About the role

The Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) site aims to determine and track the causes of under-five mortality and stillbirths through epidemiologic surveillance, including reporting within 24 hours, clinical sampling, and use of advanced laboratory testing and diagnostics across a network of international sites.

CHAMPS employs the Minimal Invasive Tissue Sampling (MITS) procedure for post-mortem diagnosis. MITS was developed to reduce the uncertainty regarding causes of death. The data collected from the CHAMPS Sierra Leone site will be added to that collected from other sites and will help reduce child deaths in LMICs by providing detailed evidence on the cause of death to influence policy of funders and stakeholders. CHAMPS requires the services of a resourceful, experienced, and dynamic professional for the position of Clinical Research Coordinator.

Reporting to the CHAMPS Lead Pathologist in Freetown, the CHAMPS Clinical & Research Coordinator will work mainly on the Histopathology, DeCoDe, and data-to-action components of CHAMPS Makeni and Bo projects. They will be responsible for producing case summaries for Determination of Cause of Death (DeCoDe) panel meetings, supporting capacity building and providing technical guidance to the team for family feedback as well as reviewing clinical and pathology data to inform research and contributing to the development of manuscripts and other scientific communications. They will also support the coordination of telepathology sessions with the Program Office in Atlanta. Other duties include;

Main Duties

• Liaise with team leads to retrieve and review relevant data on all CHAMPS Bo and CHAMPS Makeni MITS cases (including but not limited to clinical data, verbal autopsy, MITS photography, Lab data) and produce DeCoDe-ready summaries
• Conduct QA checks for case clinical records and Verbal autopsies for DeCoDe meetings and troubleshoot with relevant teams or health facility as required
• Lead presentations at monthly CHAMPS Bo and Makeni decode meetings and support on-the-day coordination
• Summarise DeCoDe reports, complete family feedback documentation and share with relevant team for feedback
• Provide technical guidance and prepare team for family feedback following decode meetings (i.e. discuss significant details, findings and recommendations related to the case and explain medical terminologies for easy/effective communication with family)
• Support with facility/physician level feedback sessions following decode meetings
• Follow-up on monthly DeCoDe meeting action points (ie. Central pathology lab reviews, EQA, feedback touchpoints etc.)
• Support preparation of cases for telepathology sessions with the Program office
• Supervise the accessioning and labelling of specimens, specimen storage, processing and the maintenance of reagents and equipment
• Troubleshoot and report to the lead pathologist any discrepancies regarding samples and patient information
• Supervise all CHAMPS related activities at Connaught laboratory including administrative duties associated with the Lab, including coordination of schedules and correspondences within Connaught hospital
• Coordinate the acquisition of tissue photomicrographs & slides that may be used for QA and research purposes as well as other site pathology related activities
• Conduct ICD Coding of decoded cases, monthly upload of Decode results to REDCap and resolve DeCoDe QA queries from Program office

Safeguarding

• Be aware of and compliant with all the standards following Safeguarding procedures and policies. Promote Crown Agents’ speak-up culture to protect the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults.

About you

Job requirements:

• A Medical Degree
• At least 5 years of working experience in clinical medicine
• Must have a valid practice license
• Broad understanding of modern laboratory techniques
• Experience with lab-related data management systems
• High level of proficiency in relevant computer applications, particularly MS Excel
• Excellent organizational, interpersonal, management, and communication skills

About us

You’ll be working with Crown Agents which is a high impact social enterprise passionate about transforming the future for millions of people. Since our creation in 1833 we have worked across the globe to improve public services and drive economic growth. Our expertise is finding new solutions to difficult problems for clients in the areas of health, governance, economic growth, humanitarian action and supply chain services. We work with and train leaders at local, national and international level to achieve lasting change drawing on our insight and experience.

Crown Agents is committed to diversity and will promote diversity for all candidates at all times as well as a business culture that reflects that belief. Crown Agents will treat everyone equally irrespective of race, religion, colour, sex, age, national origin, disability or sexual orientation, and places an obligation upon all staff to respect and act in accordance with the policy. Crown Agents shall not discriminate unlawfully when deciding which candidates are selected for interview, or in any terms of employment, and will ensure that each candidate is assessed only in accordance with their merits, qualifications and abilities to perform the role. Crown Agents is committed to being an organisation enhanced by diversity and encourages applications from anyone who shares our values and commitment to improving the lives of communities affected by poverty or conflict.

Crown Agents is piloting certain provisions of the Misconduct Disclosure Scheme (MDS), hence will request information from the applicant’s previous employers relating to any findings of sexual misconduct during employment, or incidents involving the applicant under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the applicant confirms understanding of these recruitment procedures.

This role is open to national and international candidates; qualified female Sierra Leoneans are encouraged to apply.

About what’s on offer

Crown Agents offers a competitive salary package.