Entomological Surveillance Officer – CARE

CARE is a leading humanitarian global organization. We deliver lasting change to some of the world’s poorest communities and place special focus on working alongside poor women because, equipped with the proper resources, women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty. In 2020, CARE worked in over 100 countries, reaching more than 90 million people through 1,300 projects.

Project Background
A Memorandum of Co-operation (MoC) was signed between Government of Bihar (GoB) and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) in 2010, based on which BMGF agreed to provide technical support and assistance to GoB to improve Health and Nutrition outcomes across the State. As part of this MoC, a Technical Support Unit (TSU) was established in 2013 with CARE India as the lead development partner. The Bihar TSU aimed to support the Health and Social Welfare (ICDS) Departments of the GoB in their endeavor to achieve rapid and sustainable change in health and nutrition. The TSU targeting providing specific technical support on Government of India’s (GoI) RMNCHA+A campaign, GoB’s Manav Vikas Mission Goals and Kala-Azar (VL) elimination goals across the State. The support to the VL elimination program extends beyond Bihar to Jharkhand and potentially to other states as well.

The TSU is targeting people within the system with range of different types of intervention, to shape leadership and governance, build technical/managerial/data skills, co-design tools, processes, pilots with them, hardwire research into the core decision making processes, use measurement increasingly as a mirror and learning intervention, and draw on the wealth of experience accumulating with the team on the ground to inform policy making and strategy design. As a part of the agreement between GoB and BMGF, Bihar TSU has established District Resource Unit (DRU) in all the districts to provide technical support at district level. The DRU would function as a Platform to enable structured delivering of program intervention and ensure that there is alignment with government priorities.

Concurrent Measurement and Learning Unit (CML) under TSU, designs and puts in place processes to generate and analyses outcome and process data on community and facility level services at scale. Along with Reproductive Health, Maternal, Newborn and Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, the CML cell will also focus on generation and sharing of data related to Kala Azar / VL (Visceral Leishmaniasis). CML Unit also plays a critical role in the capacity building of program team and Government counterparts on data driven decision making.

Required Experience 2 – 5 Years

Skill
Minimum Qualification
M.SC – MASTER OF SCIENCE

Job Summary

• S/he will be involved in the overall management & functioning of the Integrated Entomological surveillance activities. Viz; Measurement of vector abundance, conducting susceptibility test, management of lab, supervision of insect collectors, liaison with key stakeholders, etc.

Contract/ Key Relationships

• Entomological Surveillance Officer will report to MLE-specialist- Entomology and other VL processes.
• S/he will collaborate with the other stakeholders and Entomology team. S/he will work closely with the CML team and program team. S/he will supervise the Insect Collectors  at the district level.

Key Responsibilities

• Overall responsibility of the Integrated Entomological surveillance lab (IES lab) of their respective region.
• Main role is to operationalize the surveillance of vectors causing different diseases as per the protocol in their respective sentinel site
• Prepare the monthly action plan of Insect Collectors and make changes as per the guidance of senior management
• Supervise installation of light traps/ suitable sampling techniques for different insects at pre-identified villages of the district.
• Supervising insect collectors in sorting, processing, morphological identification and age determination of sampled vectors.
• Supervising conduction of vector susceptibility tests.
• Maintain records of vector population dynamics, vector behaviour and Vector abundance
• Prepare a monthly technical report and submit the same to reporting Manager.
• Maintenance of the Asset register of IES lab.
• Any other duty assigned by supervisors (technical and administrative)
• Can work in high pressure situation with minimal supervision
• Liaison with relevant stakeholders- Community, Government etc.Qualification & Experience
  Essential: Academic qualification: M. Sc Zoology or M. Sc Public Health Entomology or M. Sc Life Sciences from reputed University/ Institute.

Preferable:

• Knowledge of Diptera (the specific order of sand flies), other vectors causing diseases- Malaria, Filaria,
• Dengue, Chikungunya, Japanese encephalitis etc.  being a special
  paper on entomology during M. Sc.
• Prior experience of insect dissection and entomological lab      management work or work related to sand fly & Kala-azar and other vectors.
• Familiarity with Vector borne disease programs
• Research experience in any medical / public health field

Skills & Competencies

• Demonstrated liaison skill
• Good articulation skill.
• High learning agility.
• Very dedicated, committed, hardworking, honest     and able to work with minimal supervision.
• Proficiency in MS Office Software package and internet use: knowledge of website management and/or desktop publishing software.
• Familiarity with any analytical software such as Epi-info, SPSS, SAS, Stata will be an added advantage.
• Demonstrated ability to objectively analyses Lab/public health program data and describe patterns will be an added advantage.
• Demonstrated numerical data visualization skills.
• Demonstrated scientific writing skills.
• Willing to travel for field activities according to the requirement (40%).