Curriculum Development Officer – Health Professions Education

Amref Health Africa, founded in 1957, is the largest African-based international health development organisation. Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, Amref implements programmes across 35 African countries , reaching more than 40 million people , with a strong operational presence in Africa and advocacy and fundraising offices in Europe and North America.

Guided by its vision of lasting health change in Africa , Amref’s mission is to catalyse community-led, people-centred health systems and address the social determinants of health . Amref believes sustainable health transformation is driven from within communities and works to strengthen health systems while empowering communities to demand and access quality, affordable healthcare.

About the Project

The Partnership for Education of Health Professionals (PEP) is a multi-country initiative aimed at strengthening institutional capacity for education on cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs) across East Africa. Implemented in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Ethiopia, the programme equips health training institutions with the systems, tools, and competencies needed to develop a health workforce skilled in CMD prevention and care.

In Ethiopia, the project supports CMD integration into pre-service and in-service education, strengthens faculty and preceptor capacity, promotes digital and blended learning and simulation, and supports educational research. Implemented over 36 months in collaboration with government institutions, universities, and professional associations, the initiative focuses on preparing nurses, health officers, and medical doctors to deliver effective CMD services, particularly at the primary health care level.

Job Purpose

The Curriculum Development Officer provides technical and operational support for the review, integration, implementation, and evaluation of competency-based health professions curricula under the PEP project. The role focuses on embedding CMD prevention, screening, diagnosis, management, referral, and follow-up competencies into existing medicine, nursing, and health officer programmes, in line with each cadre’s scope of practice.

Working with the Health Professions Education Specialist, institutional curriculum committees, faculty, clinical preceptors, and subject matter experts, the Officer translates assessment findings into curriculum improvements, aligned teaching resources, and assessment tools. The role supports institutional review and approval, faculty preparation, and monitoring of curriculum delivery and learner competency development.

Key Responsibilities

Core Competencies

Professional Competencies

- Project planning and coordination
- Technical writing and report preparation
- Stakeholder engagement
- Workshop facilitation
- Problem-solving and analytical thinking
- Attention to detail
- Quality assurance

Working Conditions

- Based in Addis Ababa, with regular travel to partner institutions and clinical training sites.
- Works closely with academic departments, curriculum and assessment committees, government counterparts, and project teams.
- Requires flexibility to coordinate institutional review cycles, facilitate workshops, and meet project deadlines.

Responsibilities

Mapping existing curricula and identifying CMD competency and content gaps.; Integrating measurable learning outcomes into courses, modules, and clinical placements.; Aligning teaching methods, learning resources, and assessments with required competencies.; Supporting faculty and preceptors to implement and assess revised curricula.; Monitoring implementation quality and documenting improvements and lessons.; Translate assigned curriculum activities into practical workplans with clear deliverables, timelines, responsibilities, and review milestones, track progress and escalate delays or resource gaps.; Coordinate curriculum reviews, consultations, and validation workshops with partner institutions and project staff, maintain action logs and follow up agreed decisions.; Use training and capacity needs assessment findings and institutional evidence to prioritize curriculum strengthening activities and align them with approved PEP workplans.; Support systematic review of medicine, nursing, and health officer curricula and map CMD competencies across courses, modules, teaching methods, assessments, and clinical learning experiences.; Identify content gaps, duplication, sequencing problems, and differences between the written curriculum and actual delivery, prepare curriculum mapping matrices and actionable recommendations.; Support integration of priority CMD competencies into existing curricula without introducing stand-alone courses or additional credit hours unless formally approved by the relevant institutions and authorities.; Support the alignment of proposed revisions with national competency frameworks, applicable education and accreditation requirements, current clinical guidance, and cadre-specific scope of practice.; Participate in curriculum review workshops, technical working groups and community of practice.; Prepare revision packages, change logs, and validation records of the curriculum,; Support institutional curriculum committees through review and approval and maintain a record of decisions.; Work with faculty and subject matter experts to define measurable learning outcomes covering knowledge, clinical and practical skills, communication, and professional attitudes.; Support faculty and subject matter experts to align competency and learning outcomes with teaching strategies, practice opportunities, assessment methods, and progression expectations, ensure appropriate sequencing across programme years.; Assist faculty and subject matter experts in developing learning modules, study guides, practical exercises, and case-based learning materials that integrates prevention, early detection, risk assessment, patient counselling, referral, and continuity of care alongside disease management, with attention to primary health care realities.; Promote integration of patient-centered care, interprofessional learning, evidence use, and appropriate simulation and clinical practice within revised modules.; Support incorporation of evidence-based and guideline-driven CMD content.; Support institution in the development of CMD assessment blueprints with faculty and assessment committees under the technical guidance of the Health Professions Education Specialist.; Support institutions in the development of matrices linking competencies and learning outcomes to assessment methods, content coverage, cognitive level, weighting, and timing, including knowledge, skills, and professional behaviours.; Support development of assessment tools including multiple-choice, short-answer questions, Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) stations, workplace-based assessments, skills checklists, and scoring rubrics.; Support assessor orientation, moderation, standard-setting, and review of assessment results to improve validity, reliability, fairness, and consistency, retain institutional authority for assessment approval and progression decisions.; Promote timely learner feedback and remediation linked to identified competency gaps, while protecting assessment materials and confidential learner records.; Promote use of competency-based assessment approaches across participating programs.; Coordinate development and adaptation of facilitator guides, learner materials, clinical cases, practical exercises, and job aids aligned with approved learning outcomes and CMD guidance.; Work with the Online and Blended Learning Officer to translate curriculum requirements into digital and blended learning activities, including links to face-to-face teaching, simulation, and clinical practice.; Ensure educational resources are evidence-based, learner-centered, and aligned with competency requirements.; Provide curriculum and assessment inputs for innovative methods, including virtual patient cases and AI-assisted resource development, ensure expert review of accuracy, relevance, bias, and alignment before use.; Maintain an organized repository of curriculum and assessment resources with references, permissions, version control, review dates, and appropriate access restrictions.; Orient faculty, department heads, and clinical preceptors to curriculum changes, learning outcomes, teaching resources, and assessment requirements.; Support practical workshops and coaching on competency-based education, curriculum alignment, case-based teaching, clinical learning, and assessment blueprinting.; Facilitate consultations with department heads, curriculum committees, and educators during curriculum implementation.; Gather feedback from faculty, preceptors, and learners and support resolution of implementation challenges through agreed institutional channels.; Support institutions to develop implementation plans covering teaching schedules, faculty preparation, learning resources, clinical practice opportunities, and assessment arrangements.; Support institutions in applying agreed quality assurance criteria to curriculum documents and resources, support review of implementation using teaching plans, course records, assessments, and stakeholder feedback.; Monitor whether CMD content and learning activities are delivered as intended, identify gaps in coverage, practice opportunities, and assessment and follow up corrective actions.; Contribute to periodic curriculum reviews and improvement cycles, drawing on learner performance and institutional feedback.; Support education research and evaluations related to curriculum integration, assessment, and implementation in collaboration with research and monitoring staff.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Medicine, Nursing, Public Health, or another health sciences discipline.; Master’s degree in Health Professions Education, Medical Education, Public Health, Curriculum Studies, or a related field.; At least five years of relevant professional experience in health professions education or curriculum development, including practical involvement in curriculum review and implementation.; Demonstrated experience in curriculum mapping, gap analysis, measurable learning outcome development, and competency-based curriculum integration.; Experience developing teaching resources and assessment tools, experience in assessment blueprinting, OSCE development, or workplace-based assessment is highly desirable.; Experience facilitating faculty workshops and working with universities, health training institutions, curriculum committees, or educational regulatory bodies.; Working knowledge of digital and blended learning and the responsible use of AI-assisted educational tools, ability to collaborate with digital learning specialists.; Experience in CMD, noncommunicable diseases, primary health care, or health workforce development programmes is an advantage.; Strong technical writing, communication, and facilitation skills in English and Amharic.; Curriculum development and review; Competency-based education; Curriculum mapping and gap analysis; Assessment blueprint development; Educational measurement and evaluation; Learning outcome development; Instructional design; Health professions education; CMD/NCD technical knowledge