Field epidemiologist advisor for Latin America region

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) assists distressed populations, victims of natural or man-made disasters, and victims of armed conflict. They do so irrespective of gender, race, religion, creed, or political convictions.

MSF practices neutrality and impartiality in the name of universal medical ethics and the right to humanitarian assistance. MSF claims full and unhindered freedom in the exercise of its functions.

Members respect their professional code of ethics and maintain complete independence from all political, economic, or religious powers.

MSF-Brazil has a team of over 220 people. It is one of the 31 MSF offices worldwide, bringing together financial and human resources and increasing expertise to support MSF projects in more than 70 countries. MSF-Brazil’s main office is located in Rio de Janeiro with a growing support office in São Paulo and has its activities funded by more than 500,000 Brazilian donors.

MSF-Brazil is an organization committed to promoting inclusion and diversity.

Note: this position will be based in the Brazilian Medical Unit (BRAMU) and will work in collaboration with the LuxOR and the medical department of the Operational Centre Brussels (OCB).

BRAZILIAN MEDICAL UNIT (BRAMU)

BRAMU is a medical unit within MSF, funded and accountable to the MSF-Brazil directorate, and integrated within the MSF –Operational Centre Brussels (OCB) Medical department.

The growing challenges in the Latin American region around migration, violence, environmental health challenges, and emerging health conditions have made the unit move towards a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach using applied social sciences, evidence-based medicine, and epidemiology.

BRAMU’s portfolio for support includes Migration, Urban violence, Environmental health, Adolescent Health, and Mental Health.

LuxOR

The LuxOR (Luxembourg Operational Research Unit) was founded in 2009 and is a part of the MSF-OCB medical Department. Operational Research helps MSF take an in-depth look at its programs and operations, evaluates what is working well, and shows what can and needs to be improved. Since 2019, LuxOR took up the support and coordination to the different epidemiology advisors and field epidemiologists as well, providing technical support, guidance and advice to the field-epidemiologists in the different OCB missions.

More information can be found on the LuxOR website

OBJECTIVE OF THE ROLE

This position will provide operational epidemiological support to MSF projects in the Latin American region regarding surveillance, field epidemiology and outbreak investigations. It will also contribute to the Operational Research agenda in collaboration with Luxor and/or other research units in MSF.

RESPONSABILITIES

OPERATIONAL AND STRATEGIC FUNCTIONS

1. Provideepidemiological support to medical projects with a strategic and technical focus

• Participate in the regular OCB Epidemiology circle meetings of all OCB epidemiologists.
• Link with the different Epidemiology Advisors, Ariadne (E-health Unit), GIS, and other experts inside and outside the MSF-OCB Medical Department
• Knowledge management: update and maintain an organized library of technical documentation such as; guidelines, protocols and to make them accessible to epidemiologists in the field
  • Provide strategic input and support the development of SOPs and protocols relevant to field-epidemiologists
  • Support the development and delivery of training relevant to (field-epidemiologists and epidemiology advisors
• Follow-up on an epidemiological context beyond projects’ locations and correspondingly alert respective missions and RST teams when needed
• Conduct/support outbreak investigations and surveys conception or implementation according to the missions’ needs
  • Conduct/support in explo’s, public health assessments, or surveys as needed and requested by operations
• Support in medical advocacy based on operational requests in shaping medical advocacy topics, supporting in data collection and analysis as well as report writings as requested and needed
• Conduct Field visits to selected projects to support and better understand the needs of the field epidemiologists.

1. Contribute to the Operational Research (OR) agenda and provide technical support on OR and supervision when needed

• Play the role of the focal point for OR happening at missions’ level in the Latin American region under (Regional support team) RST 5.
• Contribute and get involved in the discussions/identification/formulation of new research questions potential for OR and develop or support in the development where relevant of research protocols and scientific papers
• Keep an agenda of the topics/research questions by country and follow-up on the progress of OR projects
• Support when needed and as identified by the missions and/or MedOps , and/or LUXOR in concept (validity and subject), elaboration, methods, data collection, implementation, analysis and trainings related to OR

3) Provide strategic support relating to routine Monitoring & Evaluation and medical surveillance

• Support in the harmonization of MSF data collection tools, specifically in the strategy of the implementation of the new tools such as DHIS2 for existing and new projects in the region
• Create and keep updated with the epi of the mission an inventory of data tools in existing projects for each country in the region. Assess the validity of these tools, and suggest alternatives, improvements in collaboration with the relevant medical department referents.
• Support the projects in Latin America in the monitoring meetings. Translate findings from surveillance into alerts, project adjustments, project proposals and medical advocacy in collaboration with missions
• Discuss the quality of the data collection in the projects with the project medical responsible and epidemiologists.
• Support and discuss data protection with the mission/project medical responsible and epidemiologists.
• Coach, train and support staff involved in the surveillance at different levels of the projects and as needed and requested by the missions
• Provide support in the definition/update/modification/set-up of project medical indicators, collection and set-up of data tools, case definitions, and data analysis for internal and external use. Ensure coherence with OCB standards.

EDUCATION

• Medical background preferably (medical doctor, nurse)
• Postgraduate training in Epidemiology. This can include an Advanced Field Epidemiology Training Programme, Master in epidemiology or Master in Public Health (MPH) with a focus on epidemiology.

LANGUAGES

• Fluent in Spanish or Portuguese
• English – min. intermediary level
• French is an asset

EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS

• Experience in doing public health explorations and assessments
• Experience in outbreak investigation, setting and running surveillance systems, design and implementation of surveys
• Experience in protocol writing and use of different quantitative study designs, including profound understanding of the concepts of bias and statistical inference
• Strong skills in analytical methods and data analysis and visualisation including the use of statistical software (R and STATA highly valued).
• Knowledge of other health information software (HIS e.g. DHIS2) and GIS software suites (e.g. ArcGIS or QGIS) are an advantage
• Familiarity with the literature review methods on different topics related to the operational priorities (infectious diseases and outbreaks, environmental health, migration, mental health, sexual and reproductive health, etc.)
• Understanding of qualitative and mixed-methods study designs are an asset.
• Field experience at MSF and/or another humanitarian NGO is an asset

SOFT SKILLS REQUIREMENTS

• A high degree of initiative and work autonomy, team interaction and diplomacy are required to be able to interact at various levels within the department, in MSF and outside
• Ability to adapt to changing circumstances, contexts, tasks, responsibilities and people
• Willingness and ability to function in a team, transparent communication with colleagues, willingness to share work and experiences, give and ask support when needed
• Ability to handle multiple projects or activities simultaneously, and to deliver quality outputs within deadlines
• Proactivity and leadership capacity to drive operational epidemiological activities
• Flexibility for regular travel, possibly at short notice.

Basic Competences

• Commitment to MSF Principles
• Results and Quality Orientation
• Teamwork and Cooperation
• Stress Management

Specific Competences

• Flexibility/Adaptability
• Service Orientation
• Analytical Thinking
• Planning and Organizing