Country Representative at Palladium Group

Project Overview and Role
Health Policy Plus (HP+) is a USAID-funded five-year project awarded to Palladium on August 28, 2015. HP+ has a mandate across global, country, and sub-national levels to strengthen and advance health policy priorities in the areas of family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH), HIV, and maternal health. It aims to improve the enabling environment for equitable and sustainable health services, supplies, and delivery systems 1) through policy development and implementation, with an emphasis on voluntary, rights-based health programs; and 2) by strengthening in-country partners? capacity to navigate complex environments for effective policy design, implementation, and financing.

In Nigeria?building on the work of past Policy projects?HP+ seeks to close the gap between public sector family planning policy and funding commitments and action at the national level and in the states of Sokoto, Bauchi, and Ebonyi. The project will implement activities focused on the following:

Evidence creation: designing and developing evidence on family planning at national and subnational levels. Evidence creation includes applying analytical models, such as Resources for the Awareness of Population Impacts on Development (RAPID) and others.

Advocacy: supporting family planning advocacy at national and subnational levels, with an emphasis on building sustainable, localized advocacy capacity.

HP+ is seeking a local Country Representative to lead project activities in Nigeria. The Country Representative will support the implementation of the project, including 1) providing technical and management oversight; 2) monitoring/reporting on project activities; and 3) representing the project externally (USAID/Nigeria, donors, implementers, and the public sector). The position is full-time, based in Abuja, and involves up to 30% travel within Nigeria to support state-level work. The Country Representative will maintain a direct reporting relationship with the HP+ Nigeria Country Activity Manager (CAM) based in Washington, DC.

Responsibilities

• Manage the day-to-day activities of the project at the national level, and in Sokoto, Bauchi, and Ebonyi.
• Provide technical input and oversight of all project activities (both evidence creation and advocacy components), including developing and reviewing curricula, reports, presentations, briefs, and posters.
• Support hiring and supervision of project staff (those working directly on the technical activities of the project).
• Monitor spending and forecast expenses.
• Participate and represent the project and its activities externally, including with USAID/Nigeria.
• Manage relationships between Palladium in Washington, DC and the Government of Nigeria, state and local governments, civil society, development partners, and implementers.
• Assist with monitoring, evaluation, and reporting of HP+ activities, including the documentation of project results (outputs and outcomes).
• Ensure quality of services and compliance with project/program requirements.
• Provide updates (in writing and/or during meetings) to US-based CAM and Nigeria-based Country Director, as requested.

Requirements

• Advanced degree (MD or PhD) of public health, demography, or related discipline from a recognized institution.
• At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience?technical and management work?in the area of family planning/reproductive health policy, project implementation, and/or financing.
• Thorough knowledge of the family planning landscape in Nigeria, including the states of Sokoto, Bauchi, and Ebonyi.
• Demonstrated familiarity and experience working with Nigerian family planning stakeholders, including decision-makers at national, state, and LGA levels, and advocacy/civil society organizations.
• Mastery of written and verbal English-language communication skills. Strong preference for mastery of Hausa, as well.
• Strong writing skills; ability to synthesize information into a cohesive report/product.
• Ability and willingness to travel throughout Nigeria.
• Experience with USAID projects is strongly preferred.