EuroHealthNet

Project Officer

(Full-time Vacancy – 6-month Temporary Contract with Possibility for Extension)

EuroHealthNet

Brussels, Belgium

About EuroHealthNet

EuroHealthNet is the European Partnership for health, equity and wellbeing. It consists of over 75 bodies from European countries responsible for public health health promotion and disease prevention in Europe. From our office in Brussels, we coordinate policy, advocacy, research, and capacity building activities which help address health inequalities and positively affect the determinants of health. There are currently 21 highly skilled colleagues in the office plus rotating internships, all of whom contribute to an active, diverse, and dynamic work environment. You can read about our work at www.eurohealthnet.eu.

About the position

EuroHealthNet’s activities take place across three complementary Platforms covering Policy, Practice, and Research. A core management and administration team unifies and builds connections between the Platforms. Within the core team, communications activities amplify the messages and expertise of the EuroHealthNet Partnership.

The successful candidate will be part of EuroHealthNet’s Practice Platform, which facilitates the exchange of good and promising practices to improve health, equity and wellbeing. This objective is achieved through staple initiatives of the platform, including Country Exchange Visits, the e-guide on financing health promoting services and capacity-building workshops for the EuroHealthNet membership, as well as through EU-funded initiatives, such as the Schools4Health, Invest4Health, and RIVER-EU projects.

Under the guidance and supervision of senior staff from EuroHealthNet, the Project Officer will contribute to the following activities:

Schools4Health (2023-2025)

Schools4Health (2023-2025) strives to introduce, strengthen, and sustain the adoption of participatory health promoting school approaches (HPS). Led by EuroHealthNet and funded under the EU4Health programme, the initiative will work with schools to implement good practices in healthy nutrition, physical activity, and mental health. This is complemented by a policy pillar, which is examining the EU and national policy contexts that influence the implementation of health promoting school approaches. The project also has an engagement pillar, actively involving key stakeholders in collective efforts to build the right conditions for the life-long health of children, adolescents and the wider school community.

As the lead coordinator of the initiative, EuroHealthNet is responsible for overseeing the general day-to-day management of the project, as well as the implementation of the activities falling under the policy strand and the good practice transfer and implementation.

Invest4Health (2023-2026)

Invest4Health (“Mobilising novel finance models for health promotion and disease prevention”) aims to disrupt traditional approaches to financing health by developing sustainable financing mechanisms that incentivize and boost investment in health promotion and disease prevention.

Invest4Health is coordinated by Region Skåne in Sweden. Using an interdisciplinary approach, ideas will be implemented and evaluated in four regional testbeds in Sweden, Spain, Germany, and the UK. Feedback from citizens and local communities will also be gathered to inform further development of the business and financing models and tools.

EuroHealthNet leads work on ‘Operational readiness and capacity building,’ which aims to: (1) achieve stronger cooperation between health systems, public health entities, and other key actors; (2) support integration of locally run and financially sustainable interventions, and (3) support decision and policymakers to bring about change in financing health promotion.

RIVER-EU (2021-2026)

RIVER-EU’s (“Reducing Inequalities in Vaccine uptake in the European Region – Engaging Underserved communities”) main goal is to collect evidence on health system determinants of high and low vaccine uptake in eight specific contexts, which are used to identify and/or develop interventions to reduce barriers to vaccine uptake in underserved communities and increase trust in the health system.

The lessons learnt will be collected in a set of evidence-based guidelines and implementation recommendations and disseminated to health policy makers and professionals across Europe to improve the performance of vaccine programmes and reduce vaccine inequalities.

EuroHealthNet leads the communication and dissemination work package.

Other activities of the PRACTICE Platform

These include monitoring engagement opportunities for EuroHealthNet members, support in organising events and other capacity building activities.

Responsibility

The successful candidate will

• Support the day-to-day management of the Schools4Health, Invest4Health and RIVER-EU projects, including the planning and delivery of established milestones and deliverables as well as contribute to the overall reporting requirements;
• Monitor relevant EU and national policy processes and best practices, as well as identify opportunities which can help maximise the impact of EuroHealthNet’s project and platform activities;
• Monitor EU funding opportunities for the Partnership, including opportunities under the EU4Health programmes;
• Contribute to the communication work of EuroHealthNet;
• Play an active role in other cross-cutting tasks that contribute to the overall functioning and sustainability of the EuroHealthNet office, and as well as our overall Strategy and objectives, considering existing workloads and capacities.

Profile

• Education at a Master level in a relevant field such as public health, health promotion, or other health-related fields such as mental health;
• A minimum of 2 years of experience relevant to the job description, including demonstrated experience in project management (preferably in the field of health), and a strong understanding of public health and health equity. Please provide at least one reference to support your application;
• Previous experience working on EU-funded projects as well as a general understanding of EU policies in the field of health promotion, NCD prevention and educational policies is also a plus;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English (native speaker level preferred, C1 proficiency levels will however also be considered). English proficiency will be tested at different stages of the interview process. Other European languages are a plus;
• Experience writing articles, social media posts, and other content (in English);
• Proven ability to think strategically, problem-solve, as well as approach tasks proactively and pragmatically, with attention to detail and willingness to take initiative;
• Excellent organizational skills with the ability to set priorities and adapt to the rapidly changing requirements of projects and different deadlines;
• Very good interpersonal skills and sense of teamwork, ability to effectively coordinate with other members from the team while also being able to work autonomously with minimal supervision;
• Proficient use of the Microsoft Office suite;
• Experience living in different social, cultural and political contexts across Europe is desirable;
• Willing to travel within Europe when required.

Practicalities

This position is offered according to Belgian national legislation. It is an offer for a full-time position of 38 hours per week with a temporary contract till 31 December 2024. There is a possibility of obtaining an extension or a permanent contract afterwards.

For this position, the annual gross salary ranges between €36.200 and €41.300 depending on experience and qualifications, and will also include benefits such as meal vouchers, financial support towards the use of public transport to work, and hospital insurance.

All applicants must be qualified, eligible, and able to work in Belgium. Unfortunately, we are not able to provide financial assistance to relocate to Brussels or Belgium.

The post will combine in-office and remote work, as well as occasional travel within Europe. The successful candidate will be supplied with the necessary materials to work remotely, as required (e.g., laptop).

We value diversity and inclusivity

Diversity is a core value of EuroHealthNet. We are passionate about building and sustaining an inclusive and equitable working and learning environment. Every member on our team enriches our diversity by exposing us to ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and to design and deliver solutions. We offer a flexible working environment, in line with our gender, diversity, and inclusion strategy, and reasonable accommodations will be made for people who identify as living with a disability.

Specific measures are taken to eliminate (unconscious) bias and make the recruitment process more objective. These include anonymising applications during the initial selection; using a point-based system based on the job criteria for rating applications and interviews; making sure all applicants are asked the same interview questions; and offering an opportunity to receive personal feedback to all applicants.

Read our Workplace Gender, Equality and Diversity Policy for more information.

This is an important post for us. Please do not hesitate to apply, also if you do not fulfil all selection criteria.

Applications

Applicants should send an email to Chris Russ, Operations Assistant (c.russ@eurohealthnet.eu), with the following subject line: “Project Officer”.

Please include the following two files as attachments (do not include any other attachments):

1. Your CV, with its filename: LASTNAME_FIRSTNAME_CV;
   (Please do not include personal details such as your picture, personal situation or birth date).
2. A motivation letter, 1-page maximum, with filename: LASTNAME_FIRSTNAME_ML.

Please note that applications that do not follow the above instructions will be disregarded.

The closing date for applications is Friday 31 May 2024 (midnight CET).

Interviews (preferably in person, but online is possible) with short-listed candidates will be held shortly after. We expect the successful candidate to start as soon as possible.

Thank you for your interest in EuroHealthNet!