Senior Technical Officer – Infection Prevention and Control (IPC)

Senior Technical Officer – Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), Maputo, Mozambique

Job Code: TECH31019

Job Family: Technical

Compensation Band: LL

Reports to: Senior Technical Advisor - WASH

About FHI 360:

FHI 360 is a nonprofit human development organization dedicated to improving lives in lasting ways by advancing integrated, locally driven solutions. Our staff includes experts in health, education, nutrition, environment, economic development, civil society, youth, research, and technology — creating a unique mix of capabilities to address today's interrelated development challenges. We are currently seeking qualified local candidates for the position of: Senior Technical Officer – Infection Prevention and Control (IPC). The Senior Technical Officer (STO) – IPC provides technical implementation support for infection prevention and control for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), and Global Health Security components of EpiC program. The Senior Technical Officer - IPC is based in Maputo.

Job Summary

Under the supervision of the WASH Senior Technical Advisor, the Senior Technical Officer – IPC,  works closely with the Ministry of Health, national public health institutions, provincial and district health authorities, health facilities, laboratories, and implementing partners to strengthen IPC interventions, build workforce capacity, improve compliance with national standards, and promote sustainable integration of IPC and WASH into routine health services and emergency preparedness systems. The position supports national and subnational health authorities in strengthening systems, standards, and practices to prevent, detect, and control infectious disease threats, with particular attention to healthcare facilities, laboratories, outbreak preparedness and response, environmental health, and priority high-risk settings.

Accountabilities:

Technical Responsibilities

1.      Infection Prevention and Control

• Work closely with MISAU-DNAM and provincial and district health authorities to plan, implement, monitor, and institutionalize national IPC priorities at subnational and health-facility levels;

• Support strengthening of IPC systems, committees, guidelines, SOPs, monitoring tools, and quality-improvement activities;

• Lead and support IPC and WASH assessments using nationally approved instruments and recognized tools, including SBMR, the WHO Infection Prevention and Control Assessment Framework (IPCAF), and WASH FIT, and translate findings into prioritized, costed, and time-bound improvement plans;

• Provide technical leadership and support for implementation of IPC programs at national and sub-national levels.

• Support IPC assessments, improvement plans, standard and transmission-based precautions, environmental cleaning, PPE, healthcare waste management, and occupational infection prevention.

• Support surveillance and analysis of healthcare-associated infections and IPC/WASH indicators and use findings to guide quality-improvement actions and antimicrobial-resistance prevention efforts.

• Provide technical support for WASH in healthcare facilities and priority community settings, including water safety, sanitation, hand hygiene, environmental cleaning, and healthcare waste management;

• Support water-quality surveillance, environmental health assessments, and risk-based WASH interventions relevant to disease prevention and outbreak response.

• Support implementation of cholera prevention and response interventions, including Case-Area Targeted Interventions (CATI) and CATI and TATI (Transmission-Area Targeted Intervention), household and community WASH measures, environmental hygiene, safe water practices, and other transmission-prevention activities.

• Oversee the design and quality assurance of IPC and hygiene promotion materials for health workers, laboratory staff, and community health volunteers.

• Ensure effective integration of WASH, IPC, surveillance, risk communication, and community-level response activities.

2.      Global Health Security and Outbreak Preparedness

• Support IPC and WASH preparedness and response for waterborne diseases including cholera, viral hemorrhagic fevers, respiratory infections, and other epidemic-prone diseases;

• Participate in readiness assessments, rapid response activities, outbreak investigations, and implementation of corrective and preventive measures;

• Support coordinated outbreak-response approaches linking IPC, CATI and TATI, WASH, surveillance, laboratories, case management, AMR, and emergency preparedness;

• Contribute to development and implementation of outbreak preparedness plans, SOPs, technical guidance, and response tools;

• Provide on-site or remote IPC/WASH technical support during public health emergencies, including rapid risk assessments, triage and screening, isolation and cohorting, patient flow, safe referral, PPE use, environmental cleaning and disinfection, WASH services, waste management, and management of occupational exposures.

3.      Capacity Strengthening and Supportive Supervision

• Develop and deliver training, mentorship, Training-of-Trainers, and supportive supervision for healthcare workers and relevant technical staff;

• Support development and adaptation of SOPs, job aids, training materials, assessment tools, and technical guidance;

• Conduct field visits to monitor implementation and support continuous improvement;

• Assess training effectiveness and support trained national and provincial facilitators to cascade standardized content, mentor frontline teams, and maintain training quality;

4.      Program Implementation, Coordination and Monitoring

• Support development and monitoring of workplans, indicators, activity trackers, technical reports, and program deliverables;

• Coordinate with MISAU, INS, provincial and district health authorities, health facilities, laboratories, implementing partners, and other stakeholders;

• Support technical specifications and procurement planning for IPC/WASH commodities and equipment;

• Contribute to sustainability and institutionalization of IPC and WASH interventions within government systems;

• Perform other duties as assigned.

Applied Knowledge & Skills

• Strong technical knowledge of IPC standards, practices, and program implementation, including standard and transmission-based precautions, environmental cleaning, healthcare waste management, occupational safety, and WASH in healthcare facilities and other high-risk settings;

• Knowledge and practical skills in outbreak preparedness and response, including risk assessment, triage and patient flow, isolation and cohorting, PPE, environmental health, water safety, and prevention and control of cholera and other endemic and epidemic-prone diseases.

• Understanding of Global Health Security, AMR, IHR, and One Health approaches.

• Strong skills in training, mentorship, supportive supervision, and quality improvement.

• Ability to develop technical guidance, SOPs, monitoring tools, and high-quality program documentation;

• Strong analytical, coordination, communication, and stakeholder-engagement skills;

• Ability to work effectively with government institutions and multidisciplinary teams;

• Fluency in Portuguese and professional working proficiency in English.

Competencies:

• Project Management (Planning and Time Management) - Accurately scopes out length and difficulty of tasks (sets objectives/goals/measures). Break down work into steps, schedules, task/people assignments. Marshals people, time, and resources efficiently. Arranges information in a useful manner and orchestrates multiple activities at once.

• People Management (Making Others Great) – Facilitate professional development of staff by providing challenging, learning assignments and opportunities. Shares and solicit feedback monthly at the very least. Help establish compelling development plans. Assigns responsibility and accountability for tasks/decisions. Monitors process, progress, and results. Creates a climate in which people want to do their best.

• Creating and Managing Systems and Processes – Recognizes the need for standardization and balances client and organization need in systems design. Anticipates the effects of process change on people while optimizing tasks.

Problem Solving & Impact:

• Works on problems of moderate to complex scope that require review of various factors.

• Exercises good judgment with selecting methods and techniques to determine appropriate action.

• Identifies and raises issues to senior technical staff.

• Networks with key internal and external personnel.

Supervision Given/Received:

• Supervises the Technical Officer - IPC

• May mentor other lower-level personnel.

• Reports to the Senior Technical Advisor – WASH.

Education:
•  Minimum of a Bachelor's degree in Medicine, Nursing, Biomedical Sciences, Epidemiology, or a related field.
•   Master's degree in Public Health, Epidemiology, Biomedical Sciences, IPC, Global Health, Environmental Health, WASH, strongly preferred.
•  Clinical background as MCH nurse, or medical doctor, strongly preferred.

Experience
Required Experience

• Minimum of eight (8) years of progressively responsible experience in IPC, WASH, public health, infectious disease programs, health systems strengthening, or related area – with a Bachelor’s degree.

• Minimum of six (6) years of relevant professional experience in IPC, WASH, public health, infectious disease programs, health systems strengthening, or related area with a Master's degree.

• Demonstrated experience implementing IPC programs in healthcare facilities or public health settings;

• Experience conducting IPC/WASH assessments, developing improvement plans, and monitoring their implementation;

• Experience in WASH, healthcare waste management, environmental health, or outbreak preparedness and response.

Preferred / Desirable Experience

• Experience using IPC/WASH assessment tools, such as SBMR, WHO IPCAF, CATI and WASH FIT, is an advantage;

• Experience designing and facilitating Training-of-Trainers (ToT), evaluating learning, and supporting training cascades;

• Experience supporting rapid response and frontline teams, simulation exercises, outbreak investigations, emergency treatment structures, or after-action reviews is highly desirable;

• Experience working with government health institutions at the national and/or sub-national level. Previous experience working with MISAU, INS, DPS/SPS, SDSMAS, or health facilities in Mozambique is an advantage;

• Experience working on donor-funded health programs, U.S. Government funded programs, preferred.

Typical Physical Demands:

• Typical office environment.

• Ability to spend long hours looking at a computer screen and doing repetitive work on a keyboard.

• Ability to sit and stand for extended periods of time.

• Ability to lift/move up to 5 lbs.

Technology to be Used:

• Personal    Computer/Laptop,    Microsoft     applications (i.e., Office 365, SharePoint, Zoom/Teams), cell phone/mobile technology, and standard office equipment.

Travel Requirements:

• 30 – 40 % (domestic travel within Mozambique; limited regional travel possible).

The expected hiring salary range for this role is USD 47,000 - 57,000 for annual basic salary. When determining an offer amount, FHI 360 factors in multiple considerations, including but not limited to: relevant years of experience and education possessed by the applicant, internal equity, market pay, and budget.  For internal candidates, salary placement will also follow FHI 360’s current promotional increase guidelines.

This job posting summarizes the main duties of the job. It neither prescribes nor restricts the exact tasks that may be assigned to carry out these duties. This document should not be construed in any way to represent a contract of employment. Management reserves the right to review and revise this document at any time.

FHI 360 is an equal opportunity employer whereby we do not engage in practices that discriminate against any person employed or seeking employment based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, marital status, physical or mental disability, protected Veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable law.

Our values and commitments to safeguarding: FHI 360 is committed to preventing any type of abuse, exploitation and harassment in our work environments and programs, including sexual abuse, exploitation and harassment. FHI 360 takes steps to safeguard the welfare of everyone who engages with our organization and programs and requires that all personnel, including staff members and volunteers, share this commitment and sign our code of conduct. All offers of employment will be subject to appropriate screening checks, including reference, criminal record and terrorism finance checks. FHI 360 also participates in the Inter-Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme (MDS), facilitated by the Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response. In line with the MDS, we will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any substantiated findings of sexual abuse, exploitation and/or harassment during the applicant’s tenure with previous employers. By applying, job applicants confirm their understanding of these recruitment procedures and consent to these screening checks.

FHI 360 will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws.

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FHI 360 fosters the strength and health of its workforce through a competitive benefits package, professional development and policies and programs that support a healthy work/life balance. Join our global workforce to make a positive difference for others — and yourself.

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