NEW JOB POSITION-Advisor –Laboratory Services (6 Posts) at MDH

POSITION TITLE: Advisor –Laboratory Services (6 Posts)
LOCATION: Iringa, Lindi, Morogoro, Mtwara, Njombe and Ruvuma
REPORTS TO: Senior Advisor Quality Service Delivery

Position Summary: 

The Advisor-Laboratory Services is a self-motivated individual who
will be responsible for providing overall technical leadership and
oversight of Laboratory services implementation at respective region.
This includes; keeping abreast with key advances in the area of
Laboratory support and standards for the HIV and TB programs;
translating into practice, key program, national and global priorities
of Laboratory services for the HIV and TB programs; as well as working
with and providing substantive and technical direction and assistance to
other regional staff at supported region. She/he will work in close
collaboration with the respective regional and district level health
management teams and C3HP supported facilities.

Duties and Responsibilities: 
1. Provide oversight and lead implementation of HIV Viral load (HVL)
Services by providing technical support focusing on sample collection,
packaging, transportation, testing, and result reporting; o Ensure
implementation of demand creation strategies for improved coverage of
HVL services. o Oversee HVL testing laboratories, to ensure there is
maintenance or improvement of the workflow for laboratory processes and
improve TAT.
2. Strengthen Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) Service by providing
technical support focusing on sample collection, packaging,
transportation, testing, and result reporting.
3. Support scaled up use and maximum utilization of available point of
care (POC)/GeneXpert platforms in EID for improved turnaround time of
test results.
4. Support TB Diagnosis Service by providing technical support focusing
on sample collection, packaging, transportation, testing, and result
reporting; o Ensure maximum utilization of available GeneXpert for TB
diagnosis o Strengthen integration of TB diagnostic samples
transportation into the sample referral system
5. Collaborate with R/CHMTs and other stakeholders to expand and strengthen EQA services especially for HIV rapid test.
6. Coordinate with R/CHMTs to strengthen the laboratory sample referral
system, and work with Couriers to facilitate sample transportation from
lower sites to facilities with testing capacity, and results back to
respective sites. o Ensure maximum utilization of electronic sample
referral system for improved turnaround time of test results.
7. Collaborate with stakeholders to improve quality of HIV testing, by
supporting the national certification program for non-laboratory HIV
testers and HIV testing points, through provision of technical
assistance and mentorship to participating facilities.
8. Responsible for ensuring supported sites meet national standard for
laboratory practice required to support all project activities,
including assessing site needs, identifying areas for quality
improvement and capacity building of laboratory personnel through
training and mentorship.
9. Support implementation of laboratory continuous quality improvement
and quality management systems to ensure good quality clinical
laboratory testing in C3HP supported sites.
10. Oversee and ensure efficient management of regional project
expenditure and other resources as per approved work-plan and budget.
11. Ensure timely collection and submission of Laboratory services data
as well as support strengthening of the related M&E systems – in
collaboration with the M&E team.
12. Lead efforts to robustly analyse and utilize laboratory services
data including HVL data to inform regional plans, priorities and
resource allocation.
13. Lead efforts to identify gaps in laboratory services provision,
design and implement Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) initiatives to
address the gaps identified.
14. Prepare timely quarterly and annual narrative reports, best
practices, lessons learned and other relevant documents on laboratory
services as assigned by line manager.
15. Support and advise the line manager on all Laboratory services
issues and perform other relevant duties as assigned by the line
manager.

Requirements: Education, Work experience and Skills: 
1. Degree in Laboratory Science/Biomedical Laboratory Sciences or Diploma in Medical Laboratory Science.
2. Minimum 5 years’ work experience in public health program including 3
years’ technical expertise in Laboratory Services for HIV and TB
programs.
3. Work experience in PEPFAR-funded HIV programs.
4. Experience in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL), Data
Analysis, Interpretation, Utilization, CQI and Operational research in
the Laboratory services for HIV and TB program.
5. Ability to work and deliver under pressure and tight deadlines with
minimum supervision. 6. Excellent communication (both verbal and
written) and presentation skills.
7. Fluency in both written and spoken English and Swahili Languages.
8. Strong computer skills (MS Excel, Word, and PowerPoint).
9. Ability to work independently with minimal supervision and strong problem-solving skills.
10. Ability to travel to implementation districts a minimum of 80% of time

HOW TO APPLY:
Interested candidates for any of the above position should submit an
application letter, a detailed copy of their CV, names and contact
information (email addresses and telephone numbers) of three work
related referees. The candidate MUST clearly indicate the Title of the
position applied for (as it appears in the advertisement) on the heading
of the email. Applications should be submitted to the Human Resource
Director through email [email protected] by
8 th December 2021. MDH DO NOT have any agents and DO NOT charge any
fees to the interested candidates. Kindly note that only shortlisted
applicants will be contacted.

The deadline for submitting the application is 08 December 2021.