The Senior Animal Health Officer will provide technical leadership and guidance to support the staff and projects for the Department of State (DoS)-funded Strengthening Infectious Disease Detection Systems (STRIDES) Activity for animal health components in Thailand and Southeast Asia.
Responsibilities:
Provides overall technical leadership and strategic guidance to project staff for the animal health component of the project, including coordination with other global health security (GHS) technical areas (e.g., surveillance, data, etc.) to ensure synergy.
Monitors and maintains project protocols, instruments, data sets, manuals, training materials, and reports related to animal health and zoonotic disease surveillance technical areas.
Works in close collaboration with national, regional, and local counterparts to provide technical assistance required to fulfill project objectives and targets, primarily related to strengthening animal health systems and surveillance services.
Leads or contributes to the development and writing of technical briefs, reports, or other necessary materials to facilitate research, best practices, policies, and procedures.
Provides subject matter expertise to guide the implementation of animal health systems strengthening across relevant GHS technical areas, including antimicrobial resistance, zoonotic diseases, biosafety/biosecurity, diagnostic networks, and surveillance.
Provides technical support in the scale-up and optimization of new surveillance tools.
Provides mentorship to support capacity building for project team members and subcontractors.
Leads or assists with animal health diagnostic network and laboratory capacity assessments, including the reporting of findings and recommendations.
Contributes to research initiatives to improve laboratory practices and diagnostic outcomes.
Requirements:
Master’s degree in veterinary epidemiology, public health, animal science, veterinary science, microbiology, or a related specialty. A doctor of veterinary medicine or its international equivalent is preferred.
Typically requires 6+ years of relevant experience working with animal health disease diagnostics and/or in laboratory systems strengthening.
Prior work experience with DOS-funded projects and familiarity with DOS regulations and reporting requirements, or other USG-funded projects and regulations, is preferred.
Extensive knowledge of veterinary practices, diagnostic techniques, quality assurance systems, and zoonotic disease information management systems in human, veterinary, and/or environmental health sectors.
Knowledge and understanding of infectious and zoonotic diseases, their transmission, and the application of methods and procedures to safely control infectious materials.
Demonstrated ability to design, implement, and manage zoonotic disease surveillance system strengthening initiatives.
Demonstrated experience in capacity-building activities such as training and mentoring animal health personnel.
Proven experience working with government agencies is highly desirable to support strategy development, implementation plans, and decision-making.
