Non-Surgical Care Coordinator, Kinshasa

Job Title

The Coordinator -Non-Surgical Care plays a vital role in overseeing and executing Nutrition, Speech, and Psychosocial Care programs at our various sites in the DRC. This position is responsible for ensuring that all essential resources are readily available and that logistical arrangements are carried out smoothly. The coordinator will manage nutrition patients prior to their surgeries and collaborate closely with the patient coordination team to facilitate a seamless community reintegration for all individuals receiving our care. Additionally, the coordinator will oversee proper post-operative follow-up for all patients, particularly those requiring speech care either before or after their surgery. The main goal of this role is to ensure the timely provision of high-quality nutritional, speech, and psychosocial care services to our patients.

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead the DRC Nutrition Program, as well as the Speech and Psychosocial Care programs, ensuring their effective implementation.
• Manage the assessment and follow-up process for nutrition and speech patients.
• Create and maintain a database of all patients in need of non-surgical care across each province in the DRC, regularly updating the data on RedCap.
• Establish and maintain close contact with all patients to facilitate their participation in surgical programs or local consultations, confirming their attendance.
• Conduct fact-finding and assessment trips to prepare for program activities.
• Identify all human resources needed for program activities and communicate these requirements well in advance to the appropriate team members for processing: to the Education and Volunteer team for local medical and non-medical volunteers and to the Regional Volunteer Management team for international volunteers.
• Determine all logistical resources required for program activities and communicate them well in advance to the relevant team members for processing: to the Procurement team for purchases of goods & services, and to the program team for any remaining needs.
• Identify all financial resources needed for program activities and ensure these are communicated in advance to the appropriate team members for processing.
• Verify that all human, logistical, and financial resources are in place prior to the start of program activities.
• Keep all stakeholders informed before, during, and after program activities through appropriate communication channels, such as information calls, emails, courtesy visits, team packets, team leaders' calls, and reports.
• Confirm with the Program Management team that all necessary agreements and authorizations have been obtained from key technical partners, including the Ministry of Health technical departments, hospitals, health facilities, and government officials.
• Ensure that temporary medical licenses are obtained for international volunteers when applicable.
• Lead the team to achieve success, including medical volunteers, non-medical volunteers, and other supporting staff and technical partners.
• Establish and secure strong partnerships with PRONANUT and other local and international NGOs to facilitate smooth community reintegration for all our patients.
• Ensure all program activities meet Global Standards of Care in collaboration with the Regional Medical Officer and medical leadership.
• Liaise with necessary departments at OSI in the implementation of programs.
• Solve problems and follow crisis notification plan when applicable.
• Provide accurate reports to help plan and develop future programs and to provide feedback to sponsors and volunteers.
• Manage cash advances and ensure timely reconciliation and reporting.

Education & Capacity Building

• Ensure that nutritionists, speech pathologists, and psychosocial care providers involved in OS DRC programs comply with relevant national guidelines and Operation Smile standards.
• Organize and facilitate training for nutritionists on the clinical management of medical complications in malnourished children with cleft lip and/or cleft palate (CL/CP).
• Support the training of community health care workers on nutrition and the identification of malnourished patients.
• Collect patient data from community health care workers, as well as from patients and guardians, and input this information into regional and national databases. Educate patients and families on various nutrition modules developed by Operation Smile to support social behavior change; Nutrition and Healthy foods; Breastfeeding and Lactation as well as WASH and Nutrition
• Work in collaboration with local entities to identify NGO collaborations in hopes of expanding the education and training platform.
• Identify and facilitate clinical training of speech and psychosocial care providers.

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Support partner nutritionists with the Operation Smile Global Nutrition Assessment tool to evaluate and assess patients.
• Track the appropriate metrics for tracking nutrition and speech programs and their impact.
• Responsible for nutrition programming reporting.
• Enhance integration of nutrition and speech activities with other key health programs and coordinate with local healthcare volunteers on establishing strong social and behavior change, communication, and outreach activities.

Surgical Program Responsibilities

• Primary responsible for Nutrition Program execution during surgical programs.
• Work collaboratively with other Non-Surgical Program specialties (Speech, psychosocial care, oral health).
• Support patient transfer logistics (Hospital - Patient Village - Hospital).

Other Duties

• Support Program Coordinators with mission logistics and education programs.
• Work closely with the Program Manager and Program Coordinator to identify and implement appropriate nutrition, speech and psychosocial care needed by each patient before and after surgery.
• Create a strong relationship with patients and guardians; assess if their needs are being met.
• Organize information sessions for all patients who arrived for screening about what will happen during the mission.
• Ensure barriers to care are reduced in all Operation Smile programs in DRC,
• Manage patient supplies, patient meals, patient transport, and patient accommodation when applicable.

Qualifications

Education Qualification and Experience

• B.Sc. Nutrition / Public Health / BSc or equivalent
• Experience in the implementation of nutrition programs
• A clinical background will be an added advantage.
• Experience in conducting nutrition assessments and an understanding of nutritional surveillance and information systems.
• Working experience with an international organization will be an added advantage.
• Experience using MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and RedCap.

Personal Qualifications

• Demonstrable ability at report and project writing.
• Proficiency in English and French: both oral and written.
• Excellent communication skills and a willingness to be respectful, kind, sensitive and empathize with all beneficiaries.
• Capable of working flexible hours, including on-call duties, and able to adapt to varying schedules that may require early morning, late evening, or weekend commitments to meet organizational needs
• Ability to lift objects and support packing items for transport, ensuring the safe and efficient handling of materials within operational settings
• Must have excellent organization and time management skills and be able to prioritize requests efficiently and effectively.
• Approachable personality with the ability to manage stress and communicate needs appropriately.
• Exhibit patience and flexibility when navigating complex government processes and procedures, ensuring compliance while effectively managing expectations and timelines
• Skilled in handling sensitive issues with diplomacy, tact, and cultural awareness, promoting respectful interactions and understanding in diverse settings
• Willingness to travel both domestically and internationally. At times on short notice.