Emergency Response Senior Manager

Vacancy reference

VAC-0419

Department

Preparedness and Response

Location

Oslo / London / Washington DC

Close date

24/11/2025

About CEPI

Launched in 2017, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is an international coalition of governments, academic, philanthropic, private, public, and intergovernmental institutions whose vision is to create a world in which epidemics and pandemics are no longer a threat to humanity. Our mission is to accelerate the development of vaccines and other biologic countermeasures against epidemic and pandemic threats so they can be accessible to all people in need. CEPI played a central role in the global response to COVID-19, creating the world's largest portfolio of COVID-19 vaccines – seven of which are approved for global or domestic use - and co-leading COVAX, the global initiative to support equitable access which supported the delivery of over 2bn vaccine doses globally. CEPI has CEPI has contributed to a number of scientific breakthroughs in vaccine development against other infectious diseases, including the first ever licensed Chikungunya vaccine and the first Nipah and Lassa virus vaccines into Phase 1 trials.

As COVID-19 has demonstrated, emerging infectious diseases represent an existential threat to our way of life. COVID-19 is not the first pandemic of the 21st century, and unless we act now, we can be sure that it will not be the last. Unlike some of the other big threats that humanity faces, we have the tools to systematically reduce and even eliminate the risk of future pandemics. It is vital that we capitalise on the rare alignment of political will, practical experience, and technical and scientific progress emerging from the pandemic to prevent such devastation happening again. CEPI's five-year plan for – known as CEPI 2.0 - aims to dramatically reduce or even eliminate the future risk of pandemics and epidemics. Central to the plan is CEPI's goal to accelerate the time taken to develop safe, effective, globally accessible vaccines against new threats to just 100 days. Achieving this '100 Days Mission', which has been embraced by the G7 and G20, would give the world a fighting chance of containing a future outbreak before it can spread to become a global pandemic, potentially averting millions of deaths and trillions of dollars in economic damage.

CEPI is a not-for-profit association under Norwegian Law and has offices in Oslo (HQ), London, and Washington DC.

In CEPI we strive for diverse thinking, and we want a diverse pool of candidates for all our vacancies. We work for an inclusive working environment where each employee can contribute and grow.

More details about CEPI and our mission can be found on our website:

About the role

CEPI is looking for an Emergency Response Senior Manager to join its growing team. This is a key role to provide emergency preparedness planning and response leadership. A critical success factor in this role will be your deep understanding of the role of vaccine research and development in outbreak response.

The purpose of the role is to drive outbreak preparedness and response activities across the organization and with global partners. This will be accomplished by nurturing a proactive "response mindset" in colleagues; coaching project teams through challenging questions; creative scenario planning; and strategic, cross-functional planning. The goal is for CEPI and partners to conduct a vaccine research response to outbreaks rapidly, effectively, and nimbly when they occur, in support of our product development and equitable access commitments. This, by necessity, involves activities and leadership within CEPI, as well as with the global organizations and countries that must prepare for and execute a vaccine response to outbreaks.

We are looking for candidates that are motivated by CEPI's mission, have an Advanced degree (masters or PhD ) in a public health related discipline coupled with at least 5 years of experience in this field.

This role is a one-year fixed term position, with the potential for extension depending on future strategic priorities and resource requirements.

If you are interested in joining the CEPI team and think you have the appropriate qualifications for this role, please read the detailed job description below and follow the instructions for applying.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the Preparedness & Response (P&R) representative on several matrixed project teams within CEPI, providing expertise on preparedness planning and emergency response and creating a two-way communication channel with the P&R Division.
• Proactively guide these project teams to develop and update their preparedness plans for responding to outbreaks of pathogens related to CEPI's core portfolio. Support the Executive Director for Preparedness & Response in coordinating CEPI's research response in the event of an outbreak, leveraging the project teams and implementing the preparedness plans.
• Establish and ensure the delivery of divisional strategic goals while contributing to the development of CEPI-wide strategy and implementation through participation in and/or leadership of matrixed teams.
• As a senior representative of the P&R Division, ensure that P&R resources are managed effectively and support CEPI priorities, including by improving processes and procedures, managing relationships with other teams and Departments, and managing consultants/contracts as appropriate.
• Serve as an expert within the organisation on preparedness planning and emergency vaccine research response and participate in preparedness and response planning with global or regional partners.
• Lead development of CEPI-wide policies/strategic approaches regarding specific preparedness issues as they arise (stockpiling, evidence generation, vaccine libraries, etc.) and lead working groups to implement these.
• Support a CEPI-wide readiness exercise program to systematically test the technical, operational and/or policy and decision-making elements of a vaccine research-focused outbreak response. This includes leading exercises within the organization; supporting the development and maintenance of a work plan for implementation, including roles, responsibilities, timeline and budget; and promoting the implementation of lessons learned across the organization.
• Other duties as assigned.

Education, Experience and Competence

• Advanced degree (masters or PhD level) in a public health related discipline coupled with extensive experience from this field.
• Deep understanding of the role of vaccine research and development in outbreak response and of incident management system principles.
• Ability to analyze and understand complex, multisectoral issues and develop strategic approaches to them.
• Comfort communicating and understanding technical concepts and ability to rapidly learn new subject matter on the job.
• Strong interpersonal and collaborative skills and demonstrated ability to work in cross-functional teams.
• Strong leadership skills.

Travel and Location Requirements

• International travel will be required.
• The position will be based in London, Oslo or Washington D.C.

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 including the current pandemic.
• A dynamic, diverse and inclusive working environment.

Background verification will be conducted to verify information provided in the CV and available documentation.