Regional Health Lead at Palladium Group

Project Overview and Role

• We are seeking country-based Regional Health Leads for the anticipated FCDO-funded Ending Preventable Deaths (EPD) Support Programme, which is expected to be a three-year programme with a budget of £7m. The roles are contingent on Palladium’s successful bid for the programme. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
• The EPD Support Programme will support FCDO central and country teams to contribute to ending the preventable deaths of mothers, babies, and children by 2030 by strengthening health systems, improving human rights, and enabling healthier environments in 11 flagship countries and several countries in protracted crises. The support to FCDO central and country teams will come in the form of long-term and short-term technical assistance (TA) through local and international consultants.
• The direct objective of the TA is to support FCDO country teams to influence the policy, legal, and strategic environments needed to make progress on EPD in tandem with the efforts of centrally managed and bilateral country programmes. The exact nature of the TA requested in each country will be informed by the bottlenecks and opportunities FCDO identifies in consultation with national governments and local partners.
• The 11 flagship countries are Bangladesh, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and South Sudan. The 4 countries in protracted crises are Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

• The leads will be based in their respective regional countries. The programme is expected to commence from September 2024.
• Regional Health Leads will oversee the day-to-day implementation of TAs in their specific geographic region, including providing strategic direction to the programme.
• S/he will oversee TA assignments within their region, including (1) managing TA providers; (2) engaging with FCDO posts; (3) providing quality assurance (QA) of TA assignments and; (4) tracking and reporting progress.

The Regional Health Leads will:

• Develop and implement strategic plans for their assigned geographic.
• Provide leadership and guidance to TA providers, ensuring alignment with TA objectives.
• Foster productive relationships with ministries of health, local partners, donors, and other stakeholders to facilitate collaboration and garner support for programme initiatives.
• Oversee the deployment of TA resources within the region.
• Conduct rigorous QA processes to ensure the quality and relevance of TA interventions and outputs, conducting regular reviews and providing feedback to consultants and teams as necessary.
• Support the core team to monitor, evaluate, learn and share knowledge of programme progress and impact from their region.
• Identify potential risks and challenges to programme implementation within the region and develop mitigation strategies.
• Ensure compliance with programme guidelines, protocols, and ethical standards in all activities undertaken within the region.

Required Qualifications

• Subject matter expertise in health systems strengthening, with documented contributions to EPD programming.
• Proven experience and expertise in building and maintaining strong relationships with government partners, particularly ministries of health.
• Direct experience overseeing and delivering programmes for donors, with strong preference for previous FCDO experience.
• Demonstrated success in managing international teams to achieve results, including oversight and QA of TA consultants' work, with exceptional attention to detail.
• Strong managerial skills, with the ability to monitor, track, and report on project progress.
• Familiarity with national and international health policies, regulations, and legal frameworks relevant to maternal, child, and newborn health.
• Capacity to think strategically and develop innovative approaches to address complex health system challenges in the assigned region.
• Clear analytical skills and the ability to quality assure documentation.
• Proficiency in written and verbal English, and for Central & West Africa Lead - French.