Senior Medical Scientist – National QA Officer (Fiji)

About the role

The Senior Medical Scientist will lead the national quality‑assurance programme and support the decentralisation of diagnostic services for HIV, sexually transmitted infections, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis and related opportunistic infections across Fiji’s Ministry of Health and Medical Services.

Key responsibilities

• Support rollout, decentralisation and supervision of diagnostic services for HIV, STI, HBV, HCV and TB in clinical laboratories and SRH sites.
• Provide technical oversight of the national QA programme, including panel distribution, laboratory enrolment, blind retesting and EQA coordination.
• Participate in validation and implementation of new testing algorithms and diagnostics such as 4th‑generation HIV assays, Hepatitis B/C tests, CrAg, toxoplasmosis, GeneXpert platforms and point‑of‑care testing.
• Develop and disseminate laboratory test algorithms and site‑specific procedures.
• Mentor, train and build capacity of laboratory officers, clinicians and SRH laboratory staff.
• Support diagnostic data entry, quality monitoring and integration with national surveillance/LIS systems, and assist with timely analysis and reporting.
• Assist in procurement planning, commodity tracking and stock management.
• Coordinate logistics and support national audits of diagnostic facilities.
• Contribute to planning, budgeting, implementation and reporting of diagnostic pilot projects.
• Facilitate stakeholder meetings, technical workshops and committee activities.

Required profile

• Extensive experience in laboratory diagnostics for HIV, STI, hepatitis B/C, TB and related infections.
• Proven track record in managing national quality‑assurance or external quality assessment programmes.
• Ability to mentor and train laboratory and clinical staff.
• Experience with validation and rollout of new diagnostic algorithms and platforms.
• Strong analytical skills for data monitoring, reporting and integration with surveillance systems.

Required skills

• Implementation of 4th‑generation HIV assays
• Hepatitis B and C testing
• Cryptococcal antigen (CrAg) testing
• Toxoplasmosis testing
• GeneXpert platform operation
• Point‑of‑care testing (POCT)
• Laboratory information system (LIS) integration
• External quality assessment (EQA) coordination