Lagos State Coordinator (Consultant) at Palladium Group

Reference: req11432

Duration: 2 months in the first phase, with a possibility of renewal for an additional 2 months.

Project Overview and Role

• Palladium is a global leader in the design, development and delivery of Positive Impact – the intentional creation of enduring social and economic value. Palladium works with foundations, investors, governments, corporations, communities and civil society to formulate strategies and implement solutions that generate lasting social, environmental and financial benefits
• Health Policy Plus (HP+) is a USAID-funded seven-year $222 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.  

 Primary Duties and Responsibilities

• The State Coordinator (Consultant), Sustainable Health Financing will be based in Lagos State and will be responsible for providing leadership and management of the HP+ Nigeria Sustainable Health Financing of HIV/AIDS Programs activity in Lagos State.
• Specifically, S/he should demonstrate familiarity with organization and status of the Lagos State Health Insurance Scheme (LSHS) and access to key stakeholders and decision makers in the state, with ability for advocacy and leadership to develop and strengthen partnerships and coordination to achieve a sustainable and state-owned impact. 
• S/he will work closely with principal staff from the State Ministry of Health (SMoH), LSHS, LSACA, MoBEP, Regional and State offices of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and other relevant institutions to ensure successful implementation of the workplan.
• S/he will work closely with the State Technical Specialist and collaborate with the Technical Advisors and Country Director at the national level to ensure delivery of Lagos State-related outputs per project workplan. 

Key Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and management for HP+ Sustainable Health Financing of HIV/AIDS activity in Lagos State; integration of HIV into SHIS and DRM for HIV efforts.
• Lead in the engagement of major decision makers and other stakeholders in the State.
• Lead in the conduct of high-level advocacy actions as required in the state.
• Ensure adequate visibility is given to program activities in the state.
• Provide technical support as necessary to in the expansion and consolidation of HIV integration progress working in collaboration with key stakeholders.
• Provide financial and administrative leadership to project activities at the state level
• Participate in design, preparation and facilitation of workshops and roundtable engagements with stakeholders as necessary.

Required Qualifications

• Post-graduate Qualification in Public Health, Public Policy, Political Science, Public Administration, Communication, or a related technical degree
• Experience in Health Economics/Financing in Nigeria.
• Sound understanding of TB, HIV epidemic and programs in Nigeria.
• Significant experience in HIV/AIDS; health insurance.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (MS Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc).
• Evidence of a strong track record of successfully engaging with key decision makers in the state; familiarity with the SMOH, LSHIS, MoBEP preferred.
• Strong program management and supervisory skills.
• Strong interpersonal, writing, presentation, and organizational skills.
• Demonstrated problem solving, analytic, financial, and evaluative skills.
• 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.

Evaluation Criteria:
Applications will be evaluated based on below evaluation criteria:

• Experience and Required Education (45%):
  • Post-graduate qualification in Public Health or a related Technical Degree
  • Experience in Health Economics/Financing in Nigeria.
  • Evidence of a strong track record of successfully engaging with key decision makers in the state; familiarity with the SMOH, LSHIS, MoBEP preferred.
  • Strong program management and supervisory skills.
  • Strong interpersonal, writing, presentation, and organizational skills.
• Technical (35%)
  • Knowledge of the Nigerian and Lagos Health financing landscape
  • Sound understanding of TB, HIV epidemic and programs in Nigeria.
  • Significant technical experience in HIV/AIDS; health insurance.
  • Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (MS Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc).
• Costs (20%):
  • Interested candidates are requested to propose their daily rate.
  • The proposed daily rate or deliverable costs should be reasonable and realistic.