Malaria/Infectious Diseases Specialist

Hours: 40 hours per week

Location: London / Amsterdam

Duration: FTC to July 2023

Salary: £51,856.84 per annum (£48,356.84 p/a non-London weighting)

THE PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT

The Public Health Department (PHD) of Operational Centre Amsterdam (OCA) supports the overall purpose of MSF, providing medical and public health leadership for the organisation. The department is responsible for providing strategic direction and integrated advice on medical and public health issues to the field and headquarters. The PHD plays a key role in developing and maintaining the medical humanitarian identity and image of MSF-OCA, and in continuing to develop and improve intervention strategies so as to be relevant and effective.

The PHD is made up of health programme managers and clinical and public health specialists, mostly based in the MSF offices in Amsterdam, Berlin and London. In addition to providing medical management of MSF’s field operations, the PHD gives technical and strategic guidance across a range of fields including infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, mental health, nutrition, paediatrics, and vaccination as well as epidemiology, health promotion, laboratory, pharmaceutical quality/medical supply, and water/sanitation.

The Manson Unit (MU)

The MU is a multi-disciplinary medical team within MSF UK and is the London based part of the PHD. We aim to improve the quality of MSF’s medical programmes worldwide, so the best possible care is delivered to our patients.

The MU is a team of 30 comprised of medical doctors and specialists in infectious diseases, non- communicable diseases, health information systems, epidemiology, geographical information systems, medical editing and research communication. We also have a clinical trial team working towards improved treatments for patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis. We provide direct support to our field programmes through specialist advice on medical issues, implementing new ways of working, supporting research studies and outbreak response.

JOB PURPOSE

Team: The Malaria/ID Specialist role will be based in the chronic and emerging medical diseases team within the Manson Unit joining a sub-group working on the same portfolio.

Scope: This group covers a large portfolio of general infectious and outbreak-potential diseases including malaria, pneumonia, COVID-19 and (re)-emerging infections. Within MSF OCA, these diseases are addressed through outbreak response teams, community decentralised programmes and more traditional formal healthcare systems with varying technical and programmatic complexity as well as through preventative strategies.

Key objectives: To provide technical, strategic, programmatic and clinical support to MSF OCA field missions and headquarters, and to contribute to the delivery of MSF OCA’s long-term goals in the domain of malaria, pneumonia, and other infectious diseases including:

• implementation support for context-adapted medical and operational strategies for malaria, pneumonia and infectious diseases
• work as a member of the MSF OCA team of malaria/ID specialists to develop and update MSF OCA medical operational policies, implementation/operational research, annual planning and reporting for infectious diseases
• contribute to the wider working of the Manson Unit and the OCA PHD including identifying synergies and supporting the work of other team members and taking initiatives to raise the profile and understanding of these topic areas
• work with malaria/ID team members within MSF OCA in order to represent MSF OCA inter-sectionally and beyond MSF
• contribute to the updating of the MSF inter-sectional policies, strategic frameworks, guidelines, operational research coordination and advocacy for malaria, pneumonia and infectious diseases.

Travel: The Malaria/ID Specialist will be expected to spend up to 30% of their time in the field and 70% in London. Field visits will be planned in collaboration with the field teams and respective health advisors. Prioritisation and timeframes will be discussed within the team and will be strongly influenced by the annual and strategic plan objectives.

Essential knowledge, skills and expertise:

• Medical doctor with specialisation in Infectious Diseases and Internal Medicine.
• Experience with planning and implementation of infectious diseases and malaria treatment programmes in humanitarian settings.
• Strong clinical experience in managing infectious diseases patients in tropical/resource limited settings.
• Knowledge of epidemiology and/or public health in humanitarian settings.
• Experience in medical advocacy and health policy.
• Relevant field experience with MSF or an equivalent humanitarian organisation.
• Proven analytical skills, policy development experience, and strategic thinking.
• Proven interest and experience in technical expertise development and operational research.
• Good oral and written communication skills.
• Computer literate with demonstrable ability and experience in MS Applications.
• Willingness to spend up to 30% of time in the field.
• Solid interpersonal skills with willingness and ability to communicate effectively with senior operational management, national authorities and other international organisations.
• Able to work under time pressure; and prioritise while working on various projects at a time.
• Clear attention to detail and accuracy skills.
• Proven experience of working independently under minimal supervision.
• Demonstrable experience of working and constructively participating as part of a multi- cultural team.
• Fluent in written and spoken English; minimum C2 level.
• Commitment to the aims and values of MSF.