Principal Medical Scientist at Jhpiego

Overview

• The Reaching Impact, Saturation, and Epidemic Control (RISE) project is a multi-year global project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) working with countries to achieve a shared vision of attaining and maintaining epidemic control, with stronger local partners capable of managing and achieving results through sustainable, self-reliant, and resilient health systems. RISE South Africa is hiring several positions to fulfill the project mandate. Under the direction of the Senior Technical Advisor for the USAID-funded Global Health Security (GHS) project in South Africa, the Principal Medical Scientist will support the Centre for Emerging Zoonotic and Parasitic Diseases (CEZPD) at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) to promote research and development in support of surveillance of epidemic-prone and vector-borne viral zoonoses in South Africa.

Responsibilities

• Independent research and managing a research group, producing complex and scientific reports and responsible for overall management of multiple research projects, interpretation, techniques, and procedures. Develop and implement proposals/protocols/new technologies/new approaches.
• Publish peer-reviewed articles and contribution to national and international conference other research forums.
• Training and formal supervision of staff and students at all levels as required on aspects of medical entomology, with a focus on arbovirus vectors.
• Involved in grant development and grant funding management related to epidemic prone and vector-borne viral zoonoses (with a focus on arboviral disease and arbovirus ecology).
• Contribute to evaluation of the surveillance programs for epidemic prone and vector-borne zoonoses in South Africa and develop recommendations and action plan for instituting active vector surveillance in South Africa
• Liase relevant stakeholders for the development of reporting structures, dashboard etc. to communicate vector borne surveillance data for the country
• Contribute to development of policy and strategy for vector-borne viral zoonoses in South Africa.

Required Qualifications

• MSc or equivalent in Medical Science or relevant field/ PhD in relevant field is preferred.
• 5 years’ experience as scientist; at least 1 year laboratory management experience
• No HPCSA registration required for this position.
• Background in medical entomology essential, with a focus on African mosquitoes (Culicinaeand Anophelinae).
• Entomology fieldwork experience in Southern Africa.
• Experience in generate new data for models of vector-borne disease.
• Experience in work with multidisciplinary and international teams.
• Experience with One Health projects.
• Knowledge of laboratory instruments
• Knowledge of interpreting numerical laboratory results
• Communication skills
• Customer care
• Interpersonal skills
• Analytical skills
• Problem solving skills
• Attention to detail
• Ability to work under pressure and dealing with high work volumes while keeping abreast with academic literature
• Computer Literacy skills
• Attendion to detail