EAST_East Africa Surge Team M/F - HR ROSTER Building a rapid, multidisciplinary emergency response capacity

Who we are

ALIMA is an international medical NGO dedicated to saving lives and providing care to the most vulnerable populations, through proximity, innovation, and strong partnerships with local actors.

In East Africa, ALIMA is strengthening its capacity to respond to emergencies across Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya, in highly volatile and rapidly evolving contexts.

ALIMA'S SPIRIT: ALIMA's core mission is to save lives and care for the most vulnerable populations, without any discrimination based on identity, religion or politics, through actions based on proximity, innovation and the alliance of organizations and individuals. We act with humanism, impartiality and respect for universal medical ethics. We are committed to intervening neutrally and independently in order to gain access to patients.

THE VALUES and PRINCIPLES of our action, enshrined in our CHARTER:

1. Putting patients first

2. Revolutionizing humanitarian medicine

3. Responsibility and freedom

4. Improving the quality of our actions

5. Trust and confidence

6. Collective intelligence

7. Environmental responsibility

ALIMA promotes and defends the principles of fundamental human rights. ALIMA has a zero tolerance approach towards those guilty of acts of gender-based and sexual violence, as well as towards inaction in the face of alleged or proven acts of violence. Protecting the people who benefit from and are affected by our work is our absolute priority in everything we do. Anyone working with ALIMA undertakes to:

Respect the charter, code of conduct and institutional policies, including the policy on protection against abuse of power and sexual and gender-based violence, and the policy on prevention of corruption and fraud. Report any violation of policies, framework documents and procedures to a superior or a referent.

CONTEXT

Since its creation in 2009, ALIMA has cared for more than 11million patients, and now has operations in 12 African countries. In 2020, we developed 67 humanitarian medical response projects to meet the needs of populations affected by conflict, epidemics and extreme poverty. All of these projects support national health authorities through almost 357 health facilities (including 45 hospitals and 312 health centres). We work in partnership, particularly with local NGOs, wherever possible, to ensure that our patients benefit from expertise wherever it is available, whether in their own country or in the rest of the world. In addition, to improve the humanitarian response, we carry out operational and clinical research projects, particularly to combat malnutrition and viral haemorrhagic fevers. ALIMA has, since 2015, conducted and participated in major research projects that have revolutionized EVD care. Beyond implementing a vaccine trial in Guinea to increase means of  prevention  during an outbreak response (PREVAC), ALIMA was also involved in research to improve patient care.  First, during the Ebola outbreak in DRC in 2018-19, ALIMA contributed to the PALM trial which identified two treatments (article published in The New England Journal of Medicine). Then, ALIMA conducted a study on hospitalized patients in 2018-19 to develop a severity score and improve quality of care  (article published in eClinical Medicine). 

To be able to continue responding efficiently to humanitarian aid in various countries in East Africa (Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya), we are building our roster to improve our ability to respond to emergencies, ensure rapid deployment of humanitarian staff and carry out explorations in various countries. 

For this HR roster, we are building up a multidisciplinary team. We are looking for professionals with expertise in project management, exploration missions and available shortly. To ;

• Define the Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan (EPREP) strategy for all countries where ALIMA operates in collaboration with each mission;
• Assess the epidemic response capabilities of country teams to ensure operational readiness;
• Conduct exploratory missions to identify needs and evaluate intervention feasibility in new areas;
• Lead the launch of new projects, ensuring a smooth transition from assessment to active operations

Our ambition

We are building the ALIMA EAST – East Africa Surge Team:

a flexible, highly skilled, multidisciplinary pool of professionals able to:

• Rapidly deploy in emergency contexts
• Support exploratory missions and new country openings
• Reinforce existing missions during critical phases
• Ensure operational readiness and scale-up of medical responses

We are building a cohesive surge capacity, able to act as a team in high-pressure environments.

Deployment model

• Rapid deployment (short notice)
• Short missions: typically 1 to 3 months
• Interventions in complex and high-risk environments
• Roles combining hands-on operational support + strategic input

The positions are:

• Emergency Coordinator, 
• Medical coordinator;
• Finance, Human Resources, Logistic Coordination.

Why join the ALIMA EAST Surge Team?

• Be part of a high-impact emergency response mechanism in East Africa
• Contribute to new mission openings and critical scale-ups
• Work alongside experienced and committed professionals
• Access to ALIMA learning platform, including between deployments
• Opportunities for future missions and career development within ALIMA

ALIMA is committed to its employees’ well-being and fully covers the risks of accidents and health. Our break policy allows our employees to return to their families regularly. Stress management training is systematically offered. Psychological support is available at all times.

ALIMA covers travel costs, shared accommodation in the mission and cost of living (perdiem). You will benefit from an internationally renowned medical insurance. We offer short term contracts of 6 weeks to 3 months with breaks depending on  the context. We will take into account your level of expertise and your experience to offer you a competitive package.

ALIMA offers career opportunities on the field and at  headquarters. You can choose to spend a few months at ALIMA on a specific mission that will allow you to discover a new context, meet committed colleagues and gain new skills. You can then start other missions or continue at headquarters. It’s also possible to apply for managerial functions and participate in the evolution of our organization. ALIMA will support you in your career choices through regular reviews and provision of professional development actions. You will also be asked to share your practices and expertise through our internal trainers program.