Public Health Specialist – Associate Director for Programs for CDC Namibia

Announcement #: WINDHOEK-2025-003

The U.S. Mission in Windhoek, Namibia is seeking eligible and qualified applicants for the Public Health Specialist – Associate Director for Programs in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) office.

Salary: (NAD) N$1,060,306 – (NAD) N$1,060,306/Per Year

Series/Grade: LE – 0550 – 13

Agency: Embassy Windhoek

Location: Windhoek

Duties: The incumbent serves as the Associate Director for Programs (ADP) and leads all program activities within the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Namibia office. The ADP has the primary responsibility of liaising with the host national government, multilateral organizations, implementing partners, and other stakeholders to ensure that CDC-funded projects are planned and implemented in accordance with agency regulations, CDC strategic objectives, international ethical guidelines, and host country standards. Working alongside the Country Director and serving as a core member of the CDC Namibia Senior Management Team, the ADP duties and responsibilities also include program planning and development, oversight of cooperative agreements, and technical leadership in the portfolios of TB and HIV prevention, care & treatment, laboratory, health systems strengthening, maternal & child health, scientific studies, and other health programs as guided by the Country Director. The ADP acts independently to identify gaps in program implementation and initiates corrective action to improve program outcomes. In addition, the incumbent supervises locally engaged program staff and provides programmatic leadership for the all CDC-supported program activities in Namibia. ADP mentors 31 (thirty-one) CDC Namibia team members on all aspects of partner management, including workplan development and use of routine program data to improve programs. ADP also advises the CDC Namibia Country Director on all aspects of program strategy, implementation, and monitoring. Job holder is an FSN Direct-Hire appointed to perform inherently governmental duties, such serving in a Project Officer capacity.

Qualifications and Evaluations
Requirements:

• All selected candidates must be able to obtain and hold a: Security Certification.
• All selected candidates will be subject to a background investigation and may be subject to a pre-employment medical exam.
• Selected candidate must be able to begin working within a reasonable period of time four weeks upon receipt of agency authorization and/or clearances/certifications or their candidacy may end.

Education Requirements:

• * Doctoral level (terminal) degree, Doctor of Public Health (DrPH), Doctor of Medicine (MD) or host country equivalent degree in medicine, health policy, epidemiology, behavioral science or health information management is required.

Evaluations:

• You will be evaluated against the qualifications and requirements in this vacancy announcement.
• You may be asked to complete a pre-employment language or skills test.
• You must complete the application form and provide the required documents.

Your application must address all the position qualifications and requirements including education, experience, language, and any knowledge/skills/abilities listed. If you fail to submit a complete application, then your application may be disqualified for this position.

Qualifications:
Experience:

• Five years of senior level public health experience in developing, implementing, and evaluating public health programs or other relevant public health programs that involve coordination with an international agency or IP is required.
• Expertise in strategy and implementation of HIV, TB, and related programs, including collaboration with Ministries of Health, multilateral organizations, academic institutions, and/or National Public Health Institutes.
• Progressive responsibility and oversight for complex, multi-disciplinary portfolios that require close collaboration with diverse stakeholders.
• An additional two years of managerial experience managing human and financial resources of international projects or programs is required.

Language:

• Level 4 – Fluent; speaking/reading/writing, may include the ability to translate English. This May be Tested.

Job Knowledge:

• Expertise in clinical, laboratory, prevention, testing, maternal & child health, and related services.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze, interpret, and utilize data for improvement of programs.
• Comprehensive knowledge of science, guidelines, policies, and overall strategic consideration for the development and administration of national or international health programs.
• Excellent understanding of health services in Namibia and/or other international settings.
• Working knowledge of administrative, budgeting, and fiscal management in support of funding mechanisms such as contracts, cooperative agreements, grants, and purchase requisitions.
• Experience of team management techniques to plan, organize and direct multi-disciplinary projects and activities.
• Strong oral and written communications skills are required to develop and maintain effective and sustainable working relationships with national and international partners.
• Ability to provide critical advice and assistance in overcoming barriers to program delivery and application due to economic, cultural, or political controversies or difficulties.

Skills And Abilities:

• Experience working in international settings, including interactions with host governments, other USG agencies, and multilateral partners.
• The job holder must exercise considerable ingenuity and tact in applying guidelines to unique and different settings, as the work is highly complex and can be challenging to stakeholders. Considerable innovation is required to influence other collaborative organizations engaged in HIV, TB, and related programs to adopt appropriate strategies for their program activities.
• Strong capacity building and mentoring skills, with experience managing and creating professional development opportunities for a large diverse team.
• Demonstrated diplomacy and interpersonal skills in a multi-cultural environment.
• Ability to multi-task and effectively manage multiple priorities that are frequently subject to change.
• Demonstrated leadership and management skills.
• Excellent interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills, including memos, reports, presentations, and public remarks.
• Ability to analyze, understand and implement design complex multi-year projects with large budgets (40 million USD annually) and thousands of involved staff across partners.
• Ability to think outside the box and innovate, especially in an environment of diminishing resources and evolving priorities.
• Experience negotiating with partners and generating consensus with collaborative organizations to adopt new strategies and implement necessary changes.
• Strong skills with interpretation of program monitoring and evaluation of data.
• Outstanding organizational and project management skills.
• Good understanding of statistics and analyses to assess and interpret data, which can then be represented visually in reports and/or presentations.
• Understanding of how health services are delivered and the operations of both facility-based and community-based clinical settings.
• Ability to rapidly develop new subject matter expertise.