Community Engagement Officer

The Partnership for Health Advancement in Vietnam (HAIVN)

Community Engagement Officer

The Partnership for Health Advancement in Vietnam (HAIVN), a collaboration between Harvard Medical School (HMS), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), seeks to develop capacity for high quality medical education, medical research and healthcare quality in Vietnam. HAIVN has been working to improve the health systems in Vietnam since 2003.

HAIVN, through a cooperative agreement with the US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC), provides technical assistance to the Vietnam National HIV program. HAIVN collaborates with the Vietnam Administration for HIV/AIDS Control (VAAC) and provincial Departments of Health to build capacity in HIV prevention, care and treatment, improve the quality of care provided to people living with HIV, scale up antiretroviral therapy and pre-exposure prophylaxis, and reach the goal of 95-95-95.

HAIVN is seeking a Community Engagement OfficerCommunity Engagement Officer, based in Ho Chi Minh city, responsible for planning, monitoring, and coordination of activities related to LGBTQ community engagement, empowerment, and capacity building. We are seeking candidates with knowledge of and experience working with LGBTQ populations and community-based organizations.

Job Location: This position will be based in HCMC with travel to project sites in (primarily southern) Vietnam.

Overall Responsibilities:

The Community Engagement Officer will have a large network and trusted relationship with the LGBTQ community in the south of Vietnam, particularly young men who have sex with men (MSM). They will understand the needs of the KP community and HAIVN’s community partners and will plan project activities, provide technical assistance, and support partners to respond to the needs of the community.

Specific Responsibilities:

1. Collaborates closely with provincial CDC, health staff and community-based organizations (CBOs) on the planning, design, implementation, coordination, and monitoring and evaluation of programs and interventions toward reaching 95-95-95 and scaling up pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in CDC-supported provinces (e.g., HCMC, Binh Duong, Ba Ria Vung Tau and Long An).

2. Engages with and communicates with LGBTQ community in Vietnam, particularly young MSM to understand their needs, build relationships, and grow HAIVN and partner CBOs’ community networks.

3. Provides technical assistance and oversight to Community Advisory Boards (CABs), Community Scorecards (CSC), Community-led Monitoring (CLM) and other approaches to empower the community in improving HIV services.

4. Liaises with and provides training, technical support and oversight to CBOs working in CDC/PEPFAR priority provinces.

5. Supports HAIVN Communication officer and CBO-partners to design and implement communication strategies that reach MSM and transgender populations in Vietnam.

6. Contributes to the development of training materials and tools for CBOs.

7. Supports M&E team in designing and implementing instruments/tools for data collection to monitor and evaluate programmatic parameters.

8. Translates project, curricular, and materials from English to Vietnamese and vice versa.

9. Provide English-Vietnamese interpretation at training courses and in communication with partners.

Required Experience

• University degree; public health degree preferred

• At least 3 years of experience in HIV prevention and/or public health implementation

• Experience working with LGBTQ community (for example, as a peer health worker, community engagement specialist, or as a community leader)

• Experience working with international donor funded projects preferred

Required Qualifications

• Fluency in Vietnamese and English including reading, speaking and writing

• Able to work effectively in a complex international environment

• Well organized and able to handle multiple tasks and changing priorities

• Good computer and information technology skills

• Good interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills

• Able to work both independently and as team member

• Able to work under pressure, to meet deadlines

• Able and willing to travel within Vietnam

• Passionate about empowering clients and community and improving the lives of people living with HIV

Direct reporting: Deputy Director (Ho Chi Minh City)

Position Type: Full-Time

To apply for this position, please send a cover letter and curriculum vitae to Ms. Dam Thuy Huong at [email protected] no later than June 15, 2021.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for an interview.