Overview

Regional Technical Advisor – Laboratory Strengthening Burkina Faso

Sightsavers is looking for an experienced Regional Laboratory Technical Advisor with experience of quality control and capacity building, to provide technical support to laboratories as part of Reaching the Last Mile Fund (RLMF) programme. If you have this skill set and experience this is a good career move to take.

Salary: Local terms and conditions apply

Location: UK or Burkina Faso with Africa Regional remit and travel

Contract: 1-year fixed term contract (renewable subject to funding)

Hours: Full-time with some flexibility around hours worked and occasional home working

Responsibilities

The Reaching the Last Mile Fund (RLMF) expansion project is a six-year, $500m programme that will progress the elimination of onchocerciasis (OV) and lymphatic filariasis (LF) in Africa. Sightsavers is looking for an experienced laboratory professional with direct experience of technical operations and sample analysis, to support the establishment and expansion of a small external quality assurance network and ensure compliance with the relevant accreditation standards.

This is an exciting opportunity to be directly responsible for the standardisation and accreditation of RLMF funded laboratories, implementation of external quality assurance and strengthening logistics and supply chains, in order to support and advance the elimination of OV in Africa. You will be confident managing the collaboration of other laboratories, external communications including to donors and stakeholders, and disseminating information and learnings.

As a Laboratory Technical Advisor for RLMF, you will have extensive experience in laboratory systems, quality control and capacity building with the ability to advise, support and provide training. Relevant experience in onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis, or other Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) is beneficial.

This is a large work plan with extensive deliverables and as Laboratory Technical Advisor for RLMF you must be able to confidently work independently. This opportunity includes significant travel across Africa with occasional visits to the Head Office in Haywards Heath, UK.

Skills and Experience

• Proven working experience and/or qualifications in laboratory management, quality assurance, laboratory capacity building or similar;
• Experience conducting and quality assuring Enzyme-Linked Immuno-Sorbance Assays (ELISA)
• Experience conducting and quality assuring Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and quantitative PCR assays
• Experience conducting the above ELISA and PCR/qPCR assays in African laboratories
• Working knowledge of GLP, SLIMTA, SLIPTA or ISO 15189 accreditation frameworks
• Previous experience managing EQA and quality control in resource constrained environments
• Strong design and delivery of training to laboratory personnel
• First class time management to meet donor driven deadlines
• Strong or fluent English both written and spoken
• Able to work largely without supervision (and within a team)
• Willingness and availability to travel for training, attending meetings, workshops and conferences, subject to an appropriate risk assessment being in place

Desirable

• Experience with onchocerciasis diagnostics
• Experience working as part of a multi-organizational team
• French as a second language. Candidates with French and English fluency will have preferential weighting during the assessment process.
• Understanding of research governance and ethical principles particularly in relation to research with vulnerable people
• Knowledge of NTDs and health systems

This is a varied role, please read the full job description for full details.

The deadline to complete your application will be Sunday 25 January 2026 by 23.30pm GMT UK.

We intend to conduct virtual interviews from 2 February 2026 onwards. The interview will last up to one hour.

Next Steps

To apply for this exciting new opportunity, please complete an application via our recruitment portal. We are particularly interested in learning of your motivations for applying. We ask that you complete both the personal questions and the role specific questions to ensure we can consider your application.

As an equal opportunity employer, we actively encourage applications from all sections of the community. Sightsavers is a Disability Confident Leader and qualified people with a disability are particularly encouraged to apply.

Sightsavers is an employer that does not tolerate any form of harassment and has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse. All potential candidates will be subjected to rigorous background checks and controls.