State Technical Malaria Lead at Management Sciences For Health - MSH

Overview

• The Presidents Malaria Initiative for States (PMI-S) is a five-year PMI/USAID flagship malaria project implemented through a consortium led by the Management Sciences for Health (MSH).
• The project is supporting the Government of Nigeria through its agencies at the federal, state, Local Government (LGA) and community levels to reduce under-five and maternal mortality by delivering quality services for management of malaria, its complications, and prevention. PMI-S project focuses on strengthening the capacity of the National Malaria Elimination Program (NMEP) for the implementation of the National Malaria Strategic Plan 2014-2020.
• PMI-S will target eight states of Nigeria, namely: Akwa Ibom, Benue, Cross-River, Ebonyi, Nassarawa, Oyo, Plateau and Zamfara.

Background

• The State Technical Malaria Lead, Ebonyi State will be responsible for supporting the State Coordinator, Ebonyi with technical leadership of the program, and contribute to operational oversight.
• The position holder will serve as a resource for up-to-date technical information on malaria control and elimination to USAID PMI and key stakeholders including the State Malaria Elimination Program.

Specific Responsibilities

• To provide strategic technical direction to the program by coordinating the development of the technical aspects of the program implementation approaches and ensuring appropriate consultations with stakeholders at all levels.
• To provide general technical support to the SMEP on malaria case management and malaria in pregnancy (MIP), including developing case management and MIP tools, participating in technical working groups, and providing technical leadership.
• To collaborate with SMEP (State Malaria Elimination Program) and SMoH staff to strengthen quality improvement and supervision systems for malaria interventions.
• To provide or delegate appropriately to members of the program technical team, technical support to all relevant levels of government to strengthen malaria control with particular focus on state to LGA and on down to facility and community levels for delivery of malaria control interventions.
• To proactively solve problems and technical challenges which may arise during program implementation and when necessary draw upon the expertise from Malaria team of specialist at country level, including the Senior Malaria Technical Advisor.
• To coordinate the program senior technical team to plan for, provide technical input in and monitor activity implementation.
• To contribute to the output harmonization of the program.
• To represent the program in malaria technical sub-committees and other meetings as agreed with the State Coordinator.
• To line manage a team of technical advisors to ensure effective delivery of their job descriptions and manage their performance into a high performing team.
• To adhere to MSH Standards of Technical Excellence (STEs) and carry out actions required to achieve or sustain standards.
• To manage medium to long-term consultants as agreed by the State Coordinator.
• To represent the program in relevant workshops or conferences as agreed with the State Coordinator.
• To act as an organizational resource point for relevant technical issues in the state.
• To provide support in advocacy and communication efforts relevant to the SMEP.
• To ensure that program M&E data and lessons are collated, analyzed, interpreted and used to inform programmatic decisions.
• To document program achievements and proactively have these shared through various channels such as written program updates and peer-reviewed journals.

Qualifications and Experience

• Medical degree, Master's in Public Health, Epidemiology, or related field.
• At least 5 years of experience in progressively responsible experience in designing, implementing and managing malaria and other health programs in developing countries
• Demonstrated experience managing successful teams comprised of experienced professionals
• Demonstrated technical leadership, program management, strategic planning, policy experience and problem solving skills working on complex projects in a highly sensitive environment are required
• Previous experience with or good knowledge of USAID operating procedures (proposal development and submission, monitoring and evaluation and reporting)
• Ability to work effectively in a team environment and communicate information to both health and non-health audiences, and achieve consensus on policy, project, research, and administrative matters
• Excellent verbal communication skills, tact and diplomacy are required to establish and develop sustainable working relationships at the highest level and a high level of trust with public/private organizations. Verbal communication skills are also used to negotiate activity plans and resolve activity implementation issues with counterparts, partners and team members. Excellent written communication skills are required to prepare regular and ad hoc reports, activity documentation and briefing papers.
• Excellent computer skills (MS Word, Excel, Power Point, and Outlook, Access, SPSS and other statistical and other relevant software) are required for effectively operating in this position. Good computer skills are required to implement, analyze, and monitor, and manage activity goals, inputs, outcomes, and achievements.