Epidemiologist (12 months fixed term contract - Wits NICD)

SUMMARY:
Background:

• The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) is a major global player in infectious disease intelligence
• The NICD is a source of knowledge and expertise in regionally relevant communicable diseases to the South African Government, SADC countries, and the African continent
• The NICD assists in the planning of policies and programs and supports appropriate responses to communicable disease problems and issues

POSITION INFO:
Main purpose ofthe job:

• To provide epidemiology expertise for surveillance, research and outbreak response activities undertaken by the Center for Respiratory Diseases and Meningitis (CRDM)
• To develop an epidemiology/ research agenda for the Centre, introduce and maintain  new and existing surveillance and epidemiologic research projects, assist in epidemiological investigations of diseases outbreaks and provide epidemiological  support to laboratory staff

• Sandringham - Johannesburg

• Initiate, develop and implement epidemiologic studies and surveillance programmes relevant to the Centre activities, including study design, data collection, data entry, data management, data cleaning, data analysis and report writing
• Assist with coordination of epidemiological investigations of diseases outbreaks and provide additional logistical support to the Department of Health epidemiological investigation of disease outbreaks as required
• Assist with management of grant budget
• Supervision and management of field staff for surveillance programmes and epidemiological studies
• Participate actively in training activities of the Centre including developing training materials for laboratory/ public health staff and clinical staff, training of data team, surveillance officers and research assistants including site visits, teaching epidemiology and supervision of students, training of provincial and national DoH staff, internal NICD training including the FELTP programme
• Create and produce reports and contribute significantly to existing NICD publication such as communiqués and bulletin as well as produce scientific papers on relevant subjects
• Comply with any reasonable and lawful instruction issued by senior staff member
• Must be prepared to travel for site visits, outbreaks investigations, population survey, local and international meetings as required

• MSc in Epidemiology / Public Health and / or MPH Field Epidemiology or relevant equivalent (essential)
• Experience in applied epidemiology, public health and communicable diseases post MSc/MPH qualification
• Experience with Data Analysis and Database Development essential
• Competency in Microsoft Excel, in R Studio (reporting and coding) and Stata essential

• 1- 3 years’ experience in applied infectious disease epidemiology, surveillance and/or outbreak investigation and response

• Ability to produce reports and scientific publication (strongly recommended)
• Ability to manage a team and generate new projects (strongly recommended)
• Must be able to work under pressure while paying attention to detail
• Experience in applied epidemiology, public health and communicable disease
• Experience in outbreak investigation would be advantageous
• Experience in developing databases and analysing data from Access and Redcap database strongly recommended

• Only if you meet the minimum job requirements and experience as mentioned above, you may submit a detailed updated CV
• Please Apply Online and complete your registration via our website to enable and protect you as a candidate, and to accept the new POPIA terms and conditions.
• This will then create your permanent profile with which you can apply for all jobs as advertised by AJ PERSONNEL
• However, you may remove your profile from AJ PERSONNEL when you are no longer in the job market
• Please take note that the applicants who do not adhere to the above criteria will not be considered for the respective position
• Wits Health Consortium will only respond to shortlisted candidates.
• Candidates who have not been contacted within two weeks of the closing date can consider their applications to be unsuccessful
• Closing date: 20 May 2025
• Note: No CV will be accepted after the closing date

• WHC, in accordance with its Employment Equity goals and plan, will give preference to suitable applicants from designated groups as defined in the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 and subsequent amendments thereto
• AJ Personnel is only responsible for advertising and the response handling on behalf of their client Wits Health Consortium
• AJ Personnel does not have any salary or other information regarding the position