Epidemiologist job at Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI)

General Summary

The Epidemiologist leads disease surveillance, data analysis, and outbreak investigation activities within an assigned area, ensuring timely detection, verification, and response to public health events at Points of Entry (PoE) and border communities. The role provides technical leadership to district and PoE-level teams and ensures high-quality epidemiological data informs decision-making.

Key Responsibilities

Provide technical leadership across all seven surveillance sub-pillars within the assigned area:

• Alert Management: Oversee triage, verification, and timely closure of all alerts received through community, event-based, and indicator-based surveillance channels, including alert desks, hotlines, and e-registers, in line with national turnaround timelines.
• Case Investigation & Contact Tracing: Lead case investigation for suspected, probable, and confirmed cases (including BEVD), and supervise contact listing, tracing, and daily monitoring of contacts for the full 21-day follow-up period.
• Active Case Search: Coordinate active case search in high-risk communities and health facilities to identify missed or unreported cases and strengthen case ascertainment.
• Community-Based Surveillance: Supervise and mentor Village Health Teams (VHTs), CHEWs, and other community actors on community-based and event-based surveillance, alert notification, and referral pathways.
• Facility-Based Surveillance: Support integrated facility-based surveillance in health facilities, mentoring facility surveillance focal persons on case detection, screening, e-registers, and IDSR/eIDSR reporting.
• Mortality Surveillance: Coordinate mortality surveillance and verification of community and facility deaths, ensuring linkage with Safe and Dignified Burial (SDB) teams for suspected/confirmed BEVD deaths and other notifiable deaths.
• Points of Entry (PoE) Surveillance: Support surveillance and screening activities at gazetted and informal Points of Entry, including data review, quality checks, and follow-up on cross-border alerts.

Other Responsibilities

• Analyze surveillance and population connectivity (PopCAB) data to identify trends, hotspots, and cross-border transmission risks.
• Prepare and disseminate accurate daily/weekly epidemiological reports and alerts to district, regional, and national health authorities.
• Lead the development, quality assurance, and timely dissemination of daily/weekly BEVD Situation Reports (SitReps) to the District Task Force, Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), and national/regional stakeholders during an active response, ensuring consistency with surveillance and line-list data.
• Support Points of Entry capacity assessments and joint national/regional/district technical support supervision visits.
• Represent the project at regional and cross-border coordination meetings (e.g., Uganda–DRC, Uganda–South Sudan).
• Ensure timely and complete entry of field and hardcopy surveillance data into national systems (e.g., DHIS2, eIDSR).
• Support ring vaccination micro-planning and target-list verification where BEVD vaccination is deployed.
• Contribute to preparedness planning, risk communication activities, and after-action reviews.
• Ensure epidemiological and programmatic reports meet CDC/USG donor reporting requirements and timelines, including required indicators, data quality standards, and supporting documentation.

Cross-Cutting Responsibilities

• Attend and actively contribute to Surveillance Pillar meetings, ensuring activities are aligned and coordinated across all seven surveillance sub-pillars.
• Attend weekly Incident Management Team (IMT) meetings to report progress, flag challenges, and receive and cascade guidance to field and Points of Entry teams.
• Participate in surveillance sub-pillar coordination meetings to synchronize activities, resolve bottlenecks, and ensure consistent application of case definitions and protocols across pillars.

Academic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Medicine, Public Health, Nursing, Veterinary Medicine, or a related field; a Master’s degree in Epidemiology or Public Health is strongly preferred.

Person Specification

• Bachelor’s degree in Medicine, Public Health, Nursing, Veterinary Medicine, or a related field; a Master’s degree in Epidemiology or Public Health is strongly preferred.
• Minimum of three to five years’ experience in disease surveillance, outbreak response, or field epidemiology.
• Field Epidemiology Training Programme (FETP) certification is an added advantage.
• Proficiency in epidemiological analysis tools (e.g., Epi Info, STATA, R) and health information systems (e.g., DHIS2).
• Demonstrated experience working with Ministry of Health structures and cross-border health programs.
• Excellent analytical, report-writing, and communication skills.
• Willingness and ability to travel frequently to border districts and Points of Entry

• Oversee triage, verification, and timely closure of all alerts received through community, event-based, and indicator-based surveillance channels, including alert desks, hotlines, and e-registers, in line with national turnaround timelines.
• Lead case investigation for suspected, probable, and confirmed cases (including BEVD), and supervise contact listing, tracing, and daily monitoring of contacts for the full 21-day follow-up period.
• Coordinate active case search in high-risk communities and health facilities to identify missed or unreported cases and strengthen case ascertainment.
• Supervise and mentor Village Health Teams (VHTs), CHEWs, and other community actors on community-based and event-based surveillance, alert notification, and referral pathways.
• Support integrated facility-based surveillance in health facilities, mentoring facility surveillance focal persons on case detection, screening, e-registers, and IDSR/eIDSR reporting.
• Coordinate mortality surveillance and verification of community and facility deaths, ensuring linkage with Safe and Dignified Burial (SDB) teams for suspected/confirmed BEVD deaths and other notifiable deaths.
• Support surveillance and screening activities at gazetted and informal Points of Entry, including data review, quality checks, and follow-up on cross-border alerts.
• Analyze surveillance and population connectivity (PopCAB) data to identify trends, hotspots, and cross-border transmission risks.
• Prepare and disseminate accurate daily/weekly epidemiological reports and alerts to district, regional, and national health authorities.
• Lead the development, quality assurance, and timely dissemination of daily/weekly BEVD Situation Reports (SitReps) to the District Task Force, Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), and national/regional stakeholders during an active response, ensuring consistency with surveillance and line-list data.
• Support Points of Entry capacity assessments and joint national/regional/district technical support supervision visits.
• Represent the project at regional and cross-border coordination meetings (e.g., Uganda–DRC, Uganda–South Sudan).
• Ensure timely and complete entry of field and hardcopy surveillance data into national systems (e.g., DHIS2, eIDSR).
• Support ring vaccination micro-planning and target-list verification where BEVD vaccination is deployed.
• Contribute to preparedness planning, risk communication activities, and after-action reviews.
• Ensure epidemiological and programmatic reports meet CDC/USG donor reporting requirements and timelines, including required indicators, data quality standards, and supporting documentation.
• Attend and actively contribute to Surveillance Pillar meetings, ensuring activities are aligned and coordinated across all seven surveillance sub-pillars.
• Attend weekly Incident Management Team (IMT) meetings to report progress, flag challenges, and receive and cascade guidance to field and Points of Entry teams.
• Participate in surveillance sub-pillar coordination meetings to synchronize activities, resolve bottlenecks, and ensure consistent application of case definitions and protocols across pillars.

• Proficiency in epidemiological analysis tools (e.g., Epi Info, STATA, R)
• Proficiency in health information systems (e.g., DHIS2)
• Excellent analytical skills
• Excellent report-writing skills
• Excellent communication skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Medicine, Public Health, Nursing, Veterinary Medicine, or a related field
• Master’s degree in Epidemiology or Public Health (strongly preferred)
• Field Epidemiology Training Programme (FETP) certification (added advantage)
• Demonstrated experience working with Ministry of Health structures
• Demonstrated experience working with cross-border health programs