| Position | Digital Health Advisor, to be seconded to the Africa CDC |
| Place of Assignment | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |
| Salary Band | The position is assigned to GIZ Salary Band 4 which is equivalent to AU P3 |
| Initial Contract Period | 01 November 2026 – 31 December 2027 |
| Application Deadline | 30 September 2026 |
Background
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is a global service provider in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development dedicated to shaping a future worth living around the world. As a public-benefit federal enterprise, GIZ supports the German Government – in particular the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) – and many public and private sector clients in achieving their objectives in international cooperation in around 120 countries.
Since 2004, GIZ has been a reliable and trusted partner of the African Union (AU) to enhance inclusive growth and sustainable development on the African continent in line with the AU’s Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. With more than 250 staff, GIZ African Union cooperates with the AU Commission, as well as the AU’s specialised institutions and agencies, such as the Development Agency AUDA-NEPAD, at continental, regional and national level in more than 40 member states. Key areas of engagement include Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention, Governance, Sustainable Economic Growth, Health and Social Development, as well as Just Transition.
Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is a specialized technical insti-tution of the African Union established to support public health initiatives of Africa Union Member States (AU MS) and strengthen the capacity of their public health institutions to detect, prevent, control, and respond quickly and effectively to disease threats. Africa CDC supports AU Member States in providing coordinated and integrated solutions to the inadequacies in their public health infrastructure, human resource capacity, disease surveillance, laboratory diagnostics, and preparedness and response to health emergencies and disasters.
In 2021, the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has commissioned the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH with the project “Strengthening AU’s Health Architecture (SAHA)”. The project’s overarching goal is to support the actualisation of the Agenda 2063 and the Africa Health Security and Sovereignty Agenda for a safer, healthier, integrated, and prosperous Africa where AU Member States are better equipped to prevent disease transmission, implement surveillance and detection, and respond effectively to health threats and outbreaks.
To achieve this the SAHA project works to enhance the resilience of the Africa CDC by strengthening its institutional and programmatic capabilities. This includes supporting Africa CDC Division of Digital Health and Information Systems (DHIS) in advancing the Digital Health Transformation Agenda. The Division of DHIS provides strategic and technical leadership for the digital transformation of public health systems across AU MS. Working with Member States, Regional Coordinating Centres (RCCs), African Union organs and partners, the Division ad-vances nationally owned, interoperable, secure, sustainable and fit-for-purpose digital health ecosystems that strengthen public health delivery and health security.
GIZ seeks to support Africa CDC with the recruitment of Digital Health Advisor to strengthen the institutional capacities of the Division of DHIS to fulfill its mandate. Hence, GIZ invites applicants who are citizens of African Union Member States to apply for this position.
Core Tasks
The Digital Health Advisor reports directly to the Head of Division and leads the Digital Health Unit. The post holder serves as the Head of Division’s senior cross-cutting adviser across the digital health portfolio, translates divisional priorities into coordinated programmes and Member State implementation, and ensures coherence and quality across specialised technical workstreams. The role integrates inputs across digital health strategy and policy, Primary Health Care digitalisation, public health informatics, digital public infrastructure for health, health information systems, data governance, interoperability and standards, architecture, data and Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, digital health workforce and infrastructure readiness, innovation, investment and sustainability, while preserving the accountability of thematic specialists.
Where appropriate and reasonable, you will perform further tasks assigned to you by your line manager outside the scope of the job description.
This position is assigned to GIZ salary band 4 (AU P3).
Main Activities
Main Functions
- Lead the Digital Health Unit, translating divisional priorities into coordinated workplans, deliverables, staff accountabilities and measurable results.
- Advise the Head of Division on strategic direction, priorities, opportunities, risks and in-vestment choices across the digital health portfolio.
- Coordinate the development, quality assurance and implementation of digital health policies, frameworks, technical guidance and programmes across relevant thematic areas.
- Lead and coordinate Member State and RCC technical assistance to translate continental priorities into nationally owned policies, architectures, roadmaps, programmes and investment plans.
- Ensure coherence across digital health workstreams and effective collaboration with MIS, technology, cybersecurity and other relevant Africa CDC functions.
- Lead strategic partnerships, partner coordination and resource mobilisation for priority digi-tal health programmes and investments.
- Represent Africa CDC in technical engagements when delegated and strengthen monitoring, learning, knowledge sharing and dissemination of good practices.
Specialist Responsibilities
- Provide evidence-based strategic and technical advice to the Head of Division, including concise decision briefs, options analyses, recommendations and early identification of emerging opportunities and risks.
- Lead annual and multi-year planning for the Digital Health Unit and align unit priorities, workplans and deliverables with the strategic direction set by the Head of Division.
- Supervise Digital Health Unit staff and consultants; assign work, monitor delivery and per-formance, provide coaching and feedback, and foster a high-performing, collaborative and learning-oriented team.
- Coordinate and quality-assure major digital health strategies, policies, frameworks, technical products and programme designs, including cross-team assignments requested by the Head of Division, before escalation for divisional or wider institutional review.
- Coordinate cross-cutting work across specialised functions, including PHC digitalisation, digital strategy, governance and interoperability, systems architecture, data and AI, cyber-security, workforce and infrastructure readiness, and related digital health domains, without duplicating specialist accountabilities.
- Guide Member States and RCCs in translating continental digital health frameworks and standards into national strategies, policies, architectures, implementation roadmaps, operational plans and sustainable investment priorities.
- Coordinate technical assistance, readiness or maturity assessments, implementation support and problem-solving with Ministries of Health and relevant national institutions, ensuring country ownership and alignment with national priorities.
- Identify implementation bottlenecks and systemic risks and coordinate practical responses that improve interoperability, sustainability, data governance, security, institutional capacity and long-term adoption.
- Promote coherent, standards-based and sustainable digital health ecosystems, including appropriate consideration of digital public infrastructure for health, health information exchange, enterprise architecture, data platforms and responsible use of AI and emerging technologies.
- Establish and monitor portfolio-level delivery milestones, indicators and risks; analyse performance and provide regular implementation updates and recommendations to the Head of Division.
- Facilitate peer learning, communities of practice, country-to-country exchange and documentation of Member State implementation lessons, reusable approaches and good practices.
- Build and maintain strategic relationships with AU organs, Member States, development and financing partners, technical institutions, academia, civil society and responsible pri-vate-sector actors in support of Africa CDC priorities.
- Lead or coordinate development and technical review of concept notes, proposals, investment cases and partner briefs, and identify opportunities for resource mobilisation for priori-ty digital health programmes.
- Promote alignment of partner investments with Africa CDC and Member State priorities and proactively identify and address fragmentation, duplication, parallel systems and un-sustainable approaches.
- Represent Africa CDC in technical platforms, working groups, conferences and partner en-gagements when delegated by the Head of Division, and communicate agreed institutional positions consistently.
Day to day supervision will be from the Head of Division in Africa CDC with formal line management from GIZ.
Qualifications
Education and work experience requirements
- Master’s degree in Digital Health, Public Health Informatics, Health Informatics, Public Health, Information Systems, Computer Science, Health Information Management, Health Systems, Biomedical Informatics or a closely related field, with a minimum of ten (10) years of relevant professional experience; OR a Bachelor’s degree in one of these or a closely related field with a minimum of twelve (12) years of relevant professional experience.
- A minimum of six (6) years of the relevant experience must be at managerial level, including at least three (3) years at supervisory level.
- Demonstrated experience leading complex digital health, public health informatics or health-system transformation programmes in national, regional, continental or international settings.
- Demonstrated experience providing strategic and technical advice to senior leaders and government counterparts and supporting implementation with Ministries of Health or comparable public institutions.
- Substantive experience across multiple digital health domains such as strategy and policy, health information systems, interoperability and standards, data governance, architecture, digital public infrastructure for health, data and AI, cybersecurity, workforce/infrastructure readiness or digital health investment and sustainability.
- Demonstrated experience in partnership development, multi-stakeholder coordination and resource mobilisation for complex programmes. Multi-country experience in Africa is highly desirable.
- Relevant professional certification(s) in digital health, programme/project management, en-terprise architecture, interoperability, data governance, cybersecurity or related areas would be an advantage.
Required skills
- Strong leadership, people-management and team-coordination skills, including the ability to lead multidisciplinary experts while maintaining clear technical accountabilities.
- Advanced knowledge of digital health, public health informatics and health-system transformation, with the ability to connect policy, architecture, technology, governance, workforce and implementation considerations.
- Excellent strategic, analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to synthesise complex technical evidence into clear executive advice and actionable recommendations.
- Strong programme and portfolio management skills, including planning, prioritisation, implementation oversight, performance monitoring and risk management.
- Working knowledge of health information systems, interoperability and standards, data governance, enterprise architecture, data and AI, cybersecurity, infrastructure and workforce readiness sufficient to coordinate specialised technical workstreams.
- Demonstrated ability to advise governments and institutions, facilitate technical assistance, build consensus and manage complex stakeholder environments.
- Strong partnership-development, negotiation, proposal-development, investment-case and resource-mobilisation skills.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills, including preparation of executive briefs, technical guidance, presentations and high-level reports.
- Ability to drive change, innovation, continuous improvement and knowledge sharing in culturally and institutionally diverse environments
Personal Attributes
- Strategic Insight
- Conceptual Thinking
- Job Knowledge and Information Sharing
- Drives for Results
- Communicating with Influence
- Change Management
- Managing Risk
- Fosters Accountability Culture
- Continuous Improvement Orientation
- Learning Orientation
- Developing Others
- Building and Promoting Partnerships Across the Organisation and Beyond
- A Team Player
- Good Interpersonal Skills
- Respecting and Promoting Individual and Cultural Differences
- Ability to Operate in a Multicultural Environment
- High Level of Autonomy at Work, Yet with Profound Team Spirit
- Adaptive, Patient, Resilient and Flexible
Languages
Applicants must be fluent in at least one of the African Union working languages (English, French, Arabic Portuguese, Spanish or Kiswahili). Proficiency in English is essential; knowledge of further African Union working languages would be an added advantage
GIZ is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from individuals regardless of gender, disability, race, ethnicity, religion, age, or any other protected characteristic. We embrace diversity and believe that inclusivity in the workplace is essential to our success and we are committed to creating a work environment where all employees are valued and respected.