Technical Advisor (Consultancy), Dominican Republic–Hispaniola Initiative

Technical Advisor (Consultancy), Dominican Republic (Fluent in Spanish) – Hispaniola Initiative

JOB DESCRIPTION: The Carter Center is a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization founded in 1982 in Atlanta, GA, by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, in partnership with Emory University. The Center has helped to improve millions of lives in more than 80 countries by waging peace, fighting disease, and building hope. The Carter Center is guided by a fundamental commitment to human rights and the alleviation of human suffering. It seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health. A leader in the eradication and elimination of diseases, the Center fights six preventable diseases – Guinea worm, lymphatic filariasis, malaria, river blindness, schistosomiasis, and trachoma.

Two nations. Two diseases. One island. One goal. The Carter Center’s Hispaniola Initiative works with the Ministries of Health in Haiti and the Dominican Republic to eliminate malaria and lymphatic filariasis (LF) from the countries shared island, Hispaniola. The Technical Advisor (TA) will serve as a liaison on behalf of The Carter Center by providing technical and administrative support to the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) and Program to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (PELF) of the Dominican Ministry of Public Health (Spanish: Ministerio de Salud Pública, MSP). The Dominican Republic is named to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) E-2025 Initiative as one of 25 countries with the potential to eliminate malaria by 2025. The country also aims to eliminate LF as a public health problem no later than 2025. The TA will be guided by Atlanta program staff and the Hispaniola Program Manager. S/he/they will report to the program Epidemiologist. The ideal candidate will be organized and self-motivated with demonstrated resourcefulness.

The position will be based in Santo Domingo at the office of the Center for Prevention and Control of Vector-borne and Zoonotic Diseases (Spanish: Centro de Prevención y Control de Enfermedades Transmitidas por Vectores y Zoonosis, CECOVEZ). The TA will be required to travel to field sites throughout the country to assist CECOVEZ plan, conduct and evaluate various programmatic activities (e.g., surveillance, mass drug administration, transmission assessment surveys, complex surveys, ethnographic research and operational research). Primary responsibilities include:

· Develop effective communication and coordination with MSP, CECOVEZ, NMCP, and PELF staff

· Provide oversight of research and programmatic data collection activities

· Coordinate ethics committee submissions with NMCP and PELF staff

· Review routine surveillance data

· Provide data management and analytic support

· Lead and/or support trainings

· Oversee the procurement and receipt of supplies

· Provide translation support for written and oral communications

· Attend and potentially present at meetings on behalf of The Carter Center with MSP officials, partners, and donors

· Assist MSP in preparation (e.g., collate historic data and documentation) for certification of malaria elimination as well as elimination of LF as a public health problem

· Prepare and submit monthly reports

TAs are independent contractors and as such are offered short term contracts up to 6 months. A contractor may be offered multiple successive contracts over time. Contractor will receive a daily rate commensurate with experience and education. The Carter Center will cover pre-approved or authorized travel-related expenses related to this work including transportation, accommodation, and meals.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

· Bachelor of Science in Public Health (BSPH), Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Science (BS), Master of Public Health (MPH), or Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) in, Public Health, Global Health, Community Health, Global Epidemiology, Epidemiology, Statistics, Biostatistics, or a related field

· Ability to independently operate with remote supervision

· Interest in infectious diseases and/or global health

· Familiarity with the principles of survey design

· Keen understanding of principles of data quality and data integrity

· Experience performing data management and analyzing public health data using statistical software (e.g., Stata, SAS, R)

· Demonstrated ability to translate technical data and information into written reports

· Strong written and oral communication skills

· Experience using geographic information science (GIS) software (e.g., ArcGIS, QGIS) preferred

· 3 months’ prior experience living abroad preferred

· Fluency in Spanish required