Veterinary Epidemiologist

The Veterinary Epidemiologist will support the Government of Zimbabwe and partners in strengthening veterinary epidemiology, disease surveillance, outbreak preparedness, and One Health coordination systems. The role involves building sustainable animal health systems to prevent, detect, and respond to zoonotic and transboundary animal disease threats.

Responsibilities

• Support strengthening of national animal disease surveillance, reporting and early warning systems
• Conduct epidemiological investigations, disease trend analyses and risk assessments
• Generate epidemiological intelligence products, technical briefs and disease situation reports
• Support development and implementation of surveillance protocols, guidelines and standard operating procedures
• Strengthen surveillance at livestock-wildlife-human interfaces
• Support preparedness planning for zoonotic diseases and animal health emergencies
• Participate in outbreak investigations and emergency response missions
• Contribute to contingency planning, simulation exercises and after-action reviews
• Support strengthening of rapid response and incident management capacities
• Facilitate epidemiology, surveillance and One Health training programmes
• Support implementation of ISAVET and related field epidemiology initiatives
• Promote application of WOAH standards and best practices
• Strengthen linkages between veterinary field services and laboratory networks
• Promote integrated surveillance and information-sharing across animal, human, wildlife and environmental sectors
• Support implementation of One Health approaches for zoonotic disease prevention and AMR containment
• Contribute to project planning, monitoring, reporting and stakeholder engagement activities

Requirements

• Advanced university degree (master’s degree) in Veterinary Epidemiology, Epidemiology, Public Health, One Health, Animal Health or related discipline
• Minimum five (5) years of relevant professional experience in veterinary epidemiology, disease surveillance, outbreak investigation, emergency preparedness, animal health programme implementation, or related areas
• Working knowledge (Level C) of English
• National of Zimbabwe
• Strong knowledge of veterinary epidemiology and animal disease surveillance systems
• Experience conducting outbreak investigations and emergency response activities
• Knowledge of zoonotic diseases, transboundary animal diseases and One Health approaches
• Experience in epidemiological analysis, disease intelligence and risk assessment
• Experience using epidemiological databases, disease reporting systems and surveillance information platforms
• Strong analytical, communication and technical report-writing skills
• Experience with GIS, epidemiological software and disease mapping tools is desirable
• Familiarity with WOAH standards and international animal health frameworks
• Ability to work effectively in multidisciplinary and multisectoral teams
• Demonstrated experience working with government institutions and development partners
• ISAVET, FETP or similar epidemiology training
• Experience conducting Joint Risk Assessments (JRA) or surveillance evaluations
• Experience in wildlife-livestock interface programmes
• Experience implementing donor-funded animal health projects
• Previous collaboration with FAO, WOAH, WHO, Africa CDC or similar organizations

Skills

• Veterinary Epidemiology
• Disease Surveillance
• Outbreak Investigation
• Emergency Preparedness
• Animal Health Programme Implementation
• Zoonotic Diseases Knowledge
• Transboundary Animal Diseases
• One Health Approaches
• Epidemiological Analysis
• Disease Intelligence
• Risk Assessment
• Epidemiological Databases
• Disease Reporting Systems
• Surveillance Information Platforms
• Technical Report Preparation
• GIS
• Epidemiological Analysis Software
• Disease Mapping
• WOAH Standards
• International Animal Health Frameworks
• Joint Risk Assessments
• Surveillance Evaluations
• Wildlife-Livestock Interface
• Donor-Funded Project Implementation
• Government Collaboration
• Development Partner Engagement
• ISAVET Training
• FETP Training

Languages

English