Senior Epidemiologist

CEPI is seeking a highly experienced senior epidemiologist to join our team for a 12‑month full‑time fixed‑term contract. This is a unique opportunity to contribute directly to global epidemic preparedness by using advanced disease monitoring and risk assessments in support of vaccine R&D.

This role will focus on developing a departmental outbreak and support framework to generate timely, high‑quality epidemiological insights that inform risk assessments for CEPI’s viral families, guide clinical vaccine R&D strategy during outbreaks, and strengthen evidence‑based decision‑making. The position is situated within the Epidemiology and Data Science (E&DS) department in CEPI’s R&D Division. The E&DS department plays a central role in supporting CEPI, its partners, and stakeholders by bridging key epidemiological knowledge gaps to advance vaccine development, strengthen outbreak preparedness, and contribute to CEPI’s 100 Days Mission.

The Senior Epidemiologist will primarily contribute to the department’s preparedness and global threats workstream, providing senior epidemiological leadership and driving the development and operationalisation of the E&DS outbreak support framework for the realisation of CEPI’s 100 Days Mission. The role will work in close collaboration with colleagues across E&DS, complementing and building on existing capacity to further strengthen the department’s monitoring, partnership, and integrated intelligence initiatives to position the department well for CEPI 3.0.

Additionally, the Senior Epidemiologist will be responsible for enhancing delivery of timely, decision‑ready outbreak signals through the development and integration of genomics‑enabled and AI‑assisted monitoring approaches and pipelines. The Senior Epidemiologist will oversee the development of tools and frameworks to strengthen the department’s mobilisation efforts and outbreak response.

This role is designed to provide senior epidemiological leadership during a critical transition period for CEPI 3.0 and to help establish durable operational foundations for the organisation’s future preparedness model. Additional responsibilities will be assigned based on experience and may include contributing to specific outbreak response plans developed by CEPI’s disease teams and providing epidemiological expertise across diverse, multidisciplinary projects.

We are seeking candidates who are motivated by CEPI’s mission, have an advanced degree (DrPH, PhD, MD) in infectious disease epidemiology, molecular epidemiology, bioinformatics or Public Health. Candidates should demonstrate experience in developing outbreak response frameworks to support decision making, use of global and national surveillance systems for public health, strong skills in interpreting and analysing epidemiological data for decision making, and in‑depth knowledge of vaccine R&D. Preferably, the candidate should demonstrate experience working in matrix groups, low‑resource settings and have cultural awareness when working with global partners. The post‑holder will report directly to the Head of Epidemiology Science and Preparedness.

Responsibilities

• Lead the scoping, development, and refinement of E&DS’s outbreak support framework and operational playbooks, including defining analytical standards, escalation criteria and cross‑departmental handoffs to improve consistency, speed and clarity of internal response.
• Lead the integration of genomics and AI‑assisted insights into E&DS decision‑making flows, in close coordination with the data science and advanced analytics team, including scoping and delivering epidemiology‑driven genomics initiatives aligned with CEPI's preparedness and R&D priorities.
• Interpret and contextualise emerging trends and threats related to CEPI’s priority pathogens and viral families to inform strategic decision‑making.
• Provide leadership on the interpretation and use of national and regional surveillance and reporting platforms, advising on data quality, comparability, and appropriate application for outbreak preparedness, response and R&D decision‑making.
• Identify and coordinate One Health signal outputs for priority pathogens, incorporate relevant indicators into ESP’s monitoring cadence in consultation with the monitoring lead.
• Provide epidemiological and surveillance system expertise to support CEPI’s real‑world evidence (RWE) needs, including advising on data sources, surveillance and vaccination data linkage, and interpretation of routine health data to inform R&D and post‑authorisation evidence generation.
• Provide direct support to ESP’s pathogen monitoring and threat detection function, providing surge coverage during peak periods, absences or outbreaks to ensure timely, decision‑ready outputs.
• Coordinate ad‑hoc briefing notes when required on various pathogens of interest and contribute to outbreak incident coordination (OICT) teams as the ESP epidemiology contributor when needed, preparing concise situation updates, integrating surveillance and genomics signals and aligning with internal R&D stakeholders.
• Respond to cross‑departmental viral family ad‑hoc requests, translating surveillance signals into clear actionable insights via briefing notes, data summaries, or verbal reports.
• Maintain awareness of relevant epidemiological research and vaccine R&D advances, contributing to knowledge‑sharing and departmental operations through departmental and divisional meetings and retreats.

Education, Experience and Competence

• Advanced degree (DrPH, PhD, MD) in infectious disease epidemiology, molecular epidemiology, bioinformatics or Public Health or relevant discipline and/or graduate from a recognised field epidemiology training programme (e.g., EPIET, EIS, FETP).
• Candidates should have a minimum of five years post‑degree experience in infectious disease epidemiology and disease surveillance and monitoring. International experience is preferred.
• Epidemiological field research experience in at least one CEPI priority pathogen or other pathogen with pandemic potential preferably in a low‑resource setting.
• Demonstrated experience leading genomics and molecular epidemiology programmes, including translation of genomic insights and/or application of AI for surveillance, outbreak preparedness, or vaccine‑related decision‑making.
• Experience working with country‑level surveillance and health information systems (e.g. SORMAS, DHIS2 and equivalents) and understanding their application and limitations in low‑resource settings.
• Highly proactive in completing tasks and identifying gaps and needs and focused on delivering high‑quality results on time.
• Demonstrable problem‑solving abilities with the ability to identify issues and seek advice as required.
• High level of self‑awareness and ability to collaborate with people cross‑functionally and across different geographic regions.
• Experience of working in highly matrix organisations and multicultural working environments.
• Excellent ability to influence, negotiate and seek win‑win outcomes.
• Excellent communication, report writing and presentation skills.

Travel and Location Requirements

This role is based in the UK, Norway or the US (East Coast). Willingness and ability to travel internationally as required.

What we can offer you

• The opportunity to work together with leading experts on solutions for global challenges.
• Experience from the international effort on developing vaccines against emerging infectious diseases and accelerating vaccine development response to outbreaks.
• A diverse and inclusive working environment.