Technical Advisor, Health Financing (Insurance Integration) at Palladium Group

Duration: A term of one year, with a possibility of renewal.

Project Overview and Role   

• Health Policy Plus (HP+) is a USAID-funded five-year $185 million project awarded to Palladium in August 2015. HP+ has a mandate across global, country, and subnational levels to strengthen and advance health policy priorities in HIV, family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH), and maternal health.
• It aims to improve the enabling environment for equitable and sustainable health services, supplies, and delivery systems through policy development and implementation, with an emphasis on voluntary, rights-based health programs, and by strengthening in-country partners’ capacity to navigate complex environments for effective policy design, implementation, and financing aligned to their priorities.
• HP+ provides technical assistance to governments, civil society, and the private sector to effectively engage in domestic resource mobilization (DRM), put in place sustainable financing and accountability mechanisms, and make progress toward global, national, and subnational health goals.
• HP+ has been engaged by the USAID Nigeria Office to conceptualize and design activities to improve sustainable financing for Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and tuberculosis (TB) programs at the national level and in two USAID priority states – Lagos and Kano.
• These activities will span an initial period of 2 years, will continue efforts started by the Health Finance and Governance (HFG) project and complement current Strengthening Integrated Delivery of HIV and AIDS Services (SIDHAS) and Sustaining Health Outcomes through the Private Sector (SHOPS) Plus projects’ activities. 

Responsibilities   
Overall Responsibilities:

• The Technical Advisor, Health Financing will be responsible for taking the primary lead on insurance integration for HP+ Nigeria activities on Sustainable Health Financing of HIV/AIDS and TB Programs. (
• S)he will work with the larger team for co-design and implementation at the national level and in Lagos and Kano States.
• The Technical Advisor, Health Financing will technically supervise and collaborate with the Program Coordinator at the national level, State Coordinators and PFM Consultants at state level to ensure delivery of outputs per project workplan.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide technical oversight for the data collection activities for current user fee burden for people living with HIV and provide technical support to analysis and report writing.
• Provide technical support to the National Agency for Control of AIDS (NACA) and the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to develop language for inclusion of HIV testing and treatment services in the National Health Insurance Law.
• Lead technical support to the NHIS, NACA and the National TB and Leprosy Control Program (NTBLCP) in co-design of a national blueprint for integration of HIV and TB services in state health insurance schemes.
• Provide technical support to the development of state-specific roadmaps for integration of HIV and TB Services into the Kano and Lagos States’ Health Insurance Schemes in line with the national blueprint.
• Participate in co-design and development of an outcome-based provider payment model for TB at the state level. 
• Participate in design, preparation and facilitation of workshops and roundtable engagements with stakeholders as necessary.

Requirements   
Required Qualifications and Experience:

• Master’s degree in Public Health, Economics, Statistics, or other related discipline.
• At least eight (8)years of relevant work experience in health financing policy, health financing reforms and capacity building. Demonstrated expertise in HIV/AIDS, TB and health insurance.
• Sound understanding of TB, HIV epidemic and programs in Nigeria.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (MS Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc).
• Ability to meet tight deadlines and attention to detail.

Excellent interpersonal skills:

• Strong English writing, oral communication, and reporting skills.
• Flexibility, adaptability, and resourcefulness. Ability to take initiative and/or respond independently to situations.