Immunization Specialist/Consultant at Direct Consulting and Logistics (DCL)

Support: Technical Assistance to the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and National Emergency Routine Immunization Coordination Center (NERICC)

Location:  Abuja (with some travel)

Duration:  June 2021- November 2021 (with a possibility of renewal)

Fees:  Negotiable

Direct Consulting and Logistics (DCL) is a Limited Liability Company established by public health specialists, environmentalists, and educationists who desire to see a healthy, prosperous and peaceful Nigeria. DCL's vision is to lead the delivery of sustainable public health outcomes in Nigeria. The organization's mission is to be a world-class social enterprise building strong collaborations and human capacity to deliver high-quality research, efficient program execution, and innovative solutions to improve public health systems' performance along the value chain. DCL implements and manages the Johns Hopkins International Vaccine Access Centre (IVAC) projects in Nigeria.

Overview of the role

The successful applicant will serve as a technical consultant for DCL. The applicant will primarily support the NPHCDA and NERICC. The applicant will work together with the government to help them effectively use available resources to achieve their goal to improve routine immunization (RI) coverage in Nigeria.

To achieve this, the Consultant will support the government with:

• Strategic planning and coordination
• Service delivery and Human Resource for Health
• Prioritization of programmatic efforts
• Monitoring and evaluation of progress.
• The Consultant will also be required to travel within the country when needed.

Responsibilities

• Support the DCL/IVAC government technical support portfolio, which will involve collaborating with the NPHCDA and other development partners to develop and update evidence-based and technically sound strategies for NPHCDA programs.
• Support the development of country-specific strategies and work plans and assist the NPHCDA team in managing effective implementation of planned activities, including adherence to timelines, and coordinating review and feedback from technical teams.
• Assess progress against goals and donor commitments to measure impact, identify program bottlenecks or weaknesses, help devise solutions to strengthen programs as necessary.
• Ensure the quality of products and documents produced by the assigned working group, including strategic plans, guidelines, and standard operating procedures, presentations, project reports, and implementation updates.
• Maintain strong relationships with partner organizations and initiatives working on immunization.
• Represent DCL/IVAC at meetings and conferences where necessary.
• Other responsibilities as needed.

Qualifications

• Master's Degree in a relevant field (e.g., Public Health, Epidemiology)
• At least six years of work experience, 3 of which should be post-graduate experience, with increasing levels of responsibility and leadership
• current knowledge in the field of immunization linked with maternal and child health, including capacity building and infection prevention and control
• Experience providing technical assistance to a national or state immunization program
• Experience in planning, coordination, and conduct of innovative capacity building approaches to improve the knowledge and skills of health workers, specifically the use of adaptive management and human-centered design approaches (HCD)
• Experience conducting literature reviews, evidence synthesis, quantitative and qualitative assessments, monitoring and evaluation, etc
• Experience in strategy development, planning, and project implementation
• Experience working and communicating with government officials and multilateral organizations
• Excellent writing, oral communication, and presentation skills, including effective communication of results through data visualization to audiences of varying technical backgrounds
• Demonstrated analytical, quantitative, and problem-solving skills
• Demonstrated resourcefulness, tenacity, patience, humility, and strong work ethic skills
• High levels of proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Ability to work independently in unstructured settings and to adapt to new environments and challenges
• Proven record of working effectively within a team
• Willingness to travel 20-30% of the time
• What DCL Offers
• Flexible working environment.
• Friendly and intellectually stimulating working environment