Jobs in Global Health

(image credit: The Wandering Angel)

There are four main types of jobs in global health. Almost all global health jobs fall into them. Technical specialist, grantwriter, program manager, and healh care provider. The job titles vary a bit, and they have different levels of responsibility depending on how senior they are, but just about every job in global health fits one of those categories. Most people who work in the field fit into one or two of these categories, often just one of them. Global health is a field dominated by people who specialize in one or two things.

Technical specialist / expert / consultant

Technical consultant jobs generally involve providing topic-specific guidance to a bunch of projects or programs. Technical advisors are subject specialists to varying degrees of specificity - they could be a monitoring and evaluation specialists, an HIV/AIDS specialist, or even a specialist in monitoring HIV/AIDS programs, and so on. They help to create programs, drafting proposals and developing program designs. They may visit programs during implementation, to see if they are still on track technically, and they may do monitoring and evaluation.  They do not generally manage programs, and may or may not get involved with writing proposals.

You become a technical expert by getting a degree with a relevant focus - either a medical or a public health degree, and then focusing your work experience on the technical topic you are interested in. For example, you have a shiny new master's degree in public health with a focus on international health and an interest in refugee health. Maybe you worked with a professor in grad school on some refugee research, or helped write a paper. You'd start with an entry level job backstopping a refugee program, or doing resettlement work. You'd hang around long enough to learn the basics of refugee work, and maybe get promoted. Then you'd go abroad, as manager of some small to medium project that works with refugees. You'd do more and more reading on best practices in dealing with refugees, while getting hands-on work experience. You'd go to the right conferences, start thinking of yourself as knowledgeable on the topic, end up as your organization's go-to person on refugee issues. Your next job makes it official - advisor on refugees for some other NGO. (Alternately, you get your first job assisting with research on a refugee topic, and work your way up that chain.)

Actual (current) job posting

Technical Advisor III: Senior Surveillance Advisor

Strategic Planning, Evaluation and Reporting Division, Office of HIV/AIDS, Bureau for Global Health, United States Agency for International Development

The Surveillance Advisor will serve as a member of the Strategic Planning, Evaluation and Reporting Division (SPER) within the Office of HIV/AIDS (OHA) of the Bureau for Global Health (GH/OHA/SPER). The Surveillance Advisor will provide broad HIV/AIDS-related expertise and guidance in program evaluation and monitoring; strengthen USAID's ability to monitor program implementation; document results; and assess the programmatic impact of USAID's goal to reduce HIV transmission and mitigate the impact of the disease on nations, communities and families. The Surveillance Advisor will also be a key contributor to the design and implementation of surveillance systems and reporting program results in the priority countries under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and in other USAID-assisted countries.

TO APPLY:

Visit the Recruitment section of our website at https://www.ghfp.net/recruitment/.

Grantwriter / development officer / proposal manager / program development

Program development people write proposals and applications for funding. They usually work from a design created by a technical expert. They translate that design into something a non-expert can understand, and phrase it in compelling language that will encourage donor funding. They need enough subject-matter knowledge to be able to write and defend a proposal, but they don't have to be experts.

You become a grantwriter by writing grants. It sounds ridiculous, but it's that simple. Some kind of master's degree is a plus but not essential. What you need are writing skills. You may start out as an intern in program development , helping work on proposals that other people write. You may start out as a program manager a technical expert, having to work on the occasional proposal and discover you have a knack for it. But once you've written a few winning proposals all on your own, you've got the skills and experience needed to apply for and get grantwriter jobs.

Actual (current) job posting

Program Development Officer

The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)

Closing date: 30 Jan 2009
Location: Georgia - Tbilisi

Purpose:

The Program Development Officer (PDO) plays an important role in United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) Georgia's program development and fundraising. The UMCOR Non Governmental Organization Division's mandate is to manage relief and development projects primarily funded by government grants. UMCOR-NGO's program areas focus primarily in the field of transitional development, which include the following sectors: agriculture, community development, health, shelter, income generation, relief, and non-formal education. The period of this contract is six months with the possibility of extension, contingent on performance and funding. PDO reports directly to the Head of Office for UMCOR Georgia.

Essential Functions:

Identifies funding opportunities and coordinates UMCOR's application for them including writing the proposals; and identifies programmatic areas which are underserved by the NGO sector and which UMCOR with its mission or wider institutional knowledge is well placed to fill. The PDO will liaise with donors in order to identify funding and make an application.

How to apply

Please apply at our website at http://jobs-umcor.icims.com/umcor_jobs/jobs/candidate/login.jsp?jobid=1214 or send a fax to +1 212-870-3593. Only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. Please no phone calls are requested. Deadline for applications is January 30, 2009. We appreciate your interest in the United Methodist Committee on Relief. The United Methodist Committee on Relief is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Program manager / country manager / chief of party

Managers run programs. They are usually based in-country, and they oversee the day-to-day operations of the program. This includes managing staff, host government relations, and tracking budgets and finances. They may or may not also make technical decisions about the programs; it depends on how the program is staffed. They do a lot of problem-solving and report-writing.

You become a program manager by getting some kind of useful master's degree, ideally while working in your field, and then becoming a program assistant or project backstop. Then you work your way up, focusing on the management-type jobs. Technical experts start in the same place, but they look for the jobs with more technical content.

All global jobs are kind of the same at entry level, focusing on backstopping and support to country programs. Once you move up a level or two, there is more to choose from, and that is when your decisions about what job to take really start to matter.

Actual (current) job posting:

Country Program Manager, Alive & Thrive
Washington, DC

AED seeks a Washington, DC (Dupont Circle) based Country Program Manager for the foundation-funded Alive & Thrive Project.  The Country Program Manager will manage program development and implementation in Bangladesh, Viet Nam, and Ethiopia and provide day-to-day management at the headquarters level on technical and programmatic aspects of all country programs.

REQUIRES: The position requires a Master's in International or Public Health, Nutrition and/or a related degree with at least 10 years of experience with extensive knowledge of infant and young child feeding technical area. Experience managing nutrition behavior change activities, including program design, formative research, monitoring, and evaluation highly desirable along with demonstrated ability to manage and mobilize a team of professionals and a diverse set of international activities.  The salary is commensurate with education experience and contains an extensive benefits package.

TO APPLY: Please submit a cover letter with cv to employ@aed.org referencing job number #CS8482ICEW and title in the subject line. The full job description can be found on www.aed.org under Director openings. M/F/D/V EOE/AA.

Health Care Provider / Clinician / Medical Director

I tricked you with that fancy bolded header there, and the picture. I am actually going to talk about clinicians in tomorrow's blog post. There is so much to say that I decided to break them out into their own blog post.