Vietnam Country Liaison

Job title: Vietnam Country Liaison
Location: Vietnam
Contract period: One year with a possibility of renewal.
Start: Immediately

BACKGROUND

The spillover of infectious agents from animals to humans in recent decades has had a significant impact on the health of humans, animals, and our environment. To minimize the impact of future pandemic threats, the Southeast Asia One Health University Network (SEAOHUN) was established in 2011 with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development to develop a resilient and competent One Health workforce to effectively prevent, detect and respond to infectious disease threats by leveraging education, research, and training excellence provided by member universities.

Since its establishment, SEAOHUN has expanded network membership from 10 universities in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam to over 95 universities in eight countries, including the four founding countries plus Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and the Philippines. The expansion was made possible with the support of Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), U.S. Department of State (DOS) through its Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI), and USAID. Our university members come from multiple disciplines connected to the health of humans, animals, and their ecosystem.

Our regional programs promote and facilitate collaborative activities among the countries with an emphasis on improving One Health education and research. Examples of our educational initiatives include the development of One Health core and technical competencies, competency-based education, research capacity to provide an evidence-base for One Health advocacy, One Health student clubs, and other experimental learning activities.

The SEAOHUN Secretariat based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, is the coordinating body for all the country networks. The Secretariat manages subawards with the country networks, facilitates SEAOHUN Executive Board meetings and regional activities, strengthens One Health University Networks in Southeast Asia through capacity building activities, and partners with national, international and non-governmental organizations to build the next generation of One Health leaders. The Secretariat represents interests of its country networks at global and regional meetings/conferences/forums such as Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO), and ASEAN+3 Field Epidemiology Training Network (FETN). SEAOHUN has partnered with Zoetis and Pfizer to address the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and with Chevron to strengthen One Health education in Southeast Asia.

For more information, you may visit https://www.seaohun.org/ [1] and http://facebook.com/seaohun [2].

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

A key priority in SEAOHUN’s program under the Transition Award is manage regional knowledge for One Health curricula and create training content to address workforce gaps for in-service professionals. The four components are 1) the development of Southeast Asia One Health Workforce Academies (SEA-OHWA) platform to promote the development, delivery, and institutionalization of One Health education; 2) the catalog of One Health education resources invested by USAID and made them available on the SEA-OHWA; 3) the engagement of alumni of the USAID One Health Workforce and One Health Workforce – Next Generation projects to assess short and long-term impacts of the investment as well as to improve future programming; and 4) the development of training to address capacity gaps of in-service health professionals. SEAOHUN is seeking a Country Liaison for each SEAOHUN member country to support this effort. In addition, the Country Liaison will support SEAOHUN’s other programs and the One Health University Network (OHUN) programs. Under the Deputy Executive Director’s supervision, the responsibilities of the Country Liaison cover the following.

• Advocate and train faculty members in utilizing the SEA-OHWA platform and coordinate with a consultant to troubleshooting IT issues related to the platform.
• Collaborate with National Coordinating Office and in-country member universities to catalogue One Health education resources on the SEA-OHWA.
• Lead the in-country alumni engagement, including survey development and implementation, and analysis of responses to identify training needs of alumni.
• Coordinate with SEAOHUN partners to organize capacity building workshops to address competency gaps identified in the survey.
• Assist the SEAOHUN Executive Director and Deputy Executive Director in developing and strengthening partnerships with SEAOHUN program partners, local coordination bodies, NGOs, research institutes and other stakeholders.
• Support the SEAOHUN Secretariat programs team in developing, implementing and fostering its pre-service and in-service programs including liaising with students, faculty members and in-service professionals who are participating in the programs
• Ensure that program documentation is properly kept, organized, and stored in physical and electronic formats in accordance with the SEAOHUN and funders’ standards and procedures.
• Perform other tasks as assigned by Deputy Executive Director and Executive Director forsuccessful program implementation.

QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS

• Applicants should be residents of and have legal authorization to work in Vietnam.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in One Health related discipline for the position, including international development, global health, and education.
• At least three year’s work experience (Master’s) or five years’ work experience (Bachelor’s) in program coordination and management, partnership development and external representation.
• Experience working with in-country stakeholders of the One Health Workforce – Next Generation project, such as universities, government agencies, and intergovernmental agencies, is required.
• Experience working in or collaborating with SEAOHUN member universities, and the country network is strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with online knowledge management platforms is desirable.
• Experience with USAID-funded projects is desirable.
• Proven effective communication skills in English, and national language, both written and oral.
  This includes networking, negotiation, and diplomatic skills.
• Self-starting, ability to take initiative and work with minimal supervision are required.
• Ability to work both independently and in a team in a multicultural environment is necessary.

HOW TO APPLY

Interested candidates are invited to send an application letter, a resume or curriculum vitae in PDF format, and state a current and expected salary to [email protected] using the subject line “Apply for Vietnam Country Liaison”. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until filled with the first round of reviews on 19 October 2022. The candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. The salary for this position will depend on qualifications and experience and in line with projects funds.

SEAOHUN is an equal opportunity employer, and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, language, religion, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation and gender identity. SEAOHUN prohibits the use of forced labor and trafficking in persons, and does not charge any fees from applicants. While we respect all applications, only the shortlisted candidates will be contacted.