Immunization Advisor at International Rescue Committee

Job Overview/Summary:

Reporting to the Senior Technical Advisor Specialized Health, the Immunization Advisor will lead the IRC’s immunization and child health work, coordinating with other leaders within the Health Unit and in other sectors to strengthen the quality of this work and develop successful program models, scale IRC’s programming in immunization and child health, and guide the immunization scaling ambition in the IRC health unit strategy.

Specific responsibilities / duties:

Immunization – 80% LOE

Technical Capacity Strengthening and Program Design

• Conduct technical trainings and ongoing technical coaching for technical staff related to immunization programming quality improvement.
• Support design of program in project countries and ongoing monitoring of progress
• Participate in analysis of program data with M&E and project staff to advise on program adaptations to achieve targets and share cross country learning
• Engage with stakeholders during visits to country programs
• Review and share program-specific tools/resources/curricula and work with technical unit specialists to contextualize and adapt global and country-specific materials
• Help define approach to teaming/partnering with other organizations

Business development

• Develop strategy to build IRC’s immunization portfolio
• Support country program staff to design programs and projects, ensuring that they are: aligned with the IRC’s strategy, which includes supporting country program staff with contextualizing outcomes and the theories of change, and selecting interventions based on the best available evidence and the local context; responsive to client needs and preferences; based on sound context and gender analysis; and support use of indicators for country programs aligned with existing IRC immunization indicators
• Input into go / no go decisions on proposals
• When needed, write technical narratives of proposals in addition to regular review of technical narratives, workplans, and any program reports
• Provide input on budgets

Influence

• Represent the health unit and the IRC in inter-agency working groups, various global/regional immunization fora and conferences
• Attend targeted conferences and develop specific publications (issues papers, technical documents, presentations and peer-reviewed articles) relevant to advancing immunization program strategies and research results.
• Synthesize key findings of current literature related to increasing routine immunization coverage—particularly through ‘last mile’ and community engagement strategies—for program use

Child Health – 20% LOE

Technical Leadership and Coordination

• Ensure continued program quality and use of evidence/best practice in child health in general.
• Provide child health technical oversight and guidance to IRC country programs and HQ technical units.
• Monitor program performance and increase accountability for results in collaboration with regional program staff and country senior management.
• Liaise with internal and external partners to identify promising new areas.
• Contribute to the development of project proposals as needed.
• Lead internal and external communication related to child health.

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: Senior Technical Advisor – Specialized Health

Position directly supervises: N/A

Other Internal and/or external contacts:

Internal: Regular communication with technical advisors supporting country programs. Close relationships with regional and country teams. Interacts with IRC internal departments, including business development, external relations and advocacy departments, as well as other technical units.

External: Serve as IRC program representative in outside regional meetings and global meetings and academic forums with donors, other non-governmental organizations, inter-agency groups and foundations.

Job Qualifications:

Education: 

• University degree in a health field and a master’s in public health or related area required.

Work Experience: 

• At least 6-8 years public health experience in technical and management positions, including provision of remote technical support.
• A minimum of 5 years as technical advisor supporting immunization programs.
• At least three years of international field/lived experience in managerial/coordination positions with Non-Governmental Organizations in low- and middle-income humanitarian or post-conflict settings. Experience in technical tools and materials development. Experience in strategy development and working across sectors is highly desired.