JOB TITLE: Care and Treatment Lead
PROJECT: Comprehensive High Impact Community Based HIV Prevention, Testing and Treatment Initiation for Sustained Epidemic Control in Lesotho under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)
DEPARTMENT: HIV
BASED IN: Lesotho (Lesotho Citizens and Lawful Residence Preferred)
REPORTS TO: Principal Investigator or Technical Director
PSI anticipates being awarded a multi-year agreement as a prime to a five-year, Center for Disease Control (CDC) project intended to support implementation of a comprehensive public health response to new HIV infections for sustained epidemic control in Lesotho. The program will engage in comprehensive and evidence-based community HIV prevention, testing and treatment initiation for the general population and other at-risk groups such as youth, men, migrant, and factory workers, as well as building capacity of local organizations, civil society organizations and community systems in implementing data-driven programming.
PSI seeks candidates for an HIV Clinical Services Lead, to provide technical expertise, guidance, and clinical management support for this Project. The Clinical Services Lead will oversee the scale-up of community HIV prevention, testing and counseling services, and treatment initiation for the general population as well as priority populations including youth, men, migrant and factory workers. The Lead will oversee technical assistance on HIV testing scale-up and prevention to the Ministry of Health as well as capacity building support to local organizations, CSOs and civil society. The Lead will also ensure high quality implementation of DREAMS services targeting AGYW with risk communication, HIV testing, SRH services and linkages to socio-economic strengthening. The Lead will work closely with district teams to ensure that evidence-based approaches are effectively implemented, monitored and adapted based on program data. The Lead will contribute to the development of annual work plans, monthly, quarterly and annual reports, building team capacity, and monitoring and evaluation. will support project implementation and monitoring of existing services, as well as lead in the development of new community clinical models for HIV services. This Regular Full-Time position is based in Maseru, Lesotho and reports to the Principle Investigator. *This position is contingent upon funding. Lesotho nationals are strongly encouraged to apply .
Responsibilities:
- With the Priniciple Iinvestigator (PI), other Project staff, CDC and representatives of local government, test and implement new models for extending HIV care and treatment services closer to the target population.
- Identify approapriate HTS prevention and linkage strategies at all service levels (community to facility, facility to community, between districts) to address and close the prevention and linkage loop towards effective and comprehensive service delivery.
- Identify training needs and assist in the design and implementation of measures to address those needs.
- Capacitate program staff with up to date knowledge and innovative community models and based on current best practices on HTS, develop and adapt existing evidence based systems to support translation of evidence into practice.
- Contribute technical leadership to the development of project strategiec plan , workplan and close monitoring of the project in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, CDC and other implementing partners.
- Provide quality assurance to existing treatment programs through training, mentorship, technical support and capacity building;
- Ensure that project is technically sound, evidence-based and responsive to the needs of the target population;
- Ensure that program tracking occurs on a daily basis, with analysis of effectiveness and ongoing program improvements for increased HTS yield, linkage to care, adherence to treatment and retention in care;
- Participate in national and regional technical work groups, including, but not limited to HTS and ART;
- Deliver recommendations on technical assistance and systems strengthening to enhance program effectiveness and sustainability;
- Manage and oversee training, capacity building, quality assurance, mentoring and supervision for regional, fixed, and mobile teams;
- Guide the development or refinement of materials related to HIV/AIDS care and treatment, including clinical guidelines, protocols, algorithms, drug formularies, training materials, and monitoring and evaluation tools;
- Ensure that activities conform to Lesotho’s national guidelines and PSI standards;
- Maintain collaborative working relationships with external stakeholders, technical partners, etc;
- Support the PI to ensure that technical lessons are incorporated into monitoring, evaluation, and strategic development;
- Contribute to knowledge management efforts and lesson sharing;
- Participate in development of quarterly and annual plans and activity reports; and
- Actively participate in targeted program evaluation.
Qualifications:
- Clinical degree (ie. RN, Medical degree, MPH) ideally with a specialization in HIV or infectious disease;
- 5+ years of experience managing HIV prevention, care and treatment programs, including planning, designing, implementing, mentoring, and evaluating and documenting results;
- Strong technical and programmatic knowledge and experience in HIV testing and linkage to care, HIV treatment, TB, clinical laboratory support, routine viral load testing, HIV clinical monitoring systems, and health system strengthening.
- Experience training health workers on HTS (i.e HIV Self – testing, index, PrEP and SRH and DREAMS)
- Proven capabilities in capacity building and experience in working effectively with district, , and national government authorities
- Ability to work effectively in partnership with a variety of audiences and organizations, in particular, Ministry of Health and clinical partners;
- Previous experience working in Lesotho, with an understanding of the local health system and HIV challenges and opportunities, and solid relationships at relevant government agencies;
- Track record of strong leadership, strategic thinking, organizational, team-building, and representational skills; and
- Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills in English
HOW TO APPLY
Please send your cover letter, resume/curricula vitae (CV), list of 3-5 professional references (with contact information, supervisory references preferred), and scanned copy of all academic degrees to PSI Lesotho by email at [email protected]
Only email submissions will be accepted. While all application submissions will be reviewed and considered, only the most qualified candidates will be contacted for interviews.
The application submission deadline is 12:00 p.m. local time on Friday 14th January 2022.