Job Description
Title: Physician-Infectious Disease Specialist
Location: Kenyatta University Teaching Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH)
Reports To: Country Lead- UNITAID Catalytic COVID 19 Action Project
Project Overview
The emergence of the COVID-19 global pandemic has posed new challenges to already strained health systems worldwide. Governments have had to start prevention, containment and mitigation measures rapidly while evolving as new information becomes available. The UNITAID Catalytic COVID 19 Action Project will work with the national and county governments Covid 19 response teams to accelerate end-to-end access to novel solutions for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic through testing, isolation, care and treatment approaches adapted to the needs of low- and middle-income countries such as Kenya. The Infectious Disease Specialist will be based in Kenyatta University Teaching Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH) and will work with MoH and partners at National and County levels on novel Covid-19 testing solutions and approaches to improve access to COVID-19 identification and management.
Job Summary
Under the supervision of the Project Country Lead, in collaboration with Ministry of Health (MoH) and KUTRRH, local partners and the UNITAID COVID-19 Catalytic COVID 19 Action Project, the Infectious Disease Specialist will undertake the following activities to strengthen access to Covid 19 case management at selected Covid-19 treatment facilities in Nairobi and Kiambu Counties.
Responsibilities
- Support the Center of Excellence in clinical management of patients with mild, moderate and severe COVID-19 infections and oversee outpatient COVID-19 clinic and develop protocols for care of long-term COVID-19 patients.
- Support COVID-19 patient management at KUTRH as per the SOPs, identifying opportunities to improve efficiencies including integrated care for populations who may be at high risk.
- Collaborate with country lead to develop nationally-adapted algorithm to improve care and treatment of COVID 19 patients.
- Take lead to develop /Adopt SOPs, tools, and job aids to improve treatment for SARS-COV-2.
- Collaborate with MOH and other partners to develop innovative and efficient patient pathways based upon disease stage (e.g., community-based management for mild and moderate cases; clinical facility-based care for severe cases and telemedicine to support the spokes).
- Champion and support integration COVID-19 care and treatment into existing health programs mainly in TB, HIV and MNCH clinics.
- Support introduction and implementation of a basic COVID-19 care package, including a new holistic patient management algorithm in the project sites.
- Support holistic national implementation plans for current and future treatments, including WHO-recommended therapeutic interventions.
- Contribute to ongoing and new research on COVID-19 to generate evidence for national guidance and scale up.
- Collaborate with a supply chain management partner to provide site level or last mile data for appropriate forecasting and inform resource allocation.
- Support creation and operationalization of COVID-19 vaccination center at KUTRH.
- A member of the multidisciplinary team managing other non-Covid infectious diseases such as TB, HIV among others.
Required Qualifications and Skills
- A Medical doctor with a Masters’ degree in Internal Medicine with bias to Infectious Diseases or equivalent as a minimum requirement.
- Experience in provision of Covid-19 disease critical care.
- Understanding current National and International Covid 19 disease management protocols.
- At least two years’ clinical experience in infectious disease management in a large public hospital preferably.
- Ability to translate and adapt international guidelines into local context.
- In-depth understanding of the country’s health system.
- Demonstrated ability to work with Senior MoH officials and other key stake holders at National and County levels.
- Experience in working with research/evaluation teams.
- Basic computer literacy in using (Word, Excel, Power point).
- Ability to work alone and in teams and have strong interpersonal communication skills.
- Able to travel to different sites within county based on need.
- An experience with donor related projects is desired.
Competencies
The Foundation expects all employees to possess the fundamental competencies of interpersonal skills, communication, accountability, continual learning, and driving results. The ideal candidate will either be proficient or advanced in the following set of competencies, specific to this position’s level of Manager:
- Developing Others – Developing others is a person’s ability to perform and contribute to the organization by providing ongoing feedback and by providing opportunities to learn through formal and informal methods.
- Managing Conflict – Managing conflict is a person’s ability to encourage creative tension and differences of opinions. He/she will anticipate and take steps to prevent counter-productive confrontations while resolving conflicts and disagreements in a constructive manner.
- Managing People – Managing people is a person’s ability to build and manage workforce based on organization goals, budget, considerations, and staff needs. He/she will ensure that employees are appropriately recruited, selected, appraised, and rewarded. He/she will also manage a multi-cultural workforce and a variety of workforce situations.
To apply for this job please visit https://phe.tbe.taleo.net/phe02/ats/careers/v2/viewRequisition?org=PEDAIDS&cws=41&rid=2484