Deputy Director, System Readiness

What the role is

The DD (System Readiness) will lead a pioneering System Readiness team tasked with devising an innovative framework to validate and steer the execution of readiness plans for public healthcare institutions and other Whole-of-Government (WoG) agencies/sector leads, with a strong emphasis on pandemic preparedness resiliency. This pivotal role encompasses orchestrating system-level master planning at both the capability and capacity levels and crafting a comprehensive readiness framework to facilitate system audits for verifying readiness status. Moreover, the DD (System Readiness) will exercise oversight on resource inventories, orchestrate simulations and exercises, and collaborate with agencies/sectoral emergency preparedness teams to ensure adherence to the pandemic preparedness plan. The team will also engage in strategic collaborations with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international partners to enhance global transparency and accountability, exemplified by participation in Joint External Evaluation Exercises.

System readiness ensures that WoG infrastructures, supply chains and essential services can withstand and adapt to pandemic disruptions. With system resiliency, WoG and society become better equipped to handle future pandemic crises, minimizing impacts and ensuring a more robust, sustainable and effective response.

What will you be working on

• Lead a system readiness team to develop a robust approach to continuously validate the nation's readiness posture, while providing leadership and strategic planning to enhance national pandemic resilience
• Facilitate capability development at WoG, whole of societal level
• Lead in national pandemic readiness master planning, monitoring and review
• Resource Management
• Develop pandemic risk assessment and management framework
• System Readiness and Resilience Monitoring and Evaluation
• Provide Crisis Response leadership during disease outbreaks and epidemics

What are we looking for

• Public health specialty training with postgraduate qualification in Public Health, Epidemiology, infectious diseases, or a related field. Experience in emergency management or disaster response is preferred.
• Minimum of 8 years of experience in public health, infectious disease control, or emergency preparedness, or related field with progressively increasing leadership responsibilities. Experience in readiness assessment and audit highly desirable.
• Technical skills: Strong understanding of public health systems, emergency preparedness, and response frameworks. Experience with risk assessment and management, program evaluation, and strategic planning.
• Leadership Skills: Proven ability to lead and manage teams, drive strategic initiatives and influence stakeholders.

• Knowledge: Thorough understanding of local and international communicable disease control principles, or the ability and willingness to develop this
• Strategic Thinking: Ability to develop long-term objectives and plans and translate them into actionable goals and objectives.
• Analytical Skills and System Thinking: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to analyze situations and data, assess risks, and develop evidence-based recommendations. Demonstrate strong ability to breakdown complex issues, identify patterns and develop innovative solutions to address the challenges.
• Communication: Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to covey complex information clearly and persuasively to diverse audiences, including policymakers, healthcare professionals, and the public.
• Interpersonal skills: Ability to build and maintain effective relationship with diverse stakeholders.
• Adaptability: Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced and dynamic environment, demonstrating flexibility, resilience, and adaptability to changing circumstances and priorities.