VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT
HEALTH PROMOTION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT OFFICER

Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS) with funding from GAVI- Vaccine Alliance is working with Ministry of Health (MOH) to model institutionalization and strengthening of vaccine safety surveillance in selected districts in Malawi. KUHEs has also received funds from UNICEF Malawi to assess bottlenecks for uptake of Vitamin A supplementation in Malawi. Consequently, to undertake these projects, KUHeS is inviting applications from suitably qualified, enthusiastic, self-motivated and talented individuals to fill the post of Health Promotion and Community Engagement Officer (2 positions).

Location: Districts across Malawi
Responsible to: Principal Investigator
Job Type: Full-time
Duration: 5 months (Possibility of extension contingent on performance and funds availability)

Job Summary:

Reporting to the Principal Investigator, the Health Promotion and Community Engagement Officer will be responsible for managing and implementing all day-to-day duties related to health promotion and community engagement.
The Officer will provide expertise in communications and community engagement for the assigned projects activities to promote use of vaccine safety data and facilitating dialogue and engagement with various stakeholders such as health care workers, communities and Ministry of Health (MoH) personnel at all levels. These activities will help in building community and public trust in vaccines or engage public in related issues.

Key Responsibilities

• Work in collaboration with KUHeS and Ministry of Health (MoH) vaccine safety surveillance teams to develop and implement health promotion and community engagement plans and activities as per project requirements before study, during and after the project.
• Assist design and implement the information sharing system on vaccine safety information from national, district, facility to community levels.
• Planning and conducting meetings including but not limited to health care workers, child caregivers, adolescents, local leaders, communities, community advisory groups, schools and other stakeholder engagements.
• Build capacity of and support the MoH staff including Health promotion Officers Community Coordinator to provide overall professional support to institutionalize vaccine safety messaging and engagement.
• Take a lead in maintaining relationships with all key stakeholders, including communities, government departments such as District Councils, MoH, and Ministry of Education and research partners.
• Preparing monthly reports and reports as required based on the projects or assigned tasks.
• Conduct any other relevant duties as assigned by supervisor.

Qualifications and Experience

• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Health, Community Development, Arts or Humanities, Education or Communication or related fields with at least 1 year experience in similar work.
• Those with a Diploma and at least 4 years’ experience in similar position will be considered.
Essential and required skills
• Computer literacy including MS word, Excel, virtual communication platforms e.g Zoom
• Able to communicate effectively with both local, national level and international stakeholders
• Ability to understand and demonstrate awareness and sensitivity to different cultural norms.
• Efficient and well organized, with excellent attention to detail.
• Enthusiastic and able to work under pressure, meet deadlines and work odd hours.
• Ability to be flexible and adaptable to changing situations and workload.
• Good financial accountability.
• Experience of working with rural and urban areas
• Excellent oral presentation skills
• Excellent report writing skills
• Fluent in Chichewa and English (speaking and writing)

Application procedure

Suitably qualified candidates should forward their applications in pdf format in one file together with copies of relevant certificates and detailed Curriculum Vitae with names, contact numbers and emails of three traceable referees to:

The Registrar
Kamuzu University of Health Sciences
P/Bag 360
Chichiri
Blantyre 3

Email: recruitment@kuhes.ac.mw
Applications should be submitted not later than 19th September, 2025. Only short-listed candidates will be acknowledged.