Program Officer Lango (3 vacancies)

Job Title: Program Officer

Reports: District-Based Teams Manager

- Role: Program Officer
- Location: Lango Sub-region (Regional Hub)
- Vacancies: 3 positions available

About the Location:
The Lango sub-region covers a vast north-central trade and agricultural corridor, with central program coordination managed through the Lira City regional office. Program Officers in this territory will focus on scale-up initiatives, working directly with local health units and community structures to streamline healthcare distribution, community engagement, and field operations.

Position Summary

The Program Officer, Global Health Security will work with the District Health Team and the district-based program teams to implement Global Health Security activities in the assigned district(s). S/he will work closely with the District Health Officer, the District Surveillance Focal Person, health facility in-charges, Village Health Teams to implement activities that strengthen prevention, early detection and response to outbreaks including cross-border preparedness and response for BEVD in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan.

Duties and Responsibilities

Work with the District Health Officer, District Surveillance Focal Person and District Health Team to develop, implement and monitor GHS workplans and budgets for the district(s).
Support the District Task Force (DTF) to hold regular meetings and to update district contingency and emergency preparedness and response plans and readiness assessments.
Coordinate with other partners and local government departments (veterinary, environment) at district level.
Support health facilities and Village Health Teams (VHTs) in indicator and event-based surveillance, alert verification, and timely weekly (eIDSR/DHIS2) reporting.
Strengthen data quality, analysis and use at district and facility level to guide early action.
Support rapid response team readiness, outbreak investigations, contact tracing and line listing during outbreaks.
Strengthen IPC, triage, isolation and case management capacity in health facilities and designated treatment or isolation units.
Coordinate risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) working with VHTs, local, cultural and religious leaders.
Support implementation of cross-border activities including joint meetings, information sharing, alert notification and joint investigations.
Support screening, referral and reporting at designated points of entry in the district.
Conduct mentorship and skilling for health workers, VHTs and DTF members on IDSR, IPC, RCCE, case definitions and reporting.
Contribute documentation of best practices, success stories and lessons learned from the supported district(s).
Perform any other duties as requested and assigned by the supervisor.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Medicine, Nursing, Public Health, Environmental Health, Veterinary Medicine, Biomedical Sciences or a related field (Master’s in Public Health is an added advantage).
At least 3 years of experience in public health programming, surveillance, outbreak response or community health, preferably at district level in Uganda.
Working knowledge of IDSR, the district health system and Uganda’s outbreak response structures.
Experience working in border, refugee or humanitarian settings is an added advantage.
Training in field epidemiology (FETP-Frontline or equivalent), IPC or emergency management is an added advantage.
Experience working with local government/districts and willingness to work upcountry.
Excellent written, oral communication and facilitation skills.
Computer proficiency in Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Application Procedure

Interested and qualified applicants should submit applications clearly indicating the position applied for and preferred area of work by REGION in the subject line.

Applications should be addressed to:

The Head Human Resources
Joint Clinical Research Centre
Plot 101 Lubowa Campus off Entebbe Road
P.O Box 10005
Kampala-Uganda

Email: jobs@jcrc.org.ug

The application deadline is Friday, 2nd October 2026 at 05:00 pm.

Strictly two documents combined in one PDF are required:

Application letter
CV not exceeding 6 pages

Note: JCRC is an equal opportunity employer.