Company Overview

The Pharo Foundation (the ‘’Foundation”) is a privately funded entrepreneurial organization that runs philanthropic programmes as well as for-profit social ventures. The Vision of the Foundation is an economically vibrant and inclusive Africa. The Mission is to achieve the Vision by investing in the human and physical capital of Africa, with a strong focus on job creation.

Established in 2011 as a UK based non-profit, the Foundation has since made a strategic shift to directly design and implement its own programmes to ensure greater engagement with communities, better results and increased accountability.

The Foundation has carried out numerous projects in East Africa, with a focus on Ethiopia and Somaliland and has now established an office in Rwanda. The key strategic pillars for the philanthropic side of the Foundation are education, health, water and agriculture. At the end of 2019, the Foundation also started its Pharo Ventures franchise to priority sectors where the Foundation believes a real impact can be made by establishing self-sustaining businesses, which focus on job and economic value creation.

The Foundation is currently establishing a best in class Diagnostic Centre in Assosa town in Benishangul Gumuz Regional State to complement the curative health services and to become a dependable partner to the existing health system in the region and beyond. The PDC is expected to help upgrade the health infrastructure in BGRS, as it will offer top quality reliable services as well as critical tests

Run under the Social Ventures business model, the Pharo Diagnostic Centre will start with offering advanced medical laboratory services to clients, adding imaging studies and additional laboratory tests in subsequent years. For this very exciting and ambitious initiative, The Foundation is now looking to hire a highly experienced Medical Laboratory Technologist (BSc) who will conduct day-to-day laboratory tests.

Headquartered in the UK (London), the Foundation has an operational head office in Kenya (Nairobi) with country offices in Ethiopia (Addis Ababa and Assosa), Somaliland (Hargeisa), and Rwanda (Kigali).

Key Duties and Responsibilities

Analysis/Testing Related

• Undertake good sample management including, the collection, accessioning, processing and storing of specimens.
• Process specimens for referral testing following the established Standard Operation Procedure (SOP).
• Read the standard operating procedures fully before performing any tasks and adhere to them. Ensure that SOPs are complete and updated.
• Ensure that specimens received for testing have fulfilled acceptance criteria following established procedures.
• Maintain an adequate supply of all reagents and consumables.
• Note the date when reagents/supplies are received and opened in the “Reagent/Supplies Log Sheets”.
• Calibrate instruments and perform all routine and periodic preventative/corrective maintenance.
• Perform function checks and repairs on instruments and equipment following established procedure. Document all maintenance performed on “Instrument Log Sheets”.
• Perform instrumentation troubleshooting to correct problems; refer problems appropriately to the line manager/quality officer.
• Analyse technical problems pertaining to specimen adequacy, laboratory data, and instrumentation; determine cause and rectifies problems in accordance with guidelines and procedures.
• Perform different laboratory tests as per the SOPs.

Quality Control and Compliance

• Document quality occurrences in line with the quality plan of the PDC department; advise Quality Officer of significant quality issues.
• Perform, evaluate, and document quality control data and ensure that patient results are not reported when tolerance limits are exceeded;
• Review laboratory results according to standard operating procedures; report critical alarming values or unusual results in accordance with established policy.
• Participate in the preparation for all inspections by accrediting agencies.
• Uphold the PDC quality and safety policies at all times.

Administration

• Prepare work related documents and records pertaining to the assigned department.
• Participate in in-service education programs while providing inputs to the training of new employees and other employees.
• Ensure the confidentiality of all patient information throughout all phases of laboratory testing.
• Respond to customer inquiries about laboratory test results as needed.
• Adhere to customer service standards of the PDC.
• Generate data and provide day-to-day documentation.
• Generate the performance reports relating to the department assigned to.
• Adhere to safety standards and policies of the PDC.
• Perform other work-related duties as assigned by the supervisor.

Number Required: 4

Reporting to: PDC Director

Functional Relationships: Regulatory Compliance and Quality Officers and Support Service Coordinators.

Job Requirements

Qualification Requirements

• BSc Degree in Medical Laboratory Technology.
• 3 years and above of relevant work experience in clinical/medical laboratories.
• At least two years of experience of working at a commercial/private advanced laboratory.
• Updated Certification/professional registration by Ministry of Health or other equivalent certification bodies
• Competent in relevant computer skills (MS Office Suite, emails and databases)
• Having Quality Management Systems and other relevant laboratory test related trainings is a plus

Behavioral Competencies

• Excellent attention to detail and a flexible approach to work.
• High level of commitment and self-motivation
• High professional and ethical standards.
• Positive outlook and outgoing personality with solid interpersonal and diplomatic skills.
• Structured and process oriented.
• Excellent time management skills with ability to balance multiple priorities.
• Motivated to learn and perform and not afraid to ask questions.
• Willing to challenge status quo and add value by introducing positive change.
• Excellent communicator and comfortable to work in a team environment.
• Demonstrate the ability of strong communication skills both Amharic and English verbally and in writing.
• Demonstrate stewardship while using PDC machines, equipment and other assets.

How to Apply

Review of complete applications will be on a rolling basis. In the event that we identify an outstanding candidate early in the search process, we reserve the right to appoint before the deadline. For this reason, we encourage interested candidates to apply at the earliest possible time. Due to the high volume of applications, we regret that we will only be able to contact short-listed candidates.

Please send the information listed below, as a single PDF file, to the following email address: recruiting.et@pharofoundation.org. Please indicate ‘’Application for Laboratory Technologist - Assosa’’ in the email subject line.

• A detailed CV and Covering Letter,
• One-page list of three references with current addresses, phone numbers, and email contacts.