Senior Biomedical Engineer

Position Title: Senior Biomedical Engineer

Reports To: Chief Medical Officer

Location: Kigutu, Burundi

Organization Overview

Village Health Works (VHW) is a joint American-Burundian non-profit and non-governmental organization whose mission is to provide quality, compassionate health care in a dignified environment while treating the root causes of illness, poverty, violence, and neglect in collaboration with those we serve. The organization’s operations are based in Kigutu, Burundi, with support from the headquarter office in New York. With close to 500 full- and part-time employees in Burundi, as well as a small team in the United States.

VHW delivers a wide-array of programs in a catchment area of 200,000 people within the provinces of Rumonge and Bururi. VHW’s approach integrates clinical services with education, food security, economic development, environmental protection, music and the arts. Our central program, is a clinic that conducts over 50,000 patient consultations and has 4 inpatient wards. VHW is currently constructing the Kigutu Hospital and Women’s Health Pavilion, a 150bed surgical and teaching hospital. Construction and instillation of equipment will be completed by the summer of 2022 with a projected clinical opening in the second half of 2022. In preparation for the hospital’s planned opening VHW is expanding its technical capacity, procuring complex medical equipment and likewise is expanding its ability to install and maintain this equipment.

Position Overview

Village Health Works is recruiting an experienced Senior Biomedical Engineer to lead the biomedical engineering department on its campus in Kigutu, Burundi. This person will act as the technical expert in all biomedical engineering issues, and also be responsible for managing a team of junior biomedical technicians. As a vital part of the development of VHW’s Biomedical Engineering (BME) team, this person will be in charge of training a team of Burundian technicians in best practices and techniques of biomedical engineering. The candidate will also be in charge of developing a system for preventative maintenance and immediate repairs. The ideal candidate is both able to lead by example and lead by teaching those around her/him, taking the opportunity to turn any situation into a team building and/or capacity building moment.

The Senior Biomedical Engineer will report directly to the Burundi-based Chief Medical Officer and Director of Operations and will supervise the biomedical engineering department.

Specific Responsibilities

Repairs & Maintenance (25%)

• Plan and orchestrate the routine repair, maintenance, and diagnosis of complex medical equipment.

• Lead the BME team in the installation of new medical equipment, including the first round of equipment in the hospital.

• Identify when repairs are out of our capacity, and work with the procurement team to obtain international technical support, or to procure new supplies and equipment.

• Make informed decisions about when equipment must be removed from service.

Training (35%)

• Develop SOPs for repair and diagnosis, and train junior staff in following proper protocol.

• Effectively teach junior technicians who may be untrained in biomedical engineering (e.g. electrical or mechanical technicians).

• Demonstrate proper protocols and repair equipment alongside junior staff whenever possible.

• Train clinical workers to properly use and care for equipment.

• Design printed guides on operation of all equipment.

• Provide evaluations of technicians and create plans for improvement.

Management (35%)

• Develop and execute a Planned Preventative Maintenance Program, including:

A calendar of preventative maintenance and calibration needs

A spare parts inventory, which can be easily converted into procurement orders

A system for assigning and verifying maintenance tasks

A list of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for preventative maintenance

• Create and maintain a medical equipment inventory list, in coordination with our inventory manager.

• Create lists of preferred tools, spare parts, and other necessary items, and create purchase requisitions in advance of them being necessary, cognizant of international lead times.

• Evaluate medical equipment lists prepared by the clinical team, and recommend models and manufacturers for best integration with our system.

Leadership & Outreach (5%)

• Represent the biomedical engineering department in leadership meetings.

• Present quarterly and annual reports to leadership teams outside of the department.

• Invite and organize visits from volunteer highly skilled biomedical engineers.

Qualifications

• A sincere passion for VHW’s mission, as well as a strong interest in setting up a new biomedical engineering team and creating new systems from scratch.

• Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering, advanced degree preferred.

• 5 years experience as a biomedical engineer, preferably in a hospital or clinical setting.

• Minimum 2 years as a manager of a BME team with a proven track record of leading the team to successfully maintain and support a large clinical operation.

• Prior experience working with and developing preventative maintenance software systems.

• Strong organizational skills and attention to details with the ability to develop thorough and clear Planned Preventative Maintenance Programs.

• Able to prioritize effectively, managing multiple responsibilities simultaneously and meeting deadlines in a fast-paced environment.

• Outstanding professionalism and interpersonal skills, with demonstrated ability to build and maintain strong relationships with BME team, clinical team, and larger VHW network.

• Prior exposure to NGOs and working in low-resource contexts is a plus.

• Fluency in English and French required, and fluency in Swahilli, or Kirundi/Kinyarwanda highly desirable.

Salary and Benefits

• Housing provided on campus in Kigutu

Competitive salary, commensurate with experience.