Global Health Security (GHSec) Lead Advisor

The United States Government, represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is seeking offers from qualified US citizens and Third Country Nationals to provide personal services under contract as described the solicitation.

USAID’s Global Health Security (GHSec) portfolio works to strengthen countries’ multisectoral capacities to reduce the risk and impact of emerging and reemerging disease threats that are of greatest public health concern. The program emphasizes country capacity building and systems strengthening in a series of critical health security technical areas, including zoonotic disease prevention and control, national laboratory systems, infectious disease surveillance, health workforce, risk communication and community engagement, infection prevention and control, and antimicrobial resistance. These capacities are multisectoral in nature, including the public health, animal health, and environmental sectors in a One Health approach. Activities are implemented at the national, subnational, and community levels. GHSec embraces the One Health approach, recognizing the critical role that wildlife, livestock, other domestic animals, and the environment play in emerging zoonotic diseases with epidemic and pandemic potential and antimicrobial resistance.

The GHSec Lead Advisor will work in collaboration with the USAID/Washington GHSec team and with regional colleagues to implement USAID activities, ensuring alignment with government of Ghana priorities. The Advisor will ensure effective U.S. Government (USG) interagency coordination and work closely with USAID colleagues and other USG partners, particularly CDC and U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) offices working in Ghana at the national and sub-national levels, which also provide support for GHSec implementation. The U.S. State Department provides important support for in-country USG interagency collaboration.
Working as part of the Embassy Accra GHSec Team within the Health Office, the USAID GHSec Lead Advisor will complete the following duties and responsibilities:

A. Ensure implementation and coordination of USAID GHSec activities with USAID’s existing GHSec program and with other USG agencies on GHSec-related activities. Maintain strong partnerships between agencies as well as implementing partners of respective agencies and build strong partnerships with other development partners in Ghana:
1. Represent USAID in the USG GHSec interagency. Work collaboratively with USG agencies while representing USAID priorities.
2. Maintain frequent, regular, and ad hoc meetings with USG partners including CDC, NAMRU-3 and other Embassy agencies to discuss activities and maintain coordination and to keep each other informed on changes to GHSec activities.
3. Work collaboratively with USG agencies to develop annual GHSec work plans to ensure coordination of USG GHSec supported activities and to avoid duplication.
4. Provide technical expertise to USAID and USG leadership for GHSec technical areas of work.
5. During disease outbreaks in which the government requests support from USAID and other partners, ensure that USAID’s efforts are coordinated to support the national government.
6. Establish Partner/Donor coordination and collaboration mechanisms to advance GHSec in Ghana. Such partners include USAID partners, other donors, the Government of Ghana, private sector, international and local NGOs, and multilateral organizations.

B. Liaise between the Mission in Ghana and USAID Washington:
1. Report on activities in Ghana to USAID GHSec Washington-based and regional team members.
2. Assist the Agreement Officer’s Representatives and Contracting Officer’s Representatives (A/CORs) by monitoring and guiding implementing partner activities to ensure consistency with project objectives and to ensure that activities contribute to advancing Ghana’s targets, including GHSec and JEE metrics.
3. Report on GHSec activities.
4. Work with USAID’s GHSec Team to identify new opportunities and activities to contribute to Ghana’s GHSec efforts. This includes activity design, assessments, and scoping of new opportunities.

C. Serve as A/COR and/or Activity Manager for GHSec Activities implemented in country.
1. For bilateral mechanisms, serve as A/COR and/or Activity Manager, ensuring effective coordination and implementation.
2. For HQ-based mechanisms, serve as an Activity Manager, working closely with the A/COR to ensure effective implementation of GHSec activities in country.

D. Serve as USAID’s representative on technical working groups with Ghanaian counterparts related to GHSec activities. Build and maintain strong relationships with multiple government of Ghana Ministries and Agencies:
1. Represent USAID on donor/government coordination groups related to emerging infectious diseases and other GHSec activities.
2. Develop relationships with animal, environment, and public health ministries and USAID regional bureaus.

E. Provide coordination across all USAID GHSec activities in Ghana:
1. Establish and maintain coordination networks among USAID implementing partners in Ghana whose activities are related to GHSec. Facilitate opportunities for USAID implementing partners to collaborate and leverage each other’s activities. Communicate and promote to Implementing Partners (IPs) USAID’s expectations for IPs to function as a cohesive program working together to advance GHSec targets in Ghana, in consultation with relevant A/COR.
2. Use the coordination network to facilitate the GHSec IPs successful completion of work plan activities and to maximize USG investments.
3. Engage with IPs and multi-sectoral Ghanaian and other stakeholders to promote the skills, capacities and environment in Ghana across the ministries to investigate
diverse and complex conditions that resemble pathologic patterns that will or could
affect public health.
4. Provide technical guidance to USAID IPs to promote and leverage existing USAID activities and the contributions of other stakeholders in Ghana to achieve JEE targets.

F. Coordinate multiple reporting requirements that require input and clearance from diverse stakeholders.
1. Lead development of USAID contributions to semi-annual GHSec Progress Reports and annual work plans.
2. Apply a strong knowledge of assessments and scoring related to GHSec Joint External Evaluation Reports.
3. Provide weekly/bi-weekly updates to the Embassy inter-agency GHSec Team.
4. Develop weekly updates for USAID/Ghana Front Office on GHSec progress, events and upcoming visitors.

G. Serve as Duty Officer for the embassy as requested

Minimum Qualifications Requirement

The successful applicant must have the following minimum qualifications:

Education and Experience:

Bachelor’s degree with significant study pertinent to the specialized field, including but not limited to medicine, veterinary medicine, Epidemiology, public health, social science or infectious disease, plus nine (9) years of progressively responsible experience working in One Health, Animal Health, Public Health or Epidemiology. Prior experience working with a bilateral or multilateral donor in development programming is required. Developing country work experience is required.

OR

Master’s degree with significant study in or pertinent to the specialized field, including but not limited to medicine, veterinary medicine, Epidemiology, public health, social science or infectious disease, plus seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience working in One Health, Animal Health, Public Health or Epidemiology. Prior experience working with a bilateral or multilateral donor in development programming is required. Developing country work experience is required.

OR

Ph.D. with significant study in or pertinent to the specialized field, including but not limited to medicine, veterinary medicine, Epidemiology, public health, social science, or infectious disease, plus five (5) years of progressively responsible experience working in One Health, Animal Health, Public Health or Epidemiology. Prior experience working with a bilateral or multilateral donor in development programming is required. Developing country work experience is required.

Language:

Fluency in English is required.