spoken English is required

APPLICATIONS SHOULD INCLUDE:

• A cover letter
• A detailed Curriculum Vitae
• Photocopy of related certification
• Two employment references (Name, Phone Number, Email Address)

SEND APPLICATIONS:

• Addressed to Rachel Forse at hr@tbhelp.org
• Subject: ‘Application for LTBI Officer‘
• No later than 31 March 2020

All applications will be carefully considered, but only short-listed applicants will be interviewed. If you do not hear from us within 21 days of the closing date, this will mean that your application has been unsuccessful.

FIT is an equal opportunity employer.

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