About Sand

Sand Technologies is a global Physical AI company using data and AI to make critical industries work better. We partner with governments, cities and enterprises to improve how essential systems operate across healthcare, water, energy, telecommunications and infrastructure.

Our work delivers proven real-world impact. We have built AI systems that help manage London’s water supply, supported telecom network planning across hundreds of cities, and developed digital healthcare platforms serving tens of millions of people across Africa. From intelligent command centers to AI-powered infrastructure platforms, we help organizations sense, analyze and act in complex environments.

Our people are ambitious, curious and relentlessly practical. Our teams work alongside clients in the field, solving hard problems and deploying solutions that last. With colleagues across Africa, Europe, the UK and the US, we operate across the full stack - from research and engineering to deployment and capability building.

Our mission is simple: to harness AI to solve humanity’s most pressing challenges.

About the role

Sand is scaling rapidly across Africa, partnering with Ministries of Health to deploy the Health Operating System (HOS) — a decision-support and execution platform that transforms how health systems sense, analyze, and act on data. The HOS is already operational across multiple countries, with plans to expand to 15 countries by end of 2026, supported by 80+ Forward Deployed Engineers.

As a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE), you are the technical spearhead of our client engagement in Guinea-Bissau. Unlike our roaming FDE roles, this is a permanently embedded position. You will be based full-time within the Ministry of Health in Guinea-Bissau, becoming a long-term extension of the client's operational team. Your mandate is to build deep institutional relationships, develop comprehensive understanding of the national health system, and deliver sustained value over an extended engagement — not just rapid sprints, but lasting transformation.

This is not staff augmentation. You are an amalgamation of three roles:

1. The Software Engineer — Deep technical acumen to build and deploy production-grade solutions using Sand's product suite
2. The Product Manager — Strategic foresight to understand client problems, influence business objectives, and identify expansion opportunities
3. The Consultant — Client-facing finesse to navigate complex stakeholder relationships, manage scope, and transfer knowledge

Your primary mission is to prove our value fast, delivering functional solutions rapidly using Sand's products, playbooks, and tools, and then maturing those solutions into mission-critical infrastructure that the Ministry depends on daily. Over time, you become the institutional memory of the deployment — the person who understands the data landscape, the stakeholder dynamics, and the operational realities better than anyone.

Who We're Looking For

The Forward Deployed Engineer is a highly ambitious individual. You are someone who is deeply keen on learning — someone who dives in headfirst to solve some of the hardest, most complex problems in global health. You thrive on understanding the technology, understanding the stakeholders, understanding our product suite, and weaving all three together to deliver solutions that change how health systems operate.

This role is not for someone looking for comfort or routine. It is for someone who wants to step outside of their comfort zone, build something they can be proud of, and grow faster than they thought possible. The FDE programme is a career accelerator — an intensive rotation that exposes you to technical depth, strategic thinking, and client leadership in equal measure, all while working on problems that matter for millions of people.

For this permanently embedded role, you also need the maturity and resilience to sustain deep client relationships over months and years — not just weeks. You will become the face of Sand in Malawi, and that requires patience, cultural fluency, and the ability to navigate institutional complexity while maintaining momentum.

Key Responsibilities

Serve as Sand's Permanent Technical Presence in Guinea-Bissau

• Embed full-time within the Ministry of Health, becoming a trusted member of the client's extended team
• Develop deep, longitudinal understanding of the national health data landscape, institutional dynamics, and operational priorities
• Build and maintain relationships across all levels of the Ministry — from frontline data officers to senior leadership
• Act as the primary technical point of contact for all Sand activities in-country, coordinating with launchers, country directors, and visiting FDE teams

Drive On-Site Value Delivery

• Rapidly unlock, explore, and integrate client data sources (e.g., DHIS2, SCADA systems, network management platforms, operational databases)
• Understand client problems through prototyping and rapid value delivery — deploying POCs and MVPs using Sand's product components and playbooks
• Transition initial solutions into hardened, production-grade systems that the Ministry relies on daily
• Own the long-term health of deployed solutions — monitoring adoption, troubleshooting issues, and iterating based on user feedback
• Deliver and track value generated through deployment of Sand products

Enable Product-Led Growth

• Lead with Sand's existing product suite — know the products by heart and where each solution is most effective for the domain you're deployed in
• Document learnings, client challenges, and successful solutions as reusable patterns for the broader FDE community
• Drive discovery and expansion by uncovering new opportunities on the ground

Build Local Capacity and Sustainability

• Work alongside Ministry teams to co-create solutions and progressively transfer knowledge, ensuring they can operate and maintain systems independently
• Identify, recruit, and mentor local data engineers, scientists, and analysts to build sustainable in-country capacity
• Develop training materials and documentation tailored to the local context, language, and skill level
• Be the continuity that ensures handover isn't a cliff — you bridge the gap between Sand's deployment and the Ministry's long-term ownership

Feed the Platform Feedback Loop

• Channel field learnings back to improve the core product through structured mechanisms (Technical Deep Dives, Solution Swarms, pattern documentation)
• Turn "gravel roads" into "paved superhighways" — document solution patterns so the next FDE can move faster
• Contribute field feedback that influences 30% of the product roadmap

Requirements — Essential

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related technical field
• 5+ years of experience in software engineering, data engineering, data science, system deployment, or technical leadership
• Proficiency in at least one of: Python, SQL/PostgreSQL, JavaScript — with ability to write production-grade code
• Strong problem-solving skills with a bias toward action and rapid prototyping
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills — comfortable presenting to senior government or corporate stakeholders and translating between technical and non-technical audiences
• Experience working with or deploying to government, public sector, or large institutional clients
• Proven ability to lead local technical teams and build capacity
• Willingness to relocate and be permanently based in Guinea-Bissau for the duration of the engagement (12-24+ months)
• Language: Local language proficiency is a significant advantage

Requirements — Preferred

• Experience with data integration, ETL pipelines, and working with diverse data sources
• Experience in one or more of Sand's focus domains: health informatics/digital health, water utility operations, telecommunications network operations, or energy systems
• Familiarity with domain-specific platforms (e.g., DHIS2, OpenMRS for health; SCADA, GIS for water/energy; OSS/BSS for telecom)
• Experience with BI and dashboarding tools, particularly Apache Superset
• Experience with data transformation tools such as dbt or Airflow
• Comfort working with data dictionaries, reporting requirements, and identifying common data quality issues
• Knowledge of data security, privacy, and interoperability standards (e.g., FHIR for healthcare, GDPR, local data sovereignty requirements)
• Experience operating in resource-constrained environments (unreliable power, limited connectivity)

Work Environment

This is a permanently embedded role. You will work on-site at the Ministry of Health in Guinea-Bissau 4 days per week, with 1 day for focused remote work, internal collaboration, and knowledge sharing with the broader FDE community. You should expect to be based in Guinea-Bissau for a minimum of 12-24 months.

You must be self-driven, comfortable operating as Sand's primary technical representative in-country, and disciplined with online collaboration tools to stay connected with the broader Sand team across geographies. Cultural sensitivity, adaptability, and genuine interest in the local context are essential — you are not passing through, you are putting down roots.

LEAP Program Description

Global Solutions Ventures (GSV) – a joint-venture partnership between ZemiTek, LLC and Dexis Consulting Group – is implementing the Long-term Exceptional Technical Assistance Project (LEAP Global), a mechanism originally used by USAID to battle against infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, neglected tropical diseases, and pandemic influenza. As of July 1, 2025, LEAP Global transitioned to the U.S. Department of State (DOS). This initiative aims to address the complex human resource challenges faced by national infectious disease programs in the USA-supported countries.

The intervention of this project is to hire and embed technical expert advisors and subject matter experts within government entities. By directly embedding the technical expertise within the national programs, LEAP provides long-term, sustainable lifesaving support to empower host governments to lead and manage key aspects of their infectious disease portfolios and improve coordination between the U.S. Government and the host country.

About the Position

The Senior Global Health Security (GHS) Advisor will support the Papua New Guinea National Department of Health (NDOH) in coordinating, tracking, and implementing the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea.  This five-year MOU aims to strengthen PNG's health system, achieve HIV cascade targets, reduce maternal and child mortality, enhance infectious disease surveillance and outbreak response capabilities.  The Health Expert will provide technical leadership across four key areas of cooperation: (1) Surveillance & Outbreak Response, (2) Laboratory Systems, (3) Data Systems, and (4) Strategic Investment, while managing critical transitions including the transfer of U.S.-funded frontline healthcare workers and digital health systems to PNG Government management.

The Senior GHS Advisor will support the NDOH and relevant government departments through the GHS Multisectoral Steering Committee (MSC) and technical working groups for: (i) coordination and tracking of MOU Implementation Plans, (ii) management of program activities including integrated digital health systems rollout aligned with PNG's National Digital Health Strategy 2025-2030, (iii) coordination of U.S. Government implementing partners, provincial health authorities, and civil society organizations, and (iv) comprehensive reporting on outcome and process metrics. The Advisor will support the NDOH in carrying out life-saving humanitarian assistance (LHA) service delivery in full alignment with the new Presidential Executive Order (EO) directives. The Advisor will identify implementation bottlenecks and facilitate solutions through coordinated technical support.  The Health Expert will be based within the NDOH under the direction of appropriate Ministry staff serving as the onsite Manager/Supervisor and will report to the U.S. Department of State weekly and monthly. Familiarity with U.S. Department of State programming is highly desirable.

Responsibilities

Technical Leadership

The Advisor will provide strategic technical leadership to ensure effective implementation of the MOU between the US Embassy and the NDOH.

• Lead technical strategy and planning across the four Areas of Cooperation (Surveillance & Outbreak Response, Laboratory Systems, Data Systems, and Strategic Investment) while ensuring coherence across HIV, outbreak response, laboratory, and digital health systems
• Provide technical guidance on achieving MOU outcome metrics, including HIV cascade targets (diagnosis, treatment, viral suppression) and maternal and child health mortality reduction goals and in meeting the 7-1-7 detection and containment target.
• Advise on evidence-based approaches to strengthen PNG's health system resilience and infectious disease response capabilities, monitoring global best practices and recommending context-appropriate adaptations
• Ensure technical compliance with U.S. Government policies and PNG Government regulations, including technical input on the transition of U.S. Government-funded positions and systems to PNG Government management per MOU timelines

Management of Programs/Activity Implementation

The Advisor will oversee day-to-day management and coordination of MOU implementation activities to ensure timely achievement of process metrics and deliverables.

• Develop and monitor comprehensive work plans with clear timelines, milestones, and deliverables, tracking progress against MOU metrics and transition timelines for healthcare workers, laboratory staff, and data systems
• Coordinate implementation of surveillance and outbreak response activities, including field epidemiologist training, surge response mechanisms, and quality assurance across all program activities adhering to international standards
• Oversee rollout and integration of digital health systems (DHIS2, Open ELIS, VLSM, mSupply, Outbreak Information Management System)
• Identify implementation bottlenecks and manage risks, developing solutions and mitigation strategies in consultation with stakeholders while supporting capacity building for PNG Government staff assuming transitioned functions

Coordination of Partners, Technical Working Groups/Committees

The Advisor will serve as a primary liaison between the U.S. Government and PNG Government, facilitating effective coordination among all stakeholders.

• Serve as technical secretariat support to the GHS MSC and technical working groups, preparing materials, agendas, and documentation for quarterly MSC meetings and annual MOU review sessions in coordination with PNG's National Department of Health
• Coordinate with U.S. Government implementing partners (including FHI360 and other contractors) to ensure alignment with MOU objectives, and liaise with PNG Government ministries, departments, and provincial health authorities on implementation
• Facilitate coordination with the PNG eHealth Technical Working Group and Steering Committee on digital health system integration, and coordinate with multilateral organizations and development partners to maximize synergies and avoid duplication
• Build and maintain productive working relationships with key stakeholders at national and provincial levels, facilitating communication and information sharing between U.S. Government and PNG Government representatives

Communications:

• Regular conference calls with multisectoral stakeholders, US Embassy and GHSD Washington to review progress, discuss activities and address emerging issues.
• The GHS Technical Advisor should provide information and avail him/herself for calls/meetings with the US Embassy as requested.
• The Advisor will provide monthly reports to US Embassy/U.S. Department of State

Reporting:

The Advisor will establish and maintain comprehensive reporting systems to track MOU performance and ensure accountability.  He will provide a detailed monthly report to the U.S. Department of State submitted by the 5th day of the following month.  Additionally, the Advisor will submit a weekly progress report to U.S. Embassy/Department of State (and participate in weekly calls) to include a short paragraph about main successes for that week. 

• Develop and implement a monitoring and evaluation framework aligned with MOU metrics, tracking outcome and process indicators, infectious disease outbreak response timelines, and progress toward 2026-2030 targets
• Prepare comprehensive reports including quarterly progress reports for the MSC, annual performance assessments, and ad hoc reports as requested, ensuring compliance with U.S. Government accountability requirements to Congress
• Support audit and data management processes outlined in Section 4 (process metric, co-investment, and regulatory compliance audits), facilitate data collection under the Section 2.5.2 data sharing arrangement, and maintain comprehensive records of implementation activities
• Document lessons learned and alert Participants promptly to significant implementation challenges or risks to achieving MOU objectives, recommending modifications as appropriate during annual MOU reviews

Qualifications

• University degree in a relevant field and postgraduate degree in public health or epidemiology preferred.
• Minimum of seven years of program management experience in strategic planning, coordination, and evaluation of public health programs, with emphasis on disease, surveillance, prevention and outbreak response.
• Strong network and substantial experience working with ministerial level policy makers and multisectoral collaboration is an advantage.
• Demonstrated experience working in Papua New Guinea or the Pacific region.
• Familiarity with global health security programs