Position:  Senior Coordinator, Infrastructure

Reports To:  Country Director Matrixed Managers: Director, Procurement 

Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Position Type: Full-time

ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE:

For more than 43 million people, blindness is a daily reality; another 295 million suffer from moderate to severe vision impairment. 90% of these people live in low-and middle-income communities where access to eye care is limited and the challenges for those who can’t see are severe. But, there is hope: 80% of this burden is treatable or preventable. For example, 17 million blind people could be cured with a 10-minute cataract surgery. Millions more suffer from corneal blindness, which is often preventable or treatable. At the Cure Blindness Project, we believe avoidable blindness can – and must – be overcome. For more than 30 years, we have worked alongside a capable network of collaborators to help people around the world retain and regain their sight by developing high-quality, cost-effective eye care systems in underserved areas of the world. With the help of partners in more than 30 countries, Cure Blindness Project has provided more than 1.6 million sight-restoring surgeries and screened more than 16.5 million people to provide care and basic treatments.

We’ve trained more than 20,100 eye health professionals, and have established 5 eye

hospitals. There is more work left to do, but we can overcome the mountain of global blindness, together.

Cure Blindness Project is expanding its team to meet new challenges, scale its work, and broaden its reach. We are seeking individuals who are passionate about changing lives and want to be a part of a team that works together to reach new heights. We want leaders who can aim high, make things happen, and are invested in building a positive team dynamic to bring the work to life.

VISION: We will be the catalyst to create a world in which no one is needlessly blind.

MISSION: We enable countries to end avoidable blindness by developing high quality, cost-effective eye care systems in underserved areas of the world so everyone everywhere can regain or retain their sight.

SCOPE OF WORK:

Under the direction of the Country Director, this Biomedical Engineer will lead efforts to strengthen partners' capabilities in installing and maintaining ophthalmic medical equipment across Cure Blindness-supported institutions in Ethiopia. Ensure proper usage, ownership, and sustainability of equipment support. Monitor and report real- time data on the inventory and functionality of eye care medical equipment at partner facilities.

Provide technical assistance during high-volume cataract outreaches conducted by current and future Cure Blindness partner institutions. Utilize your Biomedical Engineer expertise to develop protocols, standard operating procedures, and equipment inventory systems to enhance maintenance capacity in-country. Support procurement processes, including vendor selection, pricing negotiations, and quality assurance. Facilitate customs clearance for imported equipment and supplies for Ethiopia's program needs.

Conduct training programs to build local expertise in equipment maintenance and ensure long-term sustainability. Engage in frequent travel to partner sites to oversee implementation and support technical needs.

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Cultivate a positive and productive organizational culture, ensuring alignment with Cure Blindness Project's global values.

• Establish and maintain highly collaborative working relationships with counterparts across Cure Blindness Project offices, including HQ and Africa Regional offices.

• Consistently achieve and exceed organizational goals related to training, infrastructure, patient care, and prevention.

• Implement strong operational and business management practices, including scorecard tracking, analysis, reporting, financial accountability, partner relationships, and daily operations.

Business Management:

• Develop and submit a comprehensive work plan for approval by the supervisor, covering strategic initiatives, logistics administration, resource planning, budgeting, scheduling, documentation, and reporting.

• Ensure successful execution of planned activities within the specified timeframe and approved budget, maximizing efficiency.

• Support the country office in the proper implementation program and infrastructure strategies to achieve its goals while ensuring compliance.

• Establish strong networks among partners to collectively address infrastructure, inventory, and logistical challenges, ensuring the timely and high-quality execution of programs.

Infrastructure Development:

• Maintain, install, and repair biomedical ophthalmic equipment according to the annual plan and partner requests.

• Lead medical equipment needs assessments, coordinate repairs, resolve issues, and manage spare parts requirements, control, and distribution.

• Develop user-friendly operational guides and training materials for proper equipment usage and maintenance by biomedical engineers and end users.

• Conduct training programs to empower partners with long-term self- sufficiency in equipment maintenance.

• Perform operational and safety testing to enhance equipment longevity and ensure safe usage.

• Oversee project coordination related to equipment inventory, distribution, reporting, and follow-ups.

• Manage equipment donation clearance, pre-approval, and inspections to ensure functionality and completeness before dispatch.

• Organize the packing, unpacking, and transportation of equipment for proper delivery to intended partners.

• Facilitate outreach orientations and debriefs on biomedical engineering topics, ensuring smooth Cure Blindness-supported events.

• Lead local pricing negotiations, facilitate payment discussions, and conduct quality checks on delivered items.

• Maintain detailed documentation of equipment donations, inventory, and maintenance, ensuring compliance with Cure Blindness inventory and asset management guidelines.

• Provide technical support at cataract outreaches and prepare post- campaign reports on equipment usage and repair status.

• Train biomedical engineers across Ethiopia and collaborate on the development of in-country workshops.

• Support the development of in-country trainers for biomedical engineering.

• Represent Cure Blindness in medical equipment technical working groups at the national and sub-national levels.

Asset Management:

• Support Cure Blindness Ethiopia and US Procurement Teams to optimize the importation process and ensure proper storage of supplies.

• Lead supply chain management efforts, including quantification, procurement, inventory management, and distribution.

• Coordinate pre-import permits with regulatory authorities and clearing agents.

• Oversee custom clearance and warehouse delivery to partners.

• Ensure proper equipment storage standards are upheld in the Addis Ababa warehouse before distribution.

• Strengthen asset management protocols in collaboration with Cure Blindness USA and Ethiopia teams.

• Provide technical assistance for warehouse inventory management, physical counts, and supply chain optimization.

• Ensure timely delivery of equipment to partners for outreach execution.

• Participate in annual planning for partner equipment and consumables.

• Secure insurance coverage for Cure Blindness assets.

• Perform any other duties as assigned by the supervisor.

Job Requirements:

Required Skills/Knowledge/Abilities:

• Ability to work effectively and diplomatically with a diverse range of internal and external stakeholders including partners, cross-functional teams, senior level subject matter experts.

• Strong organizational, communications, relationship, and project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, prioritize tasks, meet deadlines, and deliver high quality products.

• Detail-oriented with an ability to set clear priorities alongside keen analytic, organizational, and problem-solving skills that drive decision making and projects to completion.

• Set and meet project roadmaps with properly scoped deadlines that have well-defined milestones.

• Ability to thrive and adapt in a fast-paced and evolving environment – virtually and in-person.

• Experience working in multi-cultural environments and ability to successfully collaborate with cross functional teams and leaders to drive results.

• Strong written and spoken English language proficiency.

• Previous experience in public health learning and development roles preferred.

• Flexibility to work off hours, nights, and weekends when needed.

• Ability to travel domestically and internationally up to 60% of the time.

Qualification and Experience:

• Minimum of five years’ experience in Biomedical Engineering and working in Ophthalmology/eye care equipment with NGO, eye care setting and/or related sectors.

• BSC and/or master’s degree in biomedical engineering or other relevant fields with relevant training in Ophthalmology equipment management.

Additional qualifications include:

• An outgoing personality that can collaborate with a variety of personalities at all levels of the organization, building relationships and shared goals across departments and partner organizations.

• A sense of discretion and a high degree of professionalism is required, and an ability to maintain confidentiality of highly sensitive information.

• Demonstrates a highly professional and cooperative demeanor with supervisors, coworkers and partners.

• Strong interpersonal, communication, facilitation, and presentation skills.

• Detail oriented and able to efficiently prioritize tasks.

• Flexibility to adjust and contribute to continually evolving work situations and changing priorities.

• Excellent computer skills and technical aptitude, proficient with Google Workspace, MS Office, Asana (and other cloud-based software).

• Committed to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion.

Physical requirements:

• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.

• Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at a time.

How to Apply

We invite qualified candidates to submit a resume and cover letter. Please send materials via email to: jobs@cureblindness.org.

The Cure Blindness Project encourages applications from people of all races, religions, national origins, genders, sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, and ages, as well as veterans and individuals with disabilities.