Vaccine Surveillance Coordinator

Your key responsibilities in this role will include the following:

Support and coordinate laboratory services and testing roll out

• Assisting the Surveillance Lead to provide technical guidance and trainings to provinces on sample collections, storage and shipment for testing.

• Providing assistance to the Lab Surveillance Pillar Lead in the implementation of the Laboratory Surveillance SOP’s, guidelines, testing strategies and projects.

• Working closely with with the Surveillance Team Epidemiologist to find solutions to strengthen Laboratory Surveillance in the country.

• Providing TA and coordinating with labs to ensure quality assurance through accreditation and proficiency testing programmes implementation of validated, standard laboratory procedures.

• Taking a capacity building approach to work, providing training, technical support, mentoring and dissemination as part of the emergency response and recovery activities.

Support the implementation of the National Deployment and Vaccination Plan (NDVP), Emergency Response Project (ERP) and other related plans

• Providing Technical assistance to update, implement and monitor implementation of the NDVP and ERP.

• Assisting to develop, implement, monitor and evaluation integrated surveillance of AEFI for COVID-19, and other vaccine preventable diseases. Developing weekly, monthly epidemiological bulletins on COVID-19 surveillance.

• Assisting the Surveillance team lead to update COVID-19 surveillance guidelines to ensure alignment with regional and global standards for conducting surveillance for COVID-19 and other vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs), as well developing and reviewing health workers surveillance guidelines.

• Developing sustainable plans to use lessons learned from COVID-19 emergency responses and the polio eradication and infrastructure for other priority public health interventions in PNG.

• Work closely with the relevant stakeholders towards the integrated service delivery, MCH, UHC and systems strengthening.

Maintaining laboratory surveillance reports for National Control Centre for COVID-19 (NCC) Operations

• Completing weekly tasks sheets by close of business on the last working day of the week, this includes the response to the pandemic and actions taken

• Attending weekly morning surveillance team briefings and other meetings as required.

• Reporting to the Deputy Surveillance Coordinator as required.

• The Vaccine Surveillance Coordinator will be based at the NCC.

You must at a minimum possess the following:

• degree or diploma in public health or a relevant field

• at least two years experience in a similar role.

• good understanding of the surveillance or eNHIS information systems

• good knowledge of the supply chain system and be a critical thinker with strong attention to detailer

• experience in working in Public Health domain, lab surveillance and outbreak investigations

• excellent verbal and written communication skills with outstanding analytical abilities

• exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, to enable professional interaction within the NCC

• excellent attention to detail with the ability to maintain a high level of accuracy, and have the ability to deal with sensitive information with discretion and maintain confidentiality

• experience with MS Office (MS Excel and MS Word)

• able to get the job done independently with minimal supervision and have a proactive approach towards work.