The Southern Africa Medical Unit (SAMU) Ongoing Recruitment 2024

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is an independent international medical humanitarian organization that delivers aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural or man-made disasters, or to people that are excluded from access to health care. The organization has health projects in more than 68 countries.
ABOUT SAMU
The Southern Africa Medical Unit (SAMU) of MSF Southern Africa and Operational Centre Brussels (MSF-OCB) was established in 2006 and provides support to projects with tuberculosis (TB, including drug-resistant TB), HIV and Hepatitis B &C activities across Africa and beyond. MSF Southern Africa is currently recruiting a Flying Mentoring and Learning Advisor to be based in Cape Town, South Africa as part of the SAMU team.
Job Title: Flying Mentoring and Learning Advisor
Job Location: Cape Town, Western Cape
Background to the post Over the past few years, the provision of supervision and mentoring has been frequently used as an implementation strategy for supporting decentralization and task shifting in field HIV/TB programmes. In 2024/2025, this mentoring & learning advisor position supported such programmes.
After two years of experience, we have learned that while some projects meet the necessary conditions to implement mentoring programs, there are others that don’t. As a result, we intend to reduce the total amount of mentoring support offered to our projects, focusing only on those projects which meet specific requirements for mentoring support and, for the others to refocus this support toward other learning methods and activities better suited to their particular contexts.
In addition, the development of the training offering at SAMU is in a new phase. With the recent launch of the 2024 MSF HIV/TB guide, incorporating all the latest MSF and WHO clinical recommendations, combined with our expertise in classroom-based training and in post-training follow-up and mentoring in the workplace, there is a unique opportunity to develop new training curricula. We aim to incorporate all these complementary learning resources into a multifaceted, coherent and comprehensive package for the field.
Countries vary in their intervention needs; some need a support that is limited to the implementation of a training with some follow-up in the workplace while others need more comprehensive support around mentoring issues.
In addition, training resources in French have lagged behind those in English and a significant amount of work is needed to correct this imbalance.
This is why this position should pay particular attention to assisting French speaking countries supported by MSF-SAMU
As stated above, it appears that in countries where minimum pre-conditions are not in place for implementing a structured mentoring programme, the main support needed to capacitate staff remains with the supervision and implementation of HIV/TB medical activities. This is especially true in decentralized programmes in MoH facilities at primary health care level (OPD) and/or in MSF programs where HIV/TB is not the main operational focus (integration).
Ideally, this post will be based in Cape Town, but this may be negotiable.
The focus of this position is around these four main axes of responsibilities/activities as described in this job description

Design HIV/TB clinical training materials for primary care
Implement HIV/TB clinical trainings and follow up
Support mentoring programmes implemented by the field missions
Provide implementation support for country clinical and programmatic HIV/TB care.

Responsibilities of the function
1. Design and development:
In collaboration with SAMU clinical training advisor
Develop clinical curricula for primary care and hospital-level classroom trainings in English, and the corresponding materials in French.
2. Implement SAMU HIV/TB clinical trainings and follow up
Independently or in collaboration with SAMU country HIV/TB advisers and/or field project staff:

Implement HIV/TB clinical trainings
Facilitate post-training follow-up with integration into the workplace
Personal oversight of implementation by trainees
Support of field coordinators or managers (PMR, MAM, Medical referents) in implementation of the training
Support mentoring programmes if relevant (see section 3 below)

3. Support mentoring programmes implemented by the field
Countries/missions have varied environments and capacity for implementing mentoring programmes. Therefore, the level of support will be defined by the December 2024 mapping of all projects, based on the last 2 years’ experience in these countries. The scope of the support may extend beyond merely the clinical to realms such as PSEC, pharmacy, lab and potentially others
Direct field support
In collaboration with SAMU country focal points:
• Centralise and coordinate all requests for mentoring activities support
• For each request, in collaboration with the project and country coordination teams in charge of the clinical mentoring activity(-ies) concerned:

Define the level and nature of the support needed (as explained above)
Propose and frame the intervention, and identify resources needed (within the mission, the regional pool of mentors, the SAMU team and/or OCB-OCG L&D)
This includes one or more of the following:
- Support of the programmatic aspect of running a mentoring programme
- Hands-on support of mentors in their activities
- Providing training in mentoring skills (ToT)
- Ensuring follow-up and distance support with the field team

Documentation of mentoring activities in the field

Continue to document current mentoring activities and lessons learned in the field
Ensure regular update and dissemination of the HIV/TB mentoring programmatic guide, the clinical mentoring Job Aide, and the mentoring tools (“toolkit”)

4. Country HIV/TB implementation support
In close coordination and under the functional supervision of the SAMU country HIV/TB adviser, this position will be responsible for tailored ToR covering the following:

Implementation of systems and procedures for a successful integration of PMTCT, HIV/TB prevention and care, flow of patients, systems for the management of HIV advance disease at ambulatory level.
Elaboration of SOP for country programmatic procedures and implementation of reporting and monitoring procedures.
HIV/TB clinical and support needs
Ad hoc tasks and activities related to HIV/TB care in several portfolios such as PMTCT or children and adolescents.

5. Other activities
As part of a learning unit, the successful candidate might be required to:

Define SAMU mentoring strategy and implementation activities for the SAMU LU annual review and objectives (ARO)
Provide the corresponding documents for planning and reporting on SAMU mentoring activities, in collaboration with SAMU LU team.

Recruitment criteria
1. Requirements

Medical doctor
Fluent in English and French. Portuguese would be a plus.
Medical, clinical and programmatic experience needed in the realm of HIV/TB
Experience in work related to people development; training design and implementation.
Experience with MSF an advantage

2. Professional competencies

Clinical and programmatic competence in the management of HIV and TB
Ability to design and plan projects, set up a network, animate and motivate teams along with good document drafting skills.
Pedagogical skills and experience, an aptitude for analysing learning and development needs with experience of mentoring and/or supervision, are a definite bonus.
NGO humanitarian medical experience is a plus

3. Personal qualities

Autonomous, diplomatic, dynamic and flexible
Capacity for taking the initiative and making decisions
Capacity for analysis and summarising
Ability to priories
Ease with public speaking
Good interpersonal skills
Capacity to adapt support to varying field contexts

LINK TO APPLY FOR THIS JOB: https://msfsa.bamboohr.co.uk/jobs/view.php?id=121
CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: 4 MARCH 2024. ONLY SHORTLISTED CANDIDATES WILL BE
CONTACTED. SAMU RESERVES THE RIGHT NOT TO FILL THIS POSITION.

APPLY NOW