Vietnam Program Officer ( DNA Laboratory)

*** Please submit your application at: [protected info]
Every year, millions of people around the world go missing as a result of conflict, human rights abuses, disasters, organized crime, irregular migration, and other causes. Be part of a growing international organization that is dedicated to tackling this global challenge.
The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) is a treaty-based international organization with headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands. Its mandate is to secure the cooperation of governments and others in locating missing persons. As the only international organization tasked exclusively to work on the issue of missing persons, ICMP maintains field programs throughout the world. To learn more about ICMP click here.
ICMP will work with the Vietnamese Government to improve institutional capacity to develop and sustain an effective DNA-based system to locate and identify missing persons from the Vietnam-American war. The project will provide advanced DNA extraction and testing methods adapted to the Vietnam context and implemented in Vietnam; support a long-term strategy in coordination with the government to enhance the efficacy and efficiency of human identification efforts in the context of the Vietnam-American War, and provide training and capacity building efforts in the area of human identification.
ICMP has recently established an office at the Vietnam Academy for Science & Technology (VAST) from where it will lead a program of training and support that enables VAST to establish an in-house DNA profiling and sequencing workflow.
The Program Officer will work closely with the Vietnam Program Manager in setting-up the ICMP office in Hanoi by organizing and facilitating day-to-day interactions between VAST and ICMP laboratories. The Program Officer will also work closely with ICMP's DNA Laboratories - in particular with scientist based in The Hague - to coordinate the training of VAST employees, purchase and implement new equipment and adoption of new processes, which will enable VAST to successfully validate and operate their own DNA profiling and sequencing set-up.
Overall, the position will help to ensure Vietnamese ownership of advanced DNA protocols and the associated quality assurance requirements.
1. Main Functions
Under the overall guidance and supervision of the Program Manager (Vietnam), the Programme Officer's duties and responsibilities will include, but will not necessarily be limited to, the following:
- Assist in the procurement and timely installation of laboratory consumables, equipment and instrumentation into VAST's laboratories.
- Support the Program Manager in building and maintaining relationships with local laboratory supply vendors, distributors, as well as VAST officials and accreditation body representatives.
- Organise and assist in facilitating the technical training delivered by ICMP subject matter experts to VAST representatives.
- Primary point of contact for day-to-day communications and matters arising from VAST and ICMP DNA Labs.
- Actively coordinates activities between VAST and ICMP labs to establish, validate and accredit new procedures, including the English-Vietnamese translation of quality management documents, ICMP support or training materials.
- Support VAST in establishing a Quality Management System that meets the requirements of ISO17025.
- Maintain an inventory of goods purchased by the project to ensure efficient and in-time supports for the laboratory activities of the ICMP program.
- Develop and organise scheduled maintenance of the ICMP purchased equipment throughout the program.
- Undertake other duties as assigned by the Program Manager
*** Please submit your application at: [protected info]