Job Announcement

Position: Country Team Lead

Duty station: Cambodia One Health University Network (CAMBOHUN) National Coordination Office, National Institute of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Accountable to: Regional Lead Asia and Project Director

Program title: USAID Strategies to Prevent (STOP) Spillover

Contract type: Fixed term, full time

Duration: One year, renewed yearly based on performance evaluation, and availability of funds

BACKROUND

The USAID STOP Spillover program provides a critical opportunity to enhance global understanding of the complex drivers of viral spillover and to augment sustainable national capacities in surveillance, risk analysis, and behavior change. The project supports up to ten prioritized countries across Africa and Asia to gain critical knowledge about their Spillover Ecosystems, to refine and use that knowledge effectively, efficiently, and sustainably to reduce the risk of zoonotic viral spillover and spread. This is a five-year project from October 2020 to September 2025.

STOP Spillover is a USAID-funded project to anticipate and address threats posed by the emerging zoonotic diseases that pose the greatest risk of jumping from animals to humans. Tufts University and an international consortium of core partners, including Southeast Asia One Health University network (SEAOHUN), icddr, b-Bangladesh and Africa One Health University network (AFROHUN), are working collaboratively utilizing diverse capabilities among consortium members and stakeholders to implement the STOP project in four countries in Africa and three countries in Asia.

The consortium will support countries to build their capacity to assess, communicate and decrease risk of viral spillover and spread of zoonotic disease The consortium will work with USAID to develop and institutionalize innovative, country-specific, and sustainable approaches so they are well-prepared to stop viral spillover from animals to humans and reduce amplification and spread of the virus among humans. STOP Spillover will focus on strengthening national capacity in a number of targeted countries to 1) understand the factors that contribute to the risk of spillover of pathogens from wildlife to humans; 2) develop, assess, and implement early risk- reduction interventions that will reduce the spillover and spread of these threats; and, 3) recognize and respond rapidly to zoonotic spillover events.

STOP Spillover’s approach centers around leveraging global-level Resource Hubs, made up of consortium partner staff and key short term technical advisors and consultants, to provide expertise, technical assistance, and support to a Country team.

The Country Team, composed of a full-time Country Team Lead, Admin and Finance Officer and four full-time supporting members, will drive implementation of the project, ensuring that project activities are responsive and contextualized to the needs of Cambodia.

JOB PURPOSE:

This is a leadership position and is responsible for the programmatic, administrative and strategic management of STOP Spillover program in country i.e., formulating and implementing strategy, policy and managing the day-to-day operations of STOP Spillover program to achieve the objectives of the programs.

KEY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Planning and strategy

• Provide leadership to project implementation in country and contribute towards project leadership at the global level.

• Lead and support innovations in the program in collaboration country team members, CAMBOHUN Coordinator, Regional Lead Asia and Project Director.

• Contribute to the strategy of STOPS with emphasis on the impact and sustainability of interventions; contributes to project, program designs aligned with project objectives.

• Work with country teams to develop, review, and update annual workplans; ensure consistency with donor deliverables.

• Manage and coordinate all activities and provide oversight function for country level activities and the country team to effectively implement project activities according to the work plan and budget.

• Supervise activity implementation to ensure that stated goals and reporting requirements are met.

Operational management

• Directly supervise country team members to effectively ensure quality and timeliness of programmatic reporting.

• Lead country team members recruitment and support them as necessary.

• Support country team members to plan, implement and evaluate innovative approaches and share learning across the teams.

Project management

• Work to ensure the project approval, if required, from relevant ministries.

• Oversee overall budget, monitoring expenditure, and evaluating impact; flag any deviation and variances to Regional Lead Asia on time.

• Lead the documentation of lessons, showcase successes and ensure appropriate branding/visibility of the program.

• Work in coordination with the Regional Lead Asia and CAMBOHUN Coordinator to ensure program and financial reporting are submitted on time for Prime, donors and government as required.

• Serve as M& E focal person of country and ensure data are validated as per STOP Spillover protocols and ensure these standards have been met in the project.

• Ensure project documentation well organized at all stages of the project cycle: contracts, amendments, reports.

Ensure donor compliance of the implementers of the project and disseminates those requirements to country team as relevant.

• Consult with in-country institution/leadership of CAMBOHUN, and report to Regional Lead Asia of Southeast Asia One Health University Network (SEAOHUN).

• Perform management functions under the project, provide budget oversight and execute any other assigned tasks.

Leadership and team development

• Motivate and encourage country team members; foster a positive attitude towards work; and facilitate during induction process of each member.

• Lead the recruitment and supervision of One Health-Design Research and Mentorship (OH-DReaM) teams, which will lead the design, implementation and validation of interventions designed to mitigate viral spillover and spread of zoonotic diseases.

• Collaboratively work with country leads from other STOP Spillover supported countries.

External relations

• Serve as a STOP Spillover focal point for in country internal and external stakeholders, as well as facilitate communication, networking, and coordination with other partners.

• Develop and maintain professional and working relationship with team members at the national, regional, and global levels.

• Liaise and build strong relationships with government and other collaborators/stakeholders to implement interventions designed for achieving goals and objectives of the program.

• Maintain positive engagement with Mission, partners, and the relevant government authorities.

Duration of the Work:

The initial contract is for one year and will be extended based on funding availability and performance.

QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENT

• At a minimum, a master’s degree in a relevant field, including but not limited to Public Health, Epidemiology or Veterinary Medicine, Environmental Sciences, Nursing, and Biomedical sciences, biotechnology, agriculture, economics, social science environment project management, international development or any other relevant discipline, A PhD will be an added advantage.

• At least 5 years of in-country experience with supervising and managing projects with actors such as government partners, academia, international partners, funders, and/or private sector with direct leadership of professional and support staff, program/technical oversight, and project/grant management.

• Good understanding of One Health concepts and expertise, as reflected as expertise in a discipline or several relevant areas: social and behavior change, surveillance, risk reduction and management, intervention implementation and mitigation of zoonotic disease amplification and spread, public health and ecosystem health.

• Excellent collaboration capabilities, e.g. capacity to work productively in team, working in multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary settings.

• Experience working with government agencies, communities, intergovernmental agencies, academic institutions, international agencies in country (WHO, FAO, OIE, others) or NGOs.

• Excellent organizational, written, and verbal communication skills in Khmer and English.

• Proven experience in managing donor funded projects especially USAID.

• Gender and cultural awareness and sensitivity.

• Experience within and across academic, public, and private sectors.

• Experience with planning and managing large, multi-actor public health program interventions.

• Proficient in relevant Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint programs, Comfort with social media

• Willingness to travel locally and internationally.

DISCLAIMERS:

• STOP Spillover does not discriminate based on race, color, sex, language, religion, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation and gender identity.

• This organization is committed to the recruitment of a diverse, inclusive workforce, and thus, women and members of other underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply

• The salary for this position will depend on qualifications and experience and in line with projects funds.

HOW TO APPLY:

Interested candidates are invited to send an application letter with expected salary, a resume or curriculum vitae in PDF format with names of 3 referees referencing “Apply for Country Team Lead” as the subject to cambohun@seaohun.org and vutha1@yahoo.com. Application will be reviewed on a rolling basis until filled with the first round of reviews on 30 June 2022. The candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.