Technical Specialist 12 / Family Planning / Reproductive Health Technical Director - SHOPS Plus at ABT Associates

Job ID: 51487
Location: Abuja

Job Description

• Abt Associates seeks a FP/RH expert with clinical and public health experience to serve as FP/RH Technical Director in Nigeria under SHOPS Plus. SHOPS Plus is USAID’s flagship initiative in private sector health.
• The project seeks to harness the full potential of the private sector and catalyze public-private engagement to improve health outcomes in family planning, HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, and other health areas.
• In Nigeria, SHOPS Plus will capacitate public and private providers to scale up family planning, especially long acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs).
• The Family Planning and Reproductive Health (FP/RH) Technical Director will provide technical leadership in the areas of clinical FP/RH training and learning, with particular emphasis on long acting reversible contraceptives.
• He/she will develop training strategies to increase the capacity of providers to offer LARC services, design and guide interventions, develop key technical partnerships, and ensure that clinical training skills and supervision of health care providers is sustained.
• He/she will supervise the assessment of training needs and develop or adapt training materials in line with national policies and procedures.
• He/she will represent the project in technical fora

Key Roles and Responsibilities
The FP/RH Technical Director will be an integral part of the SHOPS Plus senior program management team and s/he will:

• Lead the development of the  project’s FP/RH training strategy that ensures an appropriate mix of providers
• Lead or supervise capacity building activities for an appropriate mix of health care providers in family planning and reproductive health including task sharing..
• Ensure that all capacity building activities are carried out according to national and international standards.
• Ensure incorporation of client-centered care in all capacity building activities for quality of care within the context of rights-based FP.
• Contribute to the development of the accountability mechanism to foster client-centered care, and ensure client’s rights and choice are respected by the providers.
• Ensure inclusion of a continuum of learning process in the capacity building activities
• Identify key barriers and opportunities for FP/RH services.
• Contribute to the development of the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan (AMELP), including gathering and analyzing data.
• Provide ongoing quality assurance and quality improvement for technical activities, including feeding back learning from AMELP and international best practices.
• Contract and supervise the work of national FP/RH trainers.
• Serve as technical resource for all training, including training of trainers.
• Lead implementation of referral systems, as necessary.
• Build and maintain relationships with a broad range of prospective partners and participate in relevant technical working groups.
• Collaborate with other implementing partners that focus on demand generation, behavior change, contraceptive supplies, and other essential services.
• Facilitate the delivery of contraceptives for the last mile to the facilities.
• Ensure that both public and private facilities follow reporting procedures.
• Together with the COP, develop and implement a FP/RH scale up strategy for the private sector in partnership with the public sector.
• Together with the COP, serve as a senior manager to ensure smooth functioning of the project.
• Prepare technical reports on the SHOPS Plus FP/RH program.
• Supervise the work of project’s state offices.
• Supervise the work of designated staff and consultants.

Preferred Skills / Prerequisites

• Medical degree and at least 10 years of professional experience in FP/RH project implementation and/or service provision.
• At least of five years of experience in capacity building, curriculum development, and training.
• Deep familiarity with FP/RH policies and procedures of the MOH, WHO and USAID.
• Knowledge and familiarity with specific USAID and WHO gold standard tools such as the FP Training Resource Package (TRP); WHO’s four cornerstones of FP guidance - the MEC, the selected practice recommendations, the decision making tool and the updated global handbook- particularly, familiarity with the Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use (MEC) and the global handbook; and WHO’s global recommendations and guidliens related to task sharing in FP;  are desirable.
• Proven capacity to supervise staff and to work as a team player.
• Proven ability to gather data and document program activities, successes, and lessons learned.
• Excellent oral and written communications skills in English; Local languages preferred.
• Knowledge of Nigerian health sector.
• Experience with USAID FP/RH programs
• Applicants must be a Nigerian or have a work permit for Nigeria.

Minimum Qualification

• (10+) years of experience and a bachelor degree OR the equivalent combination of education and experience.