Care and Treatment Lead

Overview

The Care and Treatment Lead will responsible for the technical direction of a CDC-funded HIV project in Mozambique. This large project aims to support the Government of Mozambique’s (GRM) towards achievement of HIV epidemic control by 2030 in provinces where CDC is the primary clinical support partner. It will focus on two priority outcomes to measure this geographically focused support under the COVID-19 context: (1) to reach and sustain a level of at least 95% treatment coverage across all across all age, sex, and risk groups, and (2) to reach and sustain at least 95% viral suppression rates among all people living with HIV receiving antiretroviral therapy. The project will operate over a 5 year period. Responsibilities include providing leadership and technical guidance in the development and implementation of comprehensive and evidence-based prevention, care, support and treatment services within HIV and TB facilities and communities under the leadership of the Principal Investigator/Project Director, as well as annual phasing in of activities. This position will provide guidance in achievement of all project objectives, and in collaboration with the project team and partners, support the design of service delivery, technical assistance and capacity building strategies, based on sound and current scientific evidence. This position is contingent upon award from CDC. Mozambican nationals are strongly encouraged to apply.

Responsibilities

Technical Leadership

• Provide technical oversight, strategic direction and ensure appropriate support for the implementation of program activities focused in the priority groups that are in higher risk for HIV/TB: children of HIV infected adults, adolescents and young adults, pregnant and breastfeeding women, males, migrant mine workers and prisoners, and key population.
• Provide technical assistance to the teams that are implementing targeted interventions of HIV testing services (HTS), same day ART initiation for those who test positive, retention in care , differentiated services delivery including six multi-month dispensing of ARVs, viral load monitoring to ensure sustained viral suppression for all people living with HIV receiving ART, Optimized Pediatric ARVs, elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV (eMTCT), screening of cervical cancer to all HI positive women, and TB prevention and treatment and HIV collaborative activities, as well as other priorities defined by the MOH.
• Together with technical Advisors, implement the technical priorities for the project, ensuring the use of the latest evidence in rapid scale up and maintenance of effective HIV prevention interventions, under the new COVID-19 environment, such as VMMC, PrEP, index testing, HIV self-testing and recency testing, .
• Build on existing best practices and review evidence-based clinical materials, performance support tools, supervisory systems and other learning materials needed for implementation of the project to meet the needs of CDC and the Government of the Republic of Mozambique
• Provide mentoring and capacity building at the individual and organizational level in specific areas of expertise including but not limited to: targeted HTS, institutionalization and retention of ART, viral load monitoring, eMTCT, VMMC, DREAMS, GBV prevention and response, and TB-HIV collaborative activities
• Coordinate assessments, technical audits, site strengthening, follow-up and supervision, advocacy, demand creation, policy support, capacity-building and M&E across program sites as required by program activities
• Use regularly data to guide program implementation and course correction at different levels
• Actively participate in national technical working groups, and represent Jhpiego in professional forums by participating and presenting in pertinent meetings and conferences
• Analyze potential HIV prevention and treatment strategies within the context of the project and explain these, as necessary, to policymakers, funding agencies, and/or program staff
• Work with health care providers, local authorities, community members and program team members to identify service delivery issues that impede access to care and treatment
• Identify appropriate facility- and community-based strategies to address HIV service delivery gaps
• Identify learning and service delivery gaps across HIV continuum of care and by sub-population living with HIV (e.g. pregnant and breastfeeding women, AGYW, men), and formulate and test sustainable solutions, utilizing cross-cutting approaches such as performance and quality improvement and training
• Advocate with national, district and community-level health institutions to raise awareness about their role in improving HIV health outcomes among specific sub-populations such as men, adolescents and youth
• Provide support to MOH, professional associations, and other national stakeholders in the revision/development of evidenced-based standards for competency in HIV prevention and treatment services
• Mobilize international level clinical/technical expertise to resolve clinical issues that shape or effect local public policy or program design
• Collaborate with all local stakeholders and implementing partners, especially the Ministry of Health and other US and international implementing partners, in order to ensure that all activities conform to the requirements and regulations
• Conduct regular reporting to the PI , and program and technical staff, of successes, challenges and lessons learned in implementation
• Document and maintain an inventory of successful tools and approaches for HIV interventions
• Contribute to the development of technical reports and publications
• Author and co-author abstracts and presentations for journals and conferences
• Document successes, lessons learned and challenges in implementation as well as reports of project activities and results to the program and donor, including routine quarterly and annual reports and other reporting requirements as requested

Management:

• Supervise technical staff
• Manage technical contributions of sub-grantees, including providing scopes of work
• Maintain excellent relationships with MOH, CDC and in-country stakeholders and develop rapid responses to CDC/DC and Mission requests
• Work with partners and consultants as required
• Work closely with the PI on setting program priorities and directions, and responding to requests for support from local counterparts
• Work with Strategic Information Director and team, to design and implement a plan to track data/results at site, district and region level and monitor progress towards project targets and deliverables
• Provide technical leadership to the development of the project strategic plan, work plan, and program monitoring, in close collaboration with the MOH, CDC, and other stakeholders
• Ensure timely implementation of all program inputs including planning and implementing assessments, site strengthening, follow-up and supervision, advocacy, demand creation, policy support, capacity-building and M&E across program sites, in close collaboration with CDC, the MOH, and relevant stakeholders
• Assist in the preparation of donor reports and project reports, including technical reports and expenditure reports
• Oversee data collection, analysis and development of conclusions and recommendations to further strengthen program implementation
• Ensure availability of resources/facilitate the procurement of equipment and supplies required for project implementation
• Coordinate and monitor the efficiency and effectiveness of the work of short-term consultants as required

Required Qualifications

• A medical degree or a doctoral level degree in public health or related field
• At least 10 years’ experience in clinical service delivery of HIV related interventions
• Strong skills in data use and interpretation
• Ability to perform at a senior policy level
• Demonstrated experience at a senior level participating or advising in high level MOH meetings/discussions/boards
• Demonstrated ability in monitoring similar programs and interpreting and utilizing national level data
• Strong oral and written skills in Portuguese and English
• Demonstrated in-depth understanding of the Mozambican healthcare system or a similar context, particularly the public health system, experience living and working in Mozambique preferred
• Familiarity with CDC or other USG administrative, management and reporting procedures and systems preferred
• Experience liaising with NGOs, FBOs, CBOs, the for-profit business community, and senior members of the donor community
• Proven track record managing a project team composed of several technical experts and fostering team work
• Ability to coach, mentor and develop technical capacity in national programs and technical staff in the areas
• Ability to travel up to 50% time to Maputo and sites, international meetings when needed