Technical Malaria Specialist at Catholic Relief Services (CRS)

Band:                 7

Department:     Programs

Reports To:      Senior Program Manager – Global Fund Malaria

Location:          Abuja

Job Ref Code:   TMS170119

Full JD Link:       https://goo.gl/Khtx2w

Project Background:

CRS has a long and rich history of collaboration with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund). Since 2003, CRS has been awarded over $290 million in Global Fund resources to implement programs in 27 countries. In Nigeria, CRS is a Sub-Recipient (SR) on the Global Fund HIV and has been a Co-Principal Recipient (PR) for the Global Fund Malaria grant since January 2017. As a Co-PR, CRS partnered with the National Malaria Elimination Program (NMEP), various state governments and malaria partners and stakeholders to coordinate and implement the 2018-2020 Global Fund Malaria grant in 13 states. CRS is supervising and monitoring SRs in supporting a range of malaria treatment and prevention services at the state level.

For the 2018-2020 Global Fund Malaria grant, CRS will remain a Co-PR with NMEP, strengthening the synergy and collaboration with NMEP to improve efficiency and impact. CRS will work closely with NMEP, Malaria Consortium, Management Sciences for Health, Society for Family Health (SFH), various state governments and malaria partners and stakeholders to coordinate and implement the 2018-2020 GF Malaria grant. Key implementation will include improving the quality of Case Management (Uncomplicated and Severe Malaria), Long Lasting Insecticidal Net (LLIN) mass campaigns in GF supported states using the ICT4D strategy, Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention and working with Civil Society Organizations to strengthen advocacy and improve accountability. 

Job Summary:

The Technical Malaria Specialist (TMS) will support the Senior Program Manager (SPM) to provide oversight on the Quality of care for malaria case management, working closely with NMEP, SRs and other relevant stakeholders. S/he will monitor the implementation of Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC), Severe Malaria interventions, and community accountability on the GF Malaria grant. S/he will provide technical support to SR staff and liaise with stakeholders in Federal and State Ministries of Health to ensure adherence to national strategies and guidelines for malaria prevention, testing and treatment. In addition, s/he will track the implementation of grant activities as contained in the Detailed Implementation Plan (DIP), with emphasis on timely implementation, meeting targets and ensuring adherence to the approved budget and relevant guidelines.

Specific Job Responsibilities

1.  Case Management

• Work closely with NMEP and SMEPs to ensure improved quality of malaria case management practices (including but not limited to SMC and Severe Malaria)
• Work closely with NMEP, SMEPs and other relevant stakeholders in improving program quality
• Participate in Case Management Sub-committee meetings with NMEP and partners
• Participate in Malaria Technical Working group meetings
• Work closely with NMEP, SRs and CSOs to improve accountability on grant implementation
• Provide overall oversight roles to the SRs
• Provide support in ensuring that SR program activities are implemented according to the approved work plan and budget, paying attention to agreed timelines.
• Participate in monitoring and supervision of grant activities implemented by the SRs, ensuring that activity reports are developed, and feedback provided to SRs
• Support in tracking Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and other indicators on the grant

2.  Budget Management

• Support and participate in budget management activities (including but not limited to budget planning, financial reporting by SRs, forecasting and analysis of burn rates)
• Support and participate in reviewing actual financial performance against the budget for the various SR budgets, and explain variances on a regular basis
• Support and participate in activities to ensure sub-recipients remain in compliance with CRS and Global Fund donor rules and regulations for management of resources

• Participate actively in the monthly CRS Budget Comparison Report (BCR)/budget review meetings

3.  Partnership Management

• Support SPM as the Case Management contact for CRS sub-recipients, including sharing new information and ensuring healthy relationships are maintained between the sub-recipients and the state governments
• Represent CRS at relevant technical meetings with other malaria partners as delegated by the SPM, DCoP or CoP

• Carry out any other duties assigned by the supervisor

4.  Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL)

• With oversight from the SPM, collaborate and support the MEAL team to track progress towards relevant performance indicators, analyzing reasons for shortfalls and providing recommendations for improvement
• Provide support in the design and implementation of feedback mechanism for enhancing accountability on grant implementation
• In collaboration with other CRS and SRs staff, provide support and technical assistance to partners and other collaborating agencies to ensure that lessons learned and best practices for malaria programming are documented and disseminated
• Facilitate learning exchanges among SRs and between SRs and government ministries on malaria case management, and support quality improvement initiatives 

5.  Management and Administration

• Support elaboration of Program Update/Disbursement Requests (PU/DR) in collaboration with other program staff
• Review SRs’ program reports and provide feedback on implementation progress and performance, identifying solutions to address challenges and weaknesses

• Ensure implementation of activities in compliance with all CRS and Global Fund administrative and operational procedures and policies, as well as other applicable donor regulations

Education and Experience

• M.D/MBBS required with significant field experience in clinical and/or community-based malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment AND post graduate degree in public health or health management.
• At least 6 years of post NYSC relevant experience in public health with a strong preference for candidates with at least 4 years’ experience in malaria programming.
• Experience in malaria programming at the field level and providing technical assistance to partner organizations; knowledge and experience of programmatic and technical service delivery challenges highly desired.
• Ability to work both in a team and independently and ability to transfer knowledge through formal and informal training.

• Experience with, and a demonstrated commitment to, community-based approach to development.

• Experience with implementation of GF grant is a plus.

• Ability to interface with multiple stakeholders, representatives, and partners in a professional manner on an ongoing basis.

• Excellent analytical and information seeking skills, good decision-making skills.
• Experience with participatory planning and evaluation methods preferred.
• Must be familiar with and committed to gender equity in programming and management practices
• Strong inter-personal and public relations skills.
• Willingness and ability to travel regularly and at short notices.
• Excellent English language oral and written communication skills.
• Proficiency in MS Office, including Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook.

Key Working Relationships:

Internal: Global Fund Malaria Program Team, Deputy Country Representatives, Country Representative, Head of Operations, Finance, Procurement and Administration Staff, Regional and Senior Technical Advisors, Deputy Regional Directors for PQ and MQ

External: Global Fund’s Fund Portfolio Manager and Nigeria Country Team, SRs, State Ministries of Health (SMOH), National Malaria Elimination Program (NMEP) within the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), Technical and Financial Partners, health facility workers, Local Fund Agent (LFA)

Physical Requirements/Environment: Ability to travel frequently to the project sites in all GF supported states