Director, Care Cascade

Features

  • Focus on changing the course of the HIV prevention, engagement and care cascade, intervening at each stage of the cascade to help people maintain and improve their health
  • Leadership role in supporting Ontario to achieve the 90-90-90 targets (UNAIDS targets)
  • Opportunity to take a systems approach, integrating HIV services with other health and social services that people affected by HIV need to optimize their health and well being
  • An opportunity to actively collaborate with key provincial stakeholders: people living with HIV and those at risk, health care providers and clinic networks, researchers and policy-makers to build and support an effective data platform and system that will generate evidence and support to ensure alignment with the provincial HIV strategy goals and impacts
  • Leadership position for an individual experienced in the application and practice of scientific and KTE methods for both community, health care, health policy and scientific audiences/stakeholders
  • An opportunity to develop and support a program of applied research related to the HIV care cascade continuum
  • A welcoming and accessible environment, which encourages initiative, team work, knowledge-sharing and collaborative problem solving to drive excellence in research to inform HIV programs, services and policies in Ontario
  • A full-time two-year contract with option for renewal

Position overview

This position will be responsible for the redesign of the OHTN Cohort Study (OCS) data platform, and its connection to other health/social data systems, and administrative data, to build a new, leading edge and pragmatic provincial data system/platform for the care cascade that will significantly enhance and support patient care and health care provision, and the evidence to improve health care system access and delivery for people living with HIV in Ontario.

The current OHTN Cohort Study (OCS) is a community-governed, province-wide research study aimed at improving the health and well-being of Ontarians living with HIV. The OCS collects data from nearly 4,000 men and women in Ontario from various socio-economic and minority status backgrounds. The OHTN uses OCS data to drive the development, planning, implementation and evaluation of programs, interventions and services related to the provincial HIV strategy.

As part of the OCS redesign, the Director for the Care Cascade will work with key external stakeholders to help develop a systematic approach to delivering HIV care that will help people living with HIV stay engaged in care, adhere to ARV treatments and maintain / optimize their health and wellbeing.

In this role, they will take a leadership role in: (a) providing clear, evidence-based information on the benefits of early HIV treatment and the importance of staying engaged in care; (b) conducting implementation science applied research to understand the factors that affect people’s ability to stay engaged and retained in care; (c) strengthening collaboration among policy makers, HIV clinics and other HIV care providers and/or AIDS service organizations and people living with HIV to: work with clients at risk of dropping out of care or experiencing adherence challenges to develop care pathways; establish systems to flag when a client has missed an appointment and trigger follow-up; and pilot strategies and tools to retain people in care and foster self-care (e.g., an app that reminds people to take medications and attend routine health care visits); and (d) support work with young people, the HIV paediatric clinics and adult clinics/care providers to ensure youth have access to services and transition to adult care.

This leadership position reports to the Scientific and Executive Director, works closely with Director of the Applied Epidemiology Unit on bridging and integrating all cascade work at the OHTN, and directly supervises OCS staff including Coordinators and Biostatisticians, and collaborates extensively with external stakeholders (people living with HIV, health care practitioners, community-based organizations, government, public health) to support the goals of Ontario’s HIV/AIDS Strategy to 2026.

Leads/chairs OCS scientific and governance-related working groups, and works closely with the AIDS Bureau at the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care and other collaborating partners including the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), Pubic Health Ontario as well as a variety of different knowledge-user stakeholders, including AIDS service organizations, clinicians and researchers.

Candidate profile

  • A PhD with a minimum five years’ experience leading a program of research in health care
  • A scientist with an established program of research and a record of excellence in HIV research in healthcare or clinical care
  • Knowledge of and experience with research involving social determinants of health framework, health systems and health services research
  • Knowledge of and sensitivity to the community and social issues involved in HIV research and health care
  • Demonstrated leadership, planning, supervisory and team-building skills
  • Excellent skills in translating complex scientific information for a variety of public health, government, clinical and community stakeholders
  • Ability to effectively lead cross-agency initiatives and motivate active participation of team members
  • Strong problem-solving, decision-making and project management skills
  • Ability to manage numerous and shifting priorities
  • Excellent people skills with demonstrated strong written and oral communications skills

How to apply

To apply, please send your resume (CV) and a cover letter explaining why you are interested in and qualify for this position by June 23, 2017 via email to [email protected] quoting “Director, Care Cascade” in the subject line.

We will contact you within three weeks after the application deadline if you have been selected to move forward in the process. We thank all applicants for their interest but will not be contacting those individuals who are not selected for further consideration.


The Ontario HIV Treatment Network is committed to employment equity and to the greater involvement and meaningful engagement of people living with HIV/AIDS (GIPA/MIPA) in all that we do.  We encourage applications from persons living with HIV/AIDS and culturally diverse backgrounds to join our team.

At OHTN, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible environment.  OHTN is committed to providing accommodations in all parts of the hiring process.  If you require an accommodation, we will work with you to meet your needs.

 

 

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