Manager, Monitoring and Testing - Sioux Lookout, ON, Canada - Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority

Description

The Approaches to Community Wellbeing is a regional resource to 31 First Nations communities. The Approaches to Community Wellbeing provides expertise, support, services, and programming in public health to the region. The program also supports communities in the development, implementation, and monitoring of their own Approaches to Community Wellbeing.

The objective of the Harm Reduction Manager is to support communities in the prevention of infectious diseases and deaths from through harm reduction services.

Harm reduction is an important initiative in order to respond to the high prevalence of prescription drug use and associated harms (i.e. sexually transmitted and blood borne infections, overdoses/toxic drug poisonings) in First Nations remote communities.

The program currently includes a distribution program for safe injection kits, naloxone training and kits, health promotion, and support for community-based Suboxone programs.

The Harm Reduction Manager is directly accountable to the Director of Approaches to Community Wellbeing.
Degree in a health or related field (health sciences, mental health, public health, nursing, social work, etc.); a Masters degree is an asset
Minimum three years' experience in public health and/or health management roles
Experience planning, supervising, and evaluating projects
Previous experience in health planning and project management
Experience managing budgets and fulfilling reporting requirements to funders
Excellent planning, organization, time management, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
Ability to develop and maintain respectful/cooperative relationships with First Nations people, communities, service stakeholders, and health care providers to promote an integrated seamless delivery of service
Excellent written, verbal, and computer skills
Experience and training in cultural competency with First Nations
Ability to communicate in one of the First Nations dialects within the Sioux Lookout Zone is an asset
With support from the Director of Approaches to Community Wellbeing, create a strategic plan and vision for the Harm Reduction service, which includes (but is not limited to):

Culturally appropriate health promotion campaigns and strategies which help reduce stigma (aligning strategies across other health promotion efforts within Approaches to Community Wellbeing)
Capacity building and training initiatives of community-based workers around harm reduction (i.e. testing initiatives, distribution of harm reduction supplies, Suboxone programs, health promotion)
Support communities in the introduction, expansion, or improvement of harm reduction initiatives (i.e. testing, distribution of supplies, Suboxone, health promotion)
Regional policies, objectives, and standards for harm reduction
Mechanisms for communities to provide feedback on harm reduction services and overall monitoring and evaluation of the Harm Reduction program
Provide supervision and direction to the Harm Reduction team by:

Administering, monitoring, and ensuring adherence to organizational policies and procedures and developing and implementing harm reduction program specific policies
Identifying and supporting professional development and training of staff
Managing the development of annual work plans and reports
Conducting ongoing health planning with staff, including input from community members and the Health Services Advisory Committee whenever possible
Monitoring budget variances
Monitoring and ensuring proper financial coding
Preparing funding proposals and reports, in collaboration with the Director of Approaches to Community Wellbeing as per funding requirements
Managing preparation, maintenance, and submission of all correspondence, reports, and briefing notes
Planning, developing, and implementing systems that perform the work and fulfill the goals of the program efficiently and effectively
Liaising with leadership, frontline workers, health care providers, and other service workers in communities to collaboratively strategize means to tackle priority issues related to harm reduction
Facilitating delivery of harm reduction services to support communities
Participating in and directing delivery of training, educational, and capacity building activities for all communities related to harm reduction
Actioning community concerns and requests appropriately
Support program and service evaluation and quality improvement

Evaluating the effectiveness, acceptability, availability, and cost efficiency of harm reduction programming in conjunction with Roots for Community Wellbeing staff
Ensuring that systems are in place to monitor the delivery of harm reduction services to the First Nations communities
Conducting community visits on a regular basis
Network and coordinate activities with other organizations working in Harm Reduction in the Sioux Lookout region
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