Project Officer - Surveillance (Nigerian Nationals Only) at Catholic Relief Services

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is an international non-governmental organization supporting relief and development work in over 99 countries around the world. CRS programs assist persons on the basis of need, regardless of creed, ethnicity or nationality. CRS works through local church and nonchurch partners to implement its programs, therefore, strengthening and building the capacity of these partner organizations is fundamental to programs in every country in which CRS operates. CRS has worked in Nigeria for more than 25 years.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Project Officer - Surveillance (Nigerian Nationals Only)

Job Identification: 3000310
Location: Kaduna
Job Category: Program Management
Shift: Day

Context
Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

The CORE Group Partnership Project (CGPP) is a multi-country, multi-partner initiative providing financial support, on-the-ground technical guidance and support to strengthen host country efforts to eradicate polio. The premise of this project is to work through existing networks of international and local NGOs with established child survival activities in high-risk areas of priority countries. A country-level Secretariat coordinates the work of CORE group members in a manner that complements the work of other implementing partners. The work of all CORE members is in support of the national action plan for polio eradication, 5-year health plans and consistent with national MDG goals.

The USAID – funded CORE Group Global Health Security (CG-GHS) Project supports a multi-lateral. multi-sectoral approach to strengthening local and global health security by strengthening capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats whether occurring naturally or being deliberately spread. Achieving global health security requires an inclusive and collaborative effort that builds on the interdependencies among communities, civil society, the private sector and governments. Specifically, the work performed within the auspices of the Global Health Security Agenda is designed to help member countries fulfill their obligations to meet targets identified by the International Health Regulations (2005) as measured through joint External Evaluations. One of the core activities within the GHS project is disease surveillance and community engagement as part of its ongoing polio work. CGPP-GHS project in Nigeria will coordinate and collaborate with key stakeholders and line ministries addressing livestock and wildlife health and environmental health through a “one Health” approach. This new approach provides the opportunity to record those unusual events and reports them up; so, they may be investigated and triaged quickly before they could become outbreaks or, worse, epidemics.

CGPP – GHS project coordinates and expands the work of organizations in the CORE Group NGO Network. The CGPP -GHS project NGO Network in Nigeria is implemented by 3 PVOs (Save the Children International, International Medical Corps, and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) dedicated to addressing infectious disease threats through community programming.

Job Summary

• The Project officer – GHSA & Surveillance will provide coordination and technical support to implement interventions related to the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) in Kaduna state, specifically focusing on technical areas of zoonotic disease detection, prevention, and response.
• As required, the PO will work with the implementing CBO Staff, state-level GHS partners and stakeholders to strengthen community-based disease surveillance (CBS) across CRS focal Local Government Areas.
• As directed by the SPO – State Team Lead, she/he will work closely with the GHS- Project Manager of the CGPP Secretariat and other GHS Partners to disseminate information on activities, learn about new developments within the GHSA space and adopt or adapt them into the CGPP-GHS intervention as may be required for CRS implementation.
• She/he will also oversee the integrated surveillance activities in Kaduna state on the Polio grant, including Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) case search, detection, and reporting, working with the state and LGA stakeholders.

Roles and Key Responsibilities

• Oversee and facilitate the planning, implementation, and reporting of CGPP – GHS project activities across CRS project implementing LGAs.
• Under the guidance of the State Team Lead and working closely with the CGPP Secretariat GHS- PM, provide onsite technical and organizational development support to the CBO Partners to strengthen multi-sectoral and multidisciplinary collaboration on community-based zoonotic disease outbreaks.
• Work closely with the Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), and other GHS stakeholders at the state level to process, analyze and use One Health/GHS information to improve management, make necessary adjustments, and assess trends.
• With guidance from the STL and working closely with the M&E Team, contribute to analyzing public health, animal health, wildlife, and environmental services to identify vertical and horizontal linkages useful to support community-based zoonotic disease field surveillance and work collaboratively to maximize efficiencies and cooperation.
• Collaborate with stakeholders for the development, deployment, and implementation of appropriate GHS-CBS tools necessary to improve community-based zoonotic disease surveillance
• In coordination with the Senior Project Officer – MEAL and working closely with the state MEAL officer, ensure the collection and organization of GHSA information following USAID approved CGPP GHSA MEL plan.
• Liaise with the Zoonotic Disease Unit (ZDU), relevant government officials and partners, continuously to ensure awareness, coordination, buy-in, and cooperation for the successful planning and implementation of the One Health approach in the state.
• Represent the project at state level outbreak preparedness and response planning activities
• Ensure the surveillance system works for AFP and other priority disease case detection, reporting and response with the state's surveillance teams.
• As guided by the STL, conduct monthly supervisory visits to focal LGAs and Partner CBO offices to monitor and mentor program activities and make recommendations as appropriate.
• Coordinate and facilitate all evidence gathering activities, including program evaluations, research activities, and case studies/success stories.
• Work closely with the STL and CBO Partners to ensure reporting of GHSA activities across focal areas on weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual and other related reports.
• Track performance on established input, activity, output, and impact indicators to measure achievement and progress towards intermediate results and overall program strategic objectives.
• Participate in ALL program activities not limited to review meetings, campaigns, technical working group meetings, and as delegated.
•  Attend to other duties as assigned by the STL and or program's management.

Qualifications
Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in a Health discipline preferred.
• At least 3 to 5 years of working experience addressing animal and human health threats.
• Good knowledge of One Health Concept, GHSA, OIE-PVS, and IHR -2005 principles
• Demonstrated experience in applying One Health approaches to address community-based disease challenges
• Strong understanding of the Nigeria national One Health &community health strategy
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills; ability in consensus building and constructively leading a team
• Possession of analytical, problem-solving and strategic planning skills
• Excellent interpersonal, organizational and written/verbal communication skills, including in cross-cultural settings.

Required Languages:

• English and the ability to speak Hausa will be an advantage.

Travel:

• Must be willing and able to travel up to 70%.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• None

Key Working Relationships:

Internal:

• State Team Lead, Senior MEAL officer, MEAL officers, Program Manager, Deputy Chief of Party, Program officers, Deputy Country Representative, and Country program operations and finance team.

External:  

• CGPP Secretariat, WHO, UNICEF, SPHCDA, NCDC, SOLINA Health, LGA PHC Team, GHS Partners, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, FAO, MSH-MtaPs, CBO Partner Staff

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Excellent analytical skills with the ability to detect and report inconsistencies
• Excellent organizational skills with great attention to detail
• Ethical conduct in accordance with recognized professional and organizational codes of ethics
• Proactive, resourceful, solution-oriented and results-oriented
• Ability to work collaboratively.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Familiarity with relevant donors’ regulations is a plus.
• Proficient in Excel and experience with Word and PowerPoint. Knowledge of financial reporting software a plus.

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)
These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Integrity
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
• Builds Relationships
• Develops Talent
• Strategic Mindset
• Accountability & Stewardship.

Application Closing Date
7th December, 2022.