Senior Technical Officer, Pharmacovigilance at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) - the African Union (AU)

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is a specialized technical institution of the African Union established to support public health initiatives of Member States and strengthen the capacity of their public health institutions to detect, prevent, control and respond quickly and effectively to disease threats.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Senior Technical Officer, Pharmacovigilance

Location: HQ - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Grade: AUP3 Step 1
Supervisor: Primary- Head of Division- Disease Control and Prevention
Supervisor: Secondary- Technical Assistance Lead – Saving Lives and Livelihoods Programme

The Role

• The Senior Technical Officer Pharmacovigilance will be responsible for designing systems and tools to detect, monitor, and respond to adverse events following immunization (AEFI) in the vaccine roll-out programme.

Major Duties and Responsibilities
The Senior Technical Officer for Pharmacovigilance shall:

• Ensure that all AEFI-related challenges and risks are identified and mitigation measures are established and implemented
• Stand up country consultations to assess existing AEFI surveillance systems to identify gaps and develop plan of activities to address challenges.
• Support capacity building of member states and implementing partners on AEFI surveillance, investigation, and response
• Establish a coordination mechanism between regional programme teams to exchange COVID-19 vaccine safety information including a data sharing mechanism for COVID-19 vaccine safety data and reporting of adverse events
• Represent Africa CDC in a professional manner, which creates a positive image and enhances the credibility of the organization
• Perform any other duties as requested by the Technical Assistance Lead

Qualifications and Skills required

• Master's Degree in Clinical Pharmacy, Pharmacology, Public health or related field.
• Candidates need to have at least 7 years of experience of which 3 years are at the supervisory level. Or
• Bachelor's Degree in Clinical Pharmacy, Pharmacology, Public health, or related field.
• Candidates need to have at least 10 years of experience of which 3 years are at the supervisory level.

Functional Skills:

• Experience in public health programmes including providing technical assistance in strengthening pharmaceutical systems in the continent
• Experience designing, implementing, and monitoring pharmacovigilance systems
• Excellent diplomatic, representational, interpersonal and communication skills, including experience with successfully interacting with stakeholders and decision-makers in technical and other professional settings;
• Demonstrated project planning and management skills for organizing, planning and executing projects from conception through implementation;
• Excellent technical writing skills, in addition to narrative and financial reporting skills
• Excellent computer skills, including word-processing capabilities, proficiency with e-mail and internet applications, and experience in using office software applications such as MS Excel, PowerPoint and Word.

Personal Abilities:

• Leadership and management abilities. Proactive and solutions-oriented.
• Data management, analytical, and problem-solving abilities
• Ability to build strong relationships internally and with external actors.
• High level of autonomy at work, yet with profound team spirit.
• Ability to work under pressure, with minimal supervision, and in a culturally diverse team
• Adaptive, patient, resourceful, resilient and flexible

Language Requirement:

• Applicants must be proficient in at least one of the African Union working languages (English, French, Arabic, Spanish or Portuguese).
• Knowledge of two or more of African Union working languages would be an added advantage.

Tenure of Appointment

• The appointment will be made on a fixed-term contract for a period of three years, of which the first three months will be considered as a probationary period. Thereafter, the contract will be renewed annually subject to satisfactory performance and fund availability.

Remuneration

• Indicative basic salary of US$37,453 (AUP3Step 1) per annum plus other related entitlements e.g. Post adjustment of US$17,228.38 (46% of basic salary per annum), Housing allowance of US$22,932 per annum, Thus a total of US$77,613.38 per annum plus Gratuity of 15% of Gross salary per annum.

Application Closing Date
10th July, 2022.