United States of America: Scientific Communications & Policy Officer

Organization: Johns Hopkins University
Country: United States of America
Closing date: 03 Oct 2014

About IVAC:

The mission of the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is to accelerate global access to life-saving vaccines through the development and implementation of evidence-based policies. The work of IVAC focuses on: disease epidemiology; vaccine economics and supply; monitoring and evaluation of vaccine introduction and of IVAC’s programs; operational and implementation research; and advocacy, policy and communications activities to increase the profile of and global action on vaccine-preventable disease. Specifically, our work includes:

• Determining global, regional and local burdens of disease
• Evaluating the safety, immunogenicity, and effectiveness of vaccines
• Understanding local and policy-maker perceptions of a variety of important diseases, including pneumonia and diarrhea, and and related vaccines
• Assessing the cost-effectiveness of investments in immunization
• Modeling the impact of key vaccine implementation and programmatic choices at the national and subnational levels
• Situational and evaluative analyses related to aspects of country vaccine context such as decision-making processes, vaccine introduction readiness, research and policy gaps, etc.
• Communicating the evidence around immunization to key decision-makers
• Building key coalitions of champions for child survival through comprehensive treatment and prevention strategies, including immunization
• Increasing the awareness and engagement of the public and other stakeholders around the burden of vaccine preventable diseases and importance of immunization
• Supporting work to ensure that strong health systems are in place to deliver vaccines
• Working with existing and potential manufacturers to assure an adequate, sustainable, affordable supply of quality vaccine

About the position:

The Scientific Communications & Policy Officer will work within the Policy, Advocacy & Communications (PA&C) team of IVAC as a non-tenured faculty member of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The PA&C team conducts a variety of strategic communications and advocacy activities and works closely across IVAC’s program areas - including Epidemiology, Economics & Finance, monitoring & evaluation and policy - to develop targeted strategies and evidence-based materials aimed at informing vaccine decision-making throughout the developing world and among key stakeholder groups such as the technical/scientific community, global health funders, policy-makers and partners.

Reporting to the Manager of Scientific Communications, this officer will be responsible for assisting with the translation of the evidence base around the broad value of vaccination – including recent and ongoing studies evaluating cost-effectiveness, economic burden of vaccine-preventable disease, vaccine economics at global, country and societal levels and delivery of vaccines – into policy-targeted dissemination strategies, messages and materials tailored for a variety of audiences, particularly developing country decision-makers, program managers and bureaucrats. The officer will help determine how this data can be best communicated and contribute by providing messaging and contextual language around statistics, as well as developing materials such as slide decks, fact sheets, technical briefs, visuals etc. for use by various audiences. The officer will also support PA&C activities by drawing upon the scientific literature and technical experts for context and interpretation to aid in the communication of complex concepts.

An understanding of economic and financing concepts, avidity for detail, excellent writing and interpersonal skills, experience translating complex health and economic information for broader audiences, familiarity with immunization systems and health systems and knowledge of the global vaccine context are key. Experience in interpreting a variety of health economic measures and study designs, preparation of study manuscripts and graphic design or data visualization would be a plus. Candidates should have a good understanding of international health policy mechanisms and how evidence can be translated to achieve policy change through communication targeted towards the audiences described above.

The ideal candidate will have a strong sense of personal responsibility, taking care and pride in producing high-quality outputs, and be an outgoing, team-oriented person willing to pitch in on a variety of other projects as the need arises within this small, high-functioning team. A good sense of humor is a decided plus.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Assist with the development of evidence-based materials and messages for a variety of external audiences including science media, international health funding agencies/doors, global health implementing organizations, country and global health policy-makers, bureaucrats, etc.
• Contribute messaging to and verify statistics for IVAC external communications products underlying strategies to increase political will to support strong immunization systems at global and national levels
• Assist A&C manager in responding to requests for technical communications support to a variety of partners on an ongoing basis
• Keep abreast of relevant scientific developments in the fields of immunization, health economics, vaccine financing, etc., both in peer-reviewed and grey literature as well as presented at key congresses or in other technical forums
• Work with the Scientific Communications manager to develop and implement strategic plans, finalize and disseminate related evidence-based materials, and monitor the impact of these activities and materials
• Develop and maintain relationships with Center technical faculty and external technical experts
• Attend technical advisory meetings and related policy meetings as required, leveraging outcomes to better inform scientific communications and policy strategies going forward
• Travel internationally by air, as required, up to 20%

Qualifications:

• Masters degree in Public Health, Science Journalism or related field; knowledge of health financing or economics strongly preferred
• Strong verbal and written communication skills as well as excellent interpersonal skills are required
• Knowledge of vaccines, major global infectious diseases, health systems processes and structures, immunization financing
• Knowledge and experience of international health policy mechanisms
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex scientific concepts in written and visual materials for non-scientists
• Highly organized and able to work independently
• Minimum 5 years experience, preferably with experience in international health and health policy, resource mobilization, economics or financing
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Demonstrated problem-solving and analytic skills
• Ability to work successfully in a small team
• Enthusiasm, team spirit, dedication to the job and willingness to help out are all essential qualities
• Foreign languages a plus, especially French
• Available for overseas travel up to 25%.

This position is based in Baltimore, Maryland. Applications should be received by October 3^rd, 2014.

How to apply:

Please send cover letter and CV or resume to the attention of Julie B. Younkin, jbuss2[at]jhu.edu with “Scientific Communications & Policy Officer” in the subject line. This position is based in Baltimore, Maryland. Applications should be received by October 3^rd, 2014.