Job Detail

Job Description

Position Title: Senior Advisor: Paediatric &Adolescent ART Services.

Position Type: Full Time

Location: Lusaka, Zambia

Job Summary

The USAID/PEPFAR SAFE Project works closely with GRZ health facilities to provide HIV/AIDS services in Central, Copperbelt and Northwestern Provinces. The project now seeks the services highly qualified and motivated health professionals to fill the position of Senior ART Advisor: Paediatric, Adolescents and Youth. Reports to the Director of Clinical Services.

Primary Responsibilities and Duties:

Activities towards Paeditric Case Finding:

• Upon assumption of the job, Advisor is expected to undertake a very quick analysis of facility-based data (with support from Strategic Information) in order to identify remaining gaps in the current methods of identifying CLHIV and to develop new strategies aimed at finding the remaining children who do not know their HIV status (Benchmark 1 on case finding).
• Working with the HTS Advisor, strengthen family indexing testing in which completion rate for testing children must approach 100% and all children testing positive are immediately commenced on treatment (Benchmark 2 on case finding)
• Advisor must ensure that the final outcomes (status) of all HEI in all cohorts is established (Benchmark 3 on case finding).
• The Advisor is expected to help both SAFE and other community partners to improve community-based case finding of exposed children and those whose status is unknown (Benchmark 4 on case finding).

Activities towards continuity of treatment among Paediatric and Adolescent Clients:

• Develop and strengthen mechanisms of pairing case managers/CBV with HEI in all SAFE supported facilities in order to ensure that no child is left behind (Treatment Benchmark 1).
• With Paeds Coordinators and focal point persons at facility level to form and strengthen YFS and Adolescent DSD models appropriate for each facility.
• Working with other professionals support parents and caregivers who have not disclosed their children’s HIV status to systematically do so while ensuring that continuous intensive adherence counselling is being provided to both the child (where possible) and the caregiver (Treatment Benchmark 2).
• Ensure that facilities with multiple partners develop plans and execute this joint plan whenever there is a child with multiple needs needing case conferencing. Complicated cases which generate dialogue and points of learning must be presented during the MOH facilitated Monday 14:30 national echo meeting under the Treatment TWG (Benchmark 3 on Treatment)

Viral Load Suppression

• Using current and other new strategies ensure that a DBS is taken from every eligible child without fail and results are known and communicated (VL Suppression Benchmark 1).
• Ensure that Point of Care (POC) testing for children and PBFW is available where needed in order to improve the TAT (VL Suppression benchmark 2).
• Since there are many community and household-based interactions, the Advisor will ensure that VL collection is well integrated into community activities. This will increase community level VL collection (VL Suppression Benchmark 3).

Adolescents

To facilitate the three 95s among Adolescents, the Advisor shall:

• Support the regions and facilities to strengthen non-monetized but motivated youth friendly services
• Support the formation of DSD models for this target group
• Support FPPs to collaborate with other implementors to form, grow and strengthen Adolescent Support Groups (ASGs)

General Activities:

• Work with the National ART Coordinator to facilitate training and mentorship for clinicians in EMTCT, pediatric and adolescent ART in all SAFE supported programmes;
• With other specialists, attend the Treatment TWG coordinated by MOH;
• Provide updates on new development in ART to project staff;
• Conduct operations research and encourage the use of implementation science in ART;
• Working closely with the Nutritional Advisor ensure that NACS are integrated into ART;
• Support the Family Planning Advisor to integrate FP into HIV services;
• Support the Clinical and Community Health Directors to actualize selected DSD models of patient care;
• Ensure that all clients have their laboratory investigations (beyond VL) and receive their results timely
• Inform the project leadership about any form of drug resistance that you observe;
• Work with treatment adherence supporters to ensure that all patients are retained on treatment and that they get positive outcomes from treatment
• Work with district and Project nutritionists to assess all patients for nutritional support, where it is needed
• Provide hands on mentorship to other members of staff at the facility on new developments in ART particularly in paediatrics and adolescent age groups;
• Complete monthly and quarterly reports as well as participate in DQA activities;
• Any other duty assigned by the Chief of Party.

Required Qualifications and Competencies:

• Medical Doctor with MBChB, MMed (Paeds) or equivalent with additional training and experience in ART and registered with HPCZ;
• Experience working in both urban and rural areas;
• Wide experience in mentoring clinicians in ART;
• Ability to lead and work in teams including clinical mentorship as a team leader;
• Good communication skills and personality appropriate for mentoring health workers and provide on the job training;
• Deep knowledge of both WHO and the Zambian treatment guidelines;
• Able to work smoothly with MOH, GRZ hospitals and District Health ART coordinators and private health facilities;
• Ability to multi-task efficiently and prioritize activities in support of Project goals and deadlines
• Willingness to support sub-national teams when called upon.

Mode of Application

Send your written application either via email or through regular mail. Your application should consist of a cover letter and a detailed CV, including full addresses and contact telephone numbers. Please indicate the position you are applying for in your cover letter and also give names, addresses and contact telephone numbers of three referees.

Please send email applications, with the position you are applying for in the subject line, to: saferecruitment@jsi.com

Please ensure that you mention www.gozambiajobs.com as the source of this job advertisement.

John Snow, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer committed to workplace diversity. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all qualified applicants and employees without regard to age, race, color, national origin, ancestry, creed, religion, gender, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, sexual preference, genetic information, political affiliation, or military status (special disabled veterans or veteran status) in any employment decisions. Also, we would like to emphasize that JSI/Zambia and its partners do not ask for money in exchange for employment.

*Please note you have to apply to this job advert as directed by the employer and not through findershub.co.zm*

Skills Required

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