Epicentre is an organisation created by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in 1986. We conduct field epidemiology, training, and research activities for MSF interventions. Our activities for populations in precarious situations are led from Uganda, Niger, and France, and through the programs of MSF and others. They mainly concern infectious diseases and undernutrition.
The job purpose
You are looking for a meaningful professional experience?
Epicentre is looking for an Epidemiologist to the benefit of MSF France programs in South Sudan. The main purpose of this position is to provide technical expertise to support the mission’s routine malaria control and response activities, including conducting the coverage survey for Northern Bahr el Ghazal’s first-ever Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) campaign (only the second SMC to be conducted in South Sudan).
The epidemiologist position is under the technical supervision of Epicentre and integrated in the South Sudan MSF mission. The MSF-France mission in South Sudan runs two projects. In Aweil State Hospital, MSF supports in-patient and emergency pediatric care (15 and under), maternity and obstetric services, and provides support to the MOH for malaria OPD services during the peak season (June – December). In Old Fangak, MSF-France provides in-patient (including surgery) and out-patient care and runs mobile clinics in the region.
You will be placed under the authority of MSF-France for administrative, logistics and security matters.
What you will bring
Skills to perform your main activities:
Technical skills: with distance-support from Epicentre referent(s), you will manage and implement the coverage survey of the Aweil Seasonal Chemoprophylaxis Campaign (SMC) conducted in 2021.
In order to accurately implement the survey according to the protocol, you will notify referents of any conditions requiring changes to the protocol and use good judgement in protocol implementation.
Your expertise to provide technical support will lead you to ensure all ERB approvals and MOH clearances are obtained prior to conducting survey, to support medical and coordination teams to obtain any additional necessary approvals and to provide complete and timely documentation as required.
You will ensure high quality research and data collection in keeping with all MSF, Epicentre and ethical standards.
You will have the responsibility to analyse data, write final report and assist coordination with dissemination of findings.
You will liaise with the medical team to lead the writing of the 2021 malaria season report. You will collect, clean and analyse data from the 2021 malaria season, the SMC campaign, and the coverage survey. Being familiar with previous 5 years of malaria seasonal data, you will represent comparisons to 2021 accurately, accounting for operational and contextual variations that affect interpretation of annual data. You will author, edit and disseminate the final report, as well as organize and file supporting documentation and cleaned databases on shared drive.
You will coordinate with the medical teams and coordination to support the writing of the 2022 malaria season proposal, interpret 2021 malaria season data and make operationally relevant suggestions for 2022, taking variations in annual context into account.
You will perform qualitative data analysis and provide key sections of the report and be available for write-up, editing and finalizing, as needed.
Team management skills:
You will be requested to coordinate activities with different collaborators and partners, and to integrate into a multi-disciplinary, multi-national and highly motivated team.
In close coordination with the HR department and following the MSF vision, policies and values, you will be involved in the processes of refining job descriptions, participating to recruitment of local staff specifically involved in the SMC Coverage survey, ensuring their thorough understanding of the survey protocol and methods, data management, confidentiality, and human subjects research protection standards and practices. To do so, you will lead trainings and coaching, and contribute to performance evaluations for the team members.
International context: you are willing and able to travel internationally. You have an excellent level of English (oral, written).
Educational & Experience: You have a master’s degree or similar high-level certification in Epidemiology (or equivalent experience, including public health training and experience).
You have an excellent knowledge of epidemiology related analytical software (e.g. Excel, Epi-info, RedCap, STATA, R, SPSS or SAS).
Experience in field epidemiology with surveys is required, and experience with humanitarian or development NGOs (MSF/Epicentre is a plus) would be an asset.
You are appreciated for your excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
You have proven ability to work in a dynamic and rigorous environment, with skills in teamwork and cooperation, flexibility, stress management, and to have “Results and Quality” orientation, with capacity to operationalize findings.
What you will get
You will work with a multicultural team in the field of epidemiology research
You will evolve in the humanitarian environment
Your contributions and ideas will be valued and highly appreciated
You will participate in the life of the organization and your missions will evolve as you become involved
Fixed-term contract of 5 months, with healthcare coverage.
Position to start beginning of November 2021.
Position based largely in Aweil, with travel to Juba and/or Old Fangak.
Remuneration according to experience and MSF salary grid.
How to apply:
To apply
Please send your application (CV + cover letter) no later than 8th oct 21 : https://smrtr.io/6MHFy
Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted. In case we have received enough qualified applications, we might unpublished before the 8th oct 21 .
At Epicentre, we are committed to an inclusive culture that encourages and supports the diverse voices of our employees. We welcome applications from individuals and we ensure that it does not discriminate on the basis of gender, age, sexual orientation, nationality, races, religion, beliefs, ability status, and all other diversity characteristics;
Epicentre pays very close attention to the protection of the personal data of its members, staff and people wanting to join the association. The data collected during your application will be processed in a fair and high-quality manner, only by the staff in charge of recruitment, wherever in the world they may be working for an MSF entity.