Country Coordinator, Collaborative Surveillance

Resolve to Save Lives' Prevent Epidemics program works closely with Ministries of Health and national public health institutes in Africa to strengthen epidemic preparedness capacity, accelerate disease detection and response, and effectively use data to inform action. In addition to direct partnerships with governments, we also work with implementing partners, including the US CDC, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and the Global Health Advocacy Incubator, to implement programs, prototype innovations, and ensure sustainability through increased national ownership, including domestic budget allocations.

Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL) is implementing Collaborative Surveillance to support Ethiopia and five other African countries to build systems that bring together health data from multiple sources so that public health leaders can make faster, better decisions to prevent and respond to outbreaks. This approach is called Collaborative Surveillance. 

In Ethiopia, the Collaborative Surveillance portfolio is focused on strengthening the systems, institutions, and capabilities needed to support timely detection, notification, and response to public health threats. Building on foundational investments in surveillance systems, data integration, workforce development, and governance, the portfolio supports both national and subnational implementation to institutionalize collaborative surveillance within routine government operations. The program works closely with the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), Ministry of Health (MOH), regional health bureaus/public health institutes, and other partners to strengthen surveillance performance, improve data use for decision-making, and generate scalable models that support long-term sustainability and national scale-up. 

To support this work, RTSL seeks a Country Coordinator to serve as the primary focal point for management of the Ethiopia Collaborative Surveillance portfolio. The Coordinator will provide operational leadership focused on data-use and epidemic intelligence, manage stakeholder and leadership engagement, oversee subnational implementation activities, and ensure timely delivery of project milestones and outputs. 

The role will oversee embedded Technical Advisors and consultants, manage surveillance-related activities, and support the use and translation of contextual information and multi-source data to support decision-making across the emergency lifecycle. The Country Coordinator will also provide guidance on data architecture and governance, applying systems thinking and change management approaches to promote sustainable improvements. The Country Coordinator reports to the Country Director, RTSL Ethiopia Country Office, with additional functional reporting to headquarters-based staff coordinating Ethiopia Collaborative Surveillance activities.   

Length of Engagement – 12-month fixed-term employment with possibility of extension based on funding and mutual interest. 

The incumbent performs duties including, but not limited to, the following:  

• Contribute to strategic leadership for the Ethiopia collaborative surveillance portfolio in collaboration with the Principal Advisor, PE Ethiopia and relevant global colleagues, ensuring activities are aligned with national priorities, agreed implementation frameworks, project objectives, timelines, and budgets. 
• Lead annual, quarterly, and monthly planning processes, including development of workplans and budgets that identify opportunities to strengthen existing and emerging systems, data-use practices, institutional priorities, and digital strategies. 
• Provide direct technical and operational leadership for the Ethiopia Collaborative Surveillance portfolio, including work planning, day-to-day management, coordination across relevant Prevent Epidemics Ethiopia teams, and oversight of implementation aligned with national and subnational priorities. 
• Share implementation updates, lessons learned, and emerging priorities with the country coordination team and other implementing countries to support alignment, resolve bottlenecks, facilitate cross-country learning, and enable timely adaptation.  

• Work closely with government counterparts to align Collaborative Surveillance activities with national priorities, negotiate and develop implementation workplans with relevant stakeholders, and oversee delivery through the effective supervision of embedded staff and consultants. 
• Serve as the primary day-to-day liaison with EPHI, the Ministry of Health, Regional Health Bureaus, and other government institutions on epidemic intelligence and data-use related activities, maintaining regular communication with designated focal persons and ensuring timely follow-up on agreed actions and commitments. 
• Develop and manage partnerships with development partners, donors, implementing organizations, technical working groups, and other stakeholders in Ethiopia, supporting consensus-building and coordination to advance implementation priorities. 

• Provide line management for staff and consultants under the Collaborative Surveillance Ethiopia portfolio, including recruitment, onboarding, work planning, performance management, and professional development. 
• Provide technical and operational oversight to sub-national coordinators, embedded staff, and consultants supporting collaborative surveillance implementation, including development of scopes of work, workplans, and performance expectations. 

• Provide technical assistance to government counterparts and embedded staff to map existing systems, decision-making needs, and data flows, to inform the development of a future surveillance architecture for Ethiopia. 
• Support implementation of collaborative surveillance approaches through capacity building in systems thinking, design thinking, communication, and strategic adaptation of these approaches to the Ethiopian context. 
• Strengthen country workflows for sharing, assessing, and acting on public health information, including through 7-1-7, enhanced situational awareness, and epidemic intelligence training and capacity-building activities. 
• Collaborate with governmental and non-governmental partners to improve the effective use of data, including data presentation, risk analysis, epidemiologic bulletins, and other decision-support products. 

• Prepare regular progress updates, presentations, briefing notes, and donor-required reports. 
• Document and disseminate lessons learned, implementation challenges, best practices, case studies, and cross-regional learning to inform adaptation, scale-up, and sustainability. 

• Master’s degree or higher in public health, epidemiology, health informatics, statistics, health systems, or a related field.

• At least 10 years of experience in public health program and/or project management with progressively increasing levels of responsibility 
• Demonstrated experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder projects with national and subnational implementation components, including work planning, coordination, problem-solving, and delivery against timelines and budgets
• Experience working with EPHI, the Ministry of Health, Regional Health Bureaus, or similar government institutions, including engagement with government leadership and technical teams on strategy, implementation, commitments, and timelines
• Highly experienced in preparedness and/or response to epidemics and health emergencies
• Experience in surveillance strengthening, health information systems, epidemic intelligence, or public health emergency management is strongly preferred

• Strong understanding of public health surveillance systems, collaborative surveillance concepts, systems thinking, business process mapping, and data use for decision-making
• Excellent communication, presentation, facilitation, negotiation, coordination, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build partnerships and maintain effective working relationships with government counterparts, development partners, civil society organizations, donors, multilateral agencies, and other stakeholders
• Fluency in English is required
• Demonstrated capabilities in people and team management, with the ability to support, guide, mentor and motivate others  
• Very strong written communication in English with a track record of writing reports and other synthesis documents 
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to navigate complex or ambiguous environments and support both strategic planning and practical implementation
• Ability to work independently and self-directed while contributing effectively in a collaborative and matrixed environment
• Detail-oriented, proactive, adaptable, and committed to continuous learning
• Ability to travel up to 30%

• Experience with health information systems (e.g., DHIS2), and digital systems interoperability and data integration
• Experience using analytical software (e.g., R, Stata, or Python) to analyze, visualize, and communicate public health surveillance data
• Experience leading facilitation, capacity strengthening, and collaborative work across cultures and multidisciplinary teams