Senior Medical Referent Free TB

ABOUT US

Solthis is a global health NGO created 20 years ago that works for prevention and access to quality care for all by strengthening health systems and services in a sustainable manner. We work on women’s, maternal and child health issues, and on major pandemics such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. Solthis is a development NGO, present in West Africa with 5 country offices, which in partnership with local actors and deploy projects including operational research, capacity building and advocacy.

To carry out our project in Sierra Leone, we are looking for a:

Senior Medical Referent Free TB

Place of assignment: Bo, Sierra Leone
Type of contract: Full time
Duration of contract: 1-year renewable
Availability: By May 2025

BACKGROUND

Free TB is a three-year Expertise France-funded project to be implemented in the Bo district by Solthis in partnership with National Leprosy and Tuberculosis Control Programme (NLTCP); Lincoln International Institute for Rural Health (LIIRH), and the Civil Society Movement Against Tuberculosis Sierra Leone (CISMAT-SL). The project goal is to contribute to the reduction in childhood mortality from tuberculosis by delivering an available, feasible, cost-effective, and decentralized childhood tuberculosis diagnostic approach to enhance case-finding and access to treatment. More specifically, the project aims to improve TB diagnosis, access to treatment and prevention in children under 5 years old in Bo district through the implementation of an operational decentralized strategy. Through a comprehensive geographical approach aiming at covering the entire Bo district, the project will target all public health facilities of the district at the different levels of Sierra Leone’s health care system pyramid: at the primary care level, the chiefdoms are served by Community health Centre, then sections are served by Community health post (CHP) and at the lowest is the village level served by Maternal & Child health post (MCHP). The project will have strong operational research dimension.

JOB OBJECTIVES

Under the direct supervision of the Project Coordinator, he/she participates in defining, planning and monitoring medical activities of the project. S/he closely collaborates with Bo district health structures TB services

SPECIFIC TASKS

Project preparation

• Organize health facilities exploratory mission and situation assessments. If necessary, elaborate specific site procedures.
• Coordinate the submission of the project study protocols to ethics and other necessary regulatory bodies.
• Follow the development of collaborative agreements with institutions involved in the project.
• Prepares national and international orders of material and equipment.
• Coordinates the sites assessment selection for the evaluation of the decentralized diagnostic strategy.
• Organise the patients and samples flow with the sites. Project coordination
• Participates in exploratory missions, situation assessments (defining medical operational priorities when needed) and participates in the development of the project policy, annual plan, budget review and project proposal and donor reports.
• Supports operational research and innovation for newer intervention to address current gaps in program implementation.
• Develops training modules and participates in training.
• Realizes on-site and remote coaching o adapted to the specific needs of care providers.
• Ensures the project is implemented following Good Clinical Practices (GCP), project procedure and protocols.
• Ensures that quality assurance procedures for clinical, laboratory and data management are in place.
• Facilitates site visits by national and international project partners.
• Participate in the recruitment in different studies.
• Provides technical support to medical personnel in the field through self-knowledge and policies.
• Supervises, coaches and evaluates the Junior Medical Referent.

Project communication and reporting

• Oversees medical data collection, analysis and reporting to the line manager in order to ensure proper monitoring of the program.
• Coordinates the communication with the ethics committees: safety reporting and renewal of approvals. Participating in the project teleconferences and meeting with the central research unit.
• Participates in the elaboration of the national project communication plan

PROFILE REQUIRED

Education

• Master level: MSc, Master of Public Health, Master of international health or Master of Epidemiology.
• Doctorate in medicine is a plus

Experience

• At least 5 years’ experience in communicable diseases including tuberculosis control
• Minimum 3 years of working experience in similar projects
• Working experience in clinical research is an added value
• Previous experience in capacity-building or training healthcare workers is mandatory.

Skills

• Knowledge of International Council for Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) guidelines,
• Training in GCP.
• Ability to work effectively in teams as well as independently
• Strong interpersonal and partnership skills to link the needs of a clinical research project with the realities of operational implementation in a context of resource-limited countries and the expectations of national authorities.
• Flexible for regular travel to study sites
• Ability to work in partnerships and networks.
• Ability to analyze information, data and write concisely.
• Fluency in English
• Training in project management is an added advantage.

PAY:

Salary: Depending on experience in a similar position, according to the SOLTHIS salary scale