Vacancy title:
Immunization Officer
[ Type: FULL TIME , Industry: Nonprofit, and NGO , Category: Health Professionals ]
Jobs at:
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
Deadline of this Job:
Friday, March 14 2025
Duty Station:
Within Uganda , Kampala, East Africa
Summary
Date Posted: Thursday, March 06 2025, Base Salary: Not Disclosed
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UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.
At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.
UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.
Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.
For every child, Vaccines
Uganda has experienced a surge in Mpox cases in recent months, exacerbated by community transmission, especially within high-risk groups such as healthcare workers, immunocompromised individuals, children with malnutrition, and socioeconomically marginalized populations. As of January 28th, Uganda has reported 2,479 Mpox cases and 19 deaths, representing a Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of 0.71%. The outbreak has affected 76 districts nationwide, with the Kampala Metropolitan Area (KMA) contributing 54.5% of the total caseload.
Alongside existing strategies to curb Mpox transmission, the arrival of the Mpox vaccine in Uganda represents an additional layer of protection to identified vulnerable populations. Vaccination kicked off on Saturday, February 1st, 2025, utilizing the first 10,000 doses as the country plans to receive additional doses. The Ministry of Health with support from development partners will utilize a Ring Vaccination strategy which controls the spread of infection by targeting vaccination of high-risk individuals within transmission hotspots to break the infection cycle.
On January 30th, 2025, the Ministry of Health declared an Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak. As of the 4th of February 2025, there have been 6 confirmed cases and 1 death. A total of 189 contacts are in isolation. Ten districts, including Kampala, Wakiso, Mukono, Luwero, Mbale City, Mbale district, Iganga, Jinja City, Jinja District, and Kakumiro, have been highlighted as high-risk districts based on a risk categorization.
Mpox and Ebola represent significant public health threats to the Ugandan population, including children. The Ministry of Health requires technical assistance in the form of a Temporary Assignment with vaccine delivery expertise and to support them to ensure an efficient and effective roll out of the Mpox and Ebola vaccines.
The Immunization Officer will be working within the Child Survival Section of Uganda CO, to support the Ministry of Health and partners deployment of M-pox and Ebola vaccines.
How can you make a difference?
This Immunization Officer reports to the EPI Specialist for guidance and supervision and works closely with the Public Health Emergency Specialist. S/He is responsible to support the Ministry of Health and partners and coordinate internally within UNICEF to:
1. Improve Vaccination Program Design: Enhance program planning, implementation, and monitoring to ensure effective and efficient vaccination delivery based on agreed strategies and micro-plans.
2. Enhance Capacity and Capability: Build local capacity for vaccination program management, data collection, and analysis.
3. Mitigate Risks: Identify, assess, and mitigate logistical, operational, and reputational risks associated with Mpox and Ebola vaccination programs.
4. Foster Stakeholder Engagement: Facilitate effective communication, collaboration, and coordination among stakeholders.
5. Inform Data-Driven Decision Making: Provide expertise in data collection, analysis, and interpretation to optimize program performance.
Summary of key functions/accountabilities:
Improve vaccination program design:
• Assess the epidemiological context in Uganda to identify target populations and high-risk areas
• Support UNEPI develop targeted vaccination strategies for Mpox/Ebola including prioritization frameworks and delivery mechanisms suitable for Uganda.
• Advise UNEPI on vaccine selection and logistics plans for vaccine procurement, storage, transportation, and distribution.
• Collaborate closely with the National Medical Stores (NMS), UNEPI, and targeted districts to maintain accurate and up-to-date stock management records and provide regular progress reports.
• Support the development, revision and dissemination of monitoring tools for tracking vaccine coverage, wastage, adverse events following immunization (AEFI), community feedback and program effectiveness.
Enhance capacity and capability:
• Assist MoH, UNICEF and other partners in the design an execution of communication strategies to improve vaccine acceptance among Uganda’s communities.
• Support the development and dissemination of technical guidelines, SOPs, and job aids for field teams.
• Support MoH, UNEPI, NMS, and other key partners to support the DHTs in developing detailed vaccine micro-plans for affected districts.
• Support the planning of training sessions for healthcare workers, field staff, and community leaders on vaccination protocols, cold chain management, and community engagement
Mitigate Risks:
• Support the maintenance of a vaccination program risk register, escalating perceived risks and their mitigations in a timely manner to senior management.
Foster Stakeholder Engagement:
• Organize and participate in regular coordination meetings, TWGs, and advisory committees with stakeholders and partners to ensure coordinated efforts on Mpox/Ebola control and prevention.
• Support stakeholder consultations to identify communication gaps and community perceptions of Mpox/Eboa vaccination.
Inform data-driven decision making:
• Support donor reporting.
• Support data systems, reporting, visibility and data for decision making through supporting and maintaining the establishment of national dashboards and other tools
Minimum requirements:
[Include the vacancy requirements aligned to the category and level of the position. You can see examples in the branded VA example.]
Education: Required bachelor’s degree in public health, epidemiology, medicine or another relevant field.
Work Experience:
• Two years of relevant professional work experience at the national and/or international levels in vaccination strategy development and implementation including SIAs and ring vaccination strategies.
• Proven experience working with creation of standard operating procedures covering all aspects of vaccine introduction.
• Proven experience working with national ministries of health and EPI departments.
• Experience working with and coordinating diverse stakeholders including UN organizations, government line departments (national and subnational), international and local NGOs in Uganda or similar settings.
Skills:
• Excellent facilitation skills, negotiation skills and oral and written communication skills.
• Computer skills include MS Office and qualitative and quantitative analytical skills.
• Knowledge of the Uganda context is an added advantage.
Language Requirements: Working proficiency in English
Desirables:
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency.
• Training/experience in emergency response management highly desirable.
• Experience in new vaccine introduction preferred.
• Familiarity with Mpox or other zoonotic diseases is an asset.
Work Hours: 8
Experience in Months: 24
Level of Education: Bachelor Degree
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