New Diagnostics Scientist

Clinton Health Access Initiative Nairobi, Kenya

Founded in 2002 by President William J. Clinton, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) works to broaden access to life-saving treatment for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria patients in the poorest parts of the world. As part of this mission, CHAI’s “Access Programs” approach global public health challenges with market-based strategies, using simultaneous engagement on both the supply and demand sides of the market. On the supply side, CHAI engages with suppliers of essential drugs and diagnostics to improve access to products by lowering prices, accelerating new products to market, and sharing market intelligence. On the demand side, CHAI organizes and consolidates demand for health commodities by helping governments to scale up treatment programs, mobilize new resources, improve procurement processes, and enhance local human resource capacity. Working with over 30 governments and other partners, CHAI is focused on large-scale impact on many of the largest barriers to effective treatment and care.

CHAI is a key source of support for Ministries of Health and CHAI's country teams, and works to address barriers to access and foster a healthy competitive marketplace for essential diagnostic testing. CHAI plays the lead role in coordinating work globally on access to diagnostics, working closely with diagnostics manufacturers, governments, and multilateral organizations to lower prices, increase access to testing, and accelerate the entry and uptake of new innovative products.

Responsibilities:

The New Diagnostics Scientist will work to support the development and market entry of new innovative point-of-care or simple laboratory diagnostic products for HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in key markets in resource-limited settings. Point-of-care (POC) products bring diagnostics out of the laboratory and closer to the patient, reducing the burden to receive testing, and allowing tasks to shift to lower cadres of healthcare workers, particularly in rural areas. Several POC products for diagnosis, disease staging, and treatment monitoring have recently become available or are in development, with the potential to dramatically increase access to treatment, improve patient retention, and make healthcare systems more efficient. However, despite the potential advantages of these new technologies, there are few products on the market as well as barriers that prevent adoption and scale-up in developing countries, including regulatory hurdles and limited guidance on how to decent ralize testing in rural areas. CHAI will work with new developers of innovative POC diagnostics to expand the product pipeline and facilitate the accelerated market entry of high quality new products. CHAI will also work with high-volume, early-adopter countries to overcome these barriers and build a healthy, competitive global market for these products, while negotiating with manufacturers to lower prices.

As new technologies become available, the New Diagnostics Scientist will focus on developing in depth market intelligence from resource-limited countries in Africa and elsewhere and will support business case development for investment in new products. The Scientist will provide technical, operational and analytical support to product developers to accelerate appropriate product design, development and commercialization. The Scientist will advocate for the use of new products with governments and other partners, and assist with the design and running of product evaluation pilots and implementation programs while strengthening the capacity of governments to adopt and scale-up new technology. The Scientist will also provide analysis to support to global negotiations with diagnostics manufacturers, and the development of new procurement strategies. Finally, the Scientist will assist in the development of CHAI’s a market-shaping strategy for fostering competition in th e global diagnostics market. In doing so, the Scientist will develop strong relationships with various teams within CHAI, as well as Ministries of Health, diagnostics manufacturers, and other external partners in beneficiary countries.

We are seeking a highly motivated individual with outstanding credentials, analytical ability, and communication skills. The Scientist must be able to function independently and flexibly and have a strong commitment to excellence. CHAI places great value on relevant personal qualities: resourcefulness, responsibility, tenacity, independence, energy, and work ethic.

Responsibilities:

• Serve as a key advisor to product developers, CHAI country teams and in-country and global partners on the design, development and market entry of new diagnostic products and their integration into existing lab networks
• Provide technical guidance to new diagnostic developers on product design, target product profiles, commercialization, and delivery
• Develop in-depth market intelligence and demand forecasts on HIV and TB diagnostics in resource-limited settings
• Assist companies in making the business case for investment in developing new diagnostics for low-resource settings
• Assist Ministries of Health in the design and conduct of technical evaluations to drive regulatory approvals and ensure that new technologies perform accurately, conduct operational pilots to demonstrate the cost effectiveness and impact of new products on patient outcomes, and assist with analysis and writing of evaluation reports
• Develop and share deployment models and strategies for how to maximize the uptake of new HIV and TB POC diagnostics
• Assist Ministries of Health in the development of HIV and TB POC testing policies and national implementation plans

Qualifications:

• Minimum qualifications: PhD and/or MD degree plus 2-5 years work experience
• Experience with diagnostics development
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to prepare and deliver compelling presentations
• Strong scientific, analytical, problem solving, and quantitative skills
• Ability to think strategically, handle ambiguity and work in a fast-paced, limited-structure, multicultural environment
• Ability to learn on the job quickly
• Detail-oriented with strong organization skills
• Ability to handle multiple work streams simultaneously and work independently
• Available for up to 75% travel
• High level of proficiency in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint and Word

Pluses:

• Previous CHAI experience
• Diagnostics / healthcare industry experience
• Experience working with molecular diagnostics in clinical diagnostic laboratories
• Experience or expertise with biomechanical engineering or related field
• Clinical and/or biomedical research experience
• Experience living or working abroad, particularly in developing countries
• Familiarity with global health issues
• Fluency in French, Portuguese and/or Spanish

Application Instructions

Please apply via the online portal at https://careers-chai.icims.com/jobs/2706/job