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Job Title:    National Stakeholder
Engagement Senior Officer

Organisation: Target Malaria

Duty Station:  Entebbe,
Uganda

 

About US:

The Uganda Virus
Research Institute (UVRI) is a leading health research institution in Uganda,
based in Entebbe. Amongst other projects, it is a member of the Target Malaria
consortium. Target Malaria is a non-for-profit research consortium that wants
to contribute to saving millions of lives from malaria. It includes African,
European and North American scientists with a focus on the most
malaria-affected countries – currently working in Burkina Faso, Mali, Ghana and
Uganda. The consortium includes a diversity of researchers – molecular
biologists, medical entomologists, population geneticists, protein engineers,
social sciences researchers as well as risk, regulatory and stakeholder
engagement experts. Our teams are researching approaches that can reduce the numbers
of mosquitoes that spread malaria, which would help complement existing control
methods. Our research is at an early stage, and while results so far have been
promising, there is still a long way to go. By reducing the population of the
malaria mosquito, we aim to combat transmission of the disease. The control
method would be a long-term, sustainable, and cost-effective solution to
prevent malaria. This project started a decade ago with a funding from the
Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative and is now receiving funding
through a program of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

 

Job Summary:  Target Malaria Uganda is seeking to recruit a
national stakeholder engagement Senior officer. This new position has been
created in recognition of the importance of the dialog with stakeholders at
national level to build and maintain effective and constructive relationships
with multiple stakeholders for the success of the project. The project
interacts with a broad range of stakeholders at national level including
representatives of the national government, regulators, intergovernmental and
non-governmental organisations, scientific research groups, civil society
groups or individuals. In the longer-term engagement at the regional and
Pan-African level will also be essential for the success of the project.

The National
Stakeholder Engagement Senior Officer will play a critical role in building the
profile and voice of Target Malaria through strategic engagement. The role will
require liaising across the range of the Target Malaria teams to ensure
engagement on the project is coordinated, coherent and is a two-way dialog. The
role is to ensure that stakeholders are informed but also that their feedback,
expectations and concerned is shared with the project team. This is an
essential part of the co-development and co-ownership values of the project.

 

Key Duties and Responsibilities:  The Senior officers will facilitate the
dialog between the national level stakeholders and the project. He/she will be
responsible for the promotion of trust and confidence between the national
stakeholders and the project.

Engagement
activities

The National SE
Senior Officer will be responsible and accountable for the overall engagement
activities at the national level in the following aspects:

·       
Ensure
adequate information about the project to national level stakeholders on
project activities (whether current or future)

·       
Ensure
appropriate consultation of national stakeholders before the implementation of
activities and feedback concerns, suggestions to the project for them to be
considered;

·       
Ensure
that the national level dialogue is inclusive and effective by mapping and
prioritizing key stakeholders, and aligning this map to the project’s strategic
objectives, goals and milestones;

·       
Support
the regulatory process by advising on and managing potential stakeholder issues
and coordinating stakeholder engagement activities with the insectary, field
entomology teams and the regulatory team;

·       
Promote
the use of effective communication by working closely with the communications
team to support the development of culturally appropriate tools and methods
taking into account social, political and cultural contexts;

·       
Represent
the project as required to high-profile, regional and national stakeholders,
building constructive relationships across governmental, non-profit and private
sector organisations

·       
Participate
in regional and Pan-African engagement activities according to the
international stakeholder engagement plan and under the leadership of the stakeholder
engagement manager

·       
Monitor
political debates and programmatic trends in the field of gene drive technology
and malaria vector control, and analyze their implications on the project and
our work

·       
After
appropriate training, respond to media as one of the project spokespersons.

Strategy activities

·       
Participate
in the formulation and the implementation of a stakeholder engagement strategy
at national level in Uganda, and ensure the alignment with local, regional and
global strategies

·       
Participate
in the formulation of tools, procedures and policies for stakeholder engagement
and documentation of activities;

·       
Contribute
to consortium activities related to stakeholder engagement. • To assess,
prioritize, monitor and manage risks at national level and analyse and report
back how these risks could impact the project;

Reporting
activities

·       
Participate
in the monitoring and evaluation of the engagement and stakeholders’ acceptance
level for the project,

·       
Provide
activity report and updates of support tools to facilitate follow-up and
reporting on National engagement activities,

·       
Ensure
that national engagement activities are implemented within the set budget and
timeline and raise any concern in this regard if there are deviations to be
anticipated.

 

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

·       
The
applicant must hold a Postgraduate qualification in International Development,
Policy, Social Sciences (or similar), or an equivalent combination of relevant
knowledge, extensive training and/or experience

·       
Extensive
experience in policy engagement (at least 5-7 years) experience with
co-developing and executing successful policy engagement and communications
campaigns (3-5 years)

·       
Demonstrated
experience in designing and implementing stakeholder engagement programmes

·       
Strong
existing network of stakeholders contacts in Uganda

·       
Experience
in mobilizing stakeholder networks from civil society

·       
Experience
in working in a field in development, where the policy framework is evolving
Experience in a multi-disciplinary environment, ability to translate engagement
perspective and technical aspects to non-practitioners/non-expert

·       
Advanced
knowledge of stakeholder engagement issues and practices and an understanding
of their implications for the development, implementation and evaluation of stakeholder
engagement plan

·       
Understanding
of engagement challenges related to innovation, in particular in the field of
Biotechnologies

·       
Outstanding
organisational, time and project management skills, including the ability to
plan, implement and execute new initiatives

 

NB: This Vacancy is
open to Nationals of Uganda.

 

How to Apply:

All applications
must be in English and include a Curriculum Vitae, a cover letter explaining
why this position is attractive and why your profile fits, and three
references. Interested candidates should submit their applications in a sealed
envelope marked: “ National
Stakeholder Engagement Senior Officer -Target Malaria” to:

 

The Director,

Uganda Virus
Research Institute

P.O. Box 49 Entebbe.
Uganda Email to: targetmalariajobs@uvri.go.ug OR: hand-deliver to his office at
Plot 51-59, Nakiwogo Road, Entebbe.

 

Deadline: 8^th January 2021 

 

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