LEAP Program Description

Global Solutions Ventures (GSV) – a joint-venture partnership between ZemiTek, LLC and Dexis Consulting Group – is implementing the Long-term Exceptional Technical Assistance Project (LEAP Global), a mechanism originally used by USAID to battle against infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, neglected tropical diseases, and pandemic influenza. As of July 1, 2025, LEAP Global transitioned to the U.S. Department of State (DOS). This initiative aims to address the complex human resource challenges faced by national infectious disease programs in the USA-supported countries.

The intervention of this project is to hire and embed technical expert advisors and subject matter experts within government entities. By directly embedding the technical expertise within the national programs, LEAP provides long-term, sustainable lifesaving support to empower host governments to lead and manage key aspects of their infectious disease portfolios and improve coordination between the U.S. Government and the host country.

About the Position

The Senior Global Health Security (GHS) Advisor will support carrying out life-saving
humanitarian assistance (LHA) service delivery in full alignment with Presidential Executive
Order (EO) directives and U.S. Government priorities.  The primary focus of the Advisor will be
technical and strategic support with a special emphasis on preparing for, preventing, detecting,
and responding to and recovering from infectious disease threats which impact public health.

The Senior GHS Advisor will support the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) for the
effective adoption and implementation of life-saving interventions focusing on preparing for,
preventing, detecting and responding to and recovery from infectious disease threats with public
health impacts, such as major epidemic prone diseases, health events, and border health. The
Senior GHS Advisor will identify programmatic and strategic bottlenecks and facilitate solutions
through coordinated technical and strategic support and facilitation of efforts through the GHS
projects and other health emergency related funds and projects. The Senior GHS Advisor will
be based within the EPHI.  The Senior Advisor will receive directions from EPHI, who will serve
as the onsite Manager/Supervisor.  Familiarity with Department of State, Foreign Assistance
programming, and C/GOR experience are highly desirable as the Advisor is expected to support
the implementation of the Department of State GHS portfolio. 

Responsibilities
Support EPHI in effective delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance (LHA) through
utilization of domestic and donors’

Assist the EPHI with effective delivery of LHA GHS activities, including but not limited
to:

• Strengthening the Realtime diseases surveillance system (event-based
  surveillance, indicator-based surveillance) by supporting the digitization efforts such as DHIS-2, Electronic PHEM, Epidemic intelligence from open source, and use of AI for Health Emergency 
• Support the Health security evidence generation system by supporting the generation of real-time Bulletin and Situation reports through the digital platform
• Establishment and strengthening of the national and sub national Emergency operation center and regular simulation exercises
• Support the establishment of early warning and alerting system
• Strengthening the diseases modeling and forecasting system
• Support the community engagement and risk communication efforts of the PHEM during outbreak response 
• Provide technical support and actively engage with field work to implement programmatic and response interventions at national and sub-national levels.
• Strengthen the capacity of national and subnational Public Health Emergency Management (PHEM) officers in data management, Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Emergency Operations Center (EOC) management, and Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) to improve detection and response to disease outbreaks.

Assist in monitoring the progress of GHS program implementation and provide recommendations for improvements in delivery. 

Help organize regular discussions among multisectoral stakeholders and partners to ensure alignment of technical approaches in the respective GHS portfolios.

Provide support to the appropriate multisectoral Ministries in identification of performance gaps, potential barriers and bottlenecks, and facilitate consensus on targeted interventions to improve performance on key indicators attributable to:

• Reduction in incidence and mortality for epidemic and pandemic prone diseases.
• Strengthening systems to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease
  threats.
• Rapid and effective responses to infectious disease outbreaks, which are threats
  for public health.

Support the implementation and expansion of best practices in GHS and outbreak
response nationwide.

• Support EPHI and other relevant Ministries in routine review of service delivery
  processes and outcomes.
• Promote the dissemination of GHS best practices and effective models nationwide.
• Promote prioritized interventions in effective surveillance, strengthening systems capacity for detecting priority diseases/threats, and data systems for monitoring, analyzing, and reporting on infectious disease threats.
• Support the adoption of infection prevention and control (IPC), including commodities and WASH in healthcare facilities.
• Support and strengthen Emergency Management including Emergency Operating Centers (EOC) and Point of Entry Screening.
• Support EPHI to rapidly and accurately report infectious diseases threats to the relevant, domestic and international systems – such as the International Health Regulations (IHR) and World Animal Health Information System (WAHIS) for quick responses to pandemic threats.
• Assist the relevant multisectoral Ministries to achieve the relevant GHS-related targets including the Joint External Evaluation (JEE); IHR States Parties Self-Assessment (SPAR); and the Pandemic Fund Framework which includes reporting on the 7-1-7 targets (7 days to detect, 1 day to report, 7 days to complete the initial response).

Support EPHI in effective utilization of grants, other donors’ resources, and emergency outbreak responses efforts.

• Provide technical support for non-USG grants  to ensure effective implementation and avoid duplication with US Government-funded projects.
• Consult relevant stakeholders on required technical assistance.
• Assist in monitoring the progress of grant implementation.
• Review and analyze performance reports submitted to non-USG funders and other partners.
• Help organize regular discussions among the relevant multisectoral stakeholders, Ministries, donors, and the Department of State to ensure alignment of technical approaches in the respective GHS portfolios.
• Support emergency outbreak response including assisting with mobilizing resources, coordination of efforts, and technical support for efforts to contain and respond to the
  outbreak.

Communications:

• Regular conference calls with multisectoral stakeholders including U.S. Department of State to review progress, discuss activities, and address emerging issues.
• The GHS Technical Advisor should provide information and avail him/herself for calls/meetings with the US Embassy as requested.
• Strengthen collaboration and engagement between EPHI, DOS, and stakeholders.
• Participate in the HPN GHS subgroup meetings and other meetings as requested.

Reporting:

EPHI, Deputy Director General for Public Health Emergency Management is the on-site manager of the Senior Advisor and will determine the frequency of internal EPHI reporting. Additionally, the Senior Advisor will provide monthly report to the U.S. Department of State, submitted by the 5th day of the following month and a weekly progress report depending on the need to include a short paragraph about main successes for that week. 

Number of positions: two

Qualifications

• Advanced degree MPH in public health, epidemiology, MD, DVM or a related field.
• Minimum of eight (8) years of experience in health and health-related fields, working in PHEM system preferable
• Proven ability to communicate clearly and concisely – orally and in writing – in both English and Amharic. Demonstrated ability to communicate highly technical information to both subject matter expert and non-expert audiences
• Management and organizational skills to work with numerous teams, identifying priority actions and taking initiative if follow-through is needed.
• Strong analytical skills and experience in using data for decision-making.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with government institutions, donors, and
  partners.
• Excellent communication, mentorship, and capacity-building skills.

The period of performance for this advisor is from July, 2026 to July, 2027.