Lead Advisor at Palladium Group

Reference No.: req10851

Programme Description and Responsibilities

• The objective of the Global Fund’s Private Sector Engagement Strategic Initiative (PSE SI) is to support grant recipient countries to harness their private sector to deliver more impactful responses to the three diseases. Phase One of the PSE SI process involves opportunity mapping, identifying red flags and opportunities where effective private sector engagement could deliver impressive results, define success and programmatic solutions (focussed on contracting and performance management); Phase Two will provide technical assistance to the country entities for programme commissioning and delivery of the solutions, which will provide lessons to inform the development of PSE policy and guidelines for the Global Fund.
• Palladium is seeking Lead Advisors to deliver technical assistance to the Global Fund on refining the programme designs from Phase I, developing results-based contracts and payment models and project planning to project initiation through mobilization to implementation  under the PSE SI Phase two.
• This 30-month programme will support the country entity with overall responsibility for programme commissioning and delivery, most likely to be the Principle Recipient (PR), as well as to the service providers.

Palladium is seeking advisors to work for the full duration of the programme with the following country groupings:

Working closely with the country entity and the Global Fund PSE team the Lead Advisor will:

• Lead the process of refining the program design and finalizing the funding (building on what has been achieved in Phase One) bringing together inputs from the GF PSE team, GF Country Team and the country entity;
• Lead the development of activity and results-based contracts and payment models in consultation with the GF PSE team and country team;
• Work along with the Performance Analyst to develop/adapt the management information systems to collate and analyse data on these models
• As part of the process, build capacities of the country entity and private sector service providers in results-based contracting
• Lead project planning and management, supporting the contracting entity for  
• Project initiation through mobilization to implementation;
• Budgeting and resource allocation;
• Ensuring adequate governance mechanisms are being put in place by the local contracting entity
• Stakeholder engagement and relationship management;
• Ensuring data capture systems are identified and M&E process and plan is defined (with the local contracting entity)
• Developing and implementing systems to deliver high quality and performance on contracts, and;
• Ensuring a constant cycle of evaluation and learning, and feedback to the GF PSE, GF country teams, country government and partners on progress and lessons.  

The Lead Advisor will be responsible for a set of two countries in the region; manage in-country performance analysts (one per country) and will work closely with the Global Fund Private Sector Engagement Team. They will be expected to visit each country in their group at least once per month (with the exception of Group 6).

Required Qualifications

• Academic degree in public health, health economics, MBA, finance or related disciplines. Lack of academic background can be compensated by experience – especially in results-based contracting.
• Proven experience working on design and implementation of results-based contracting and payment by results for social development programmes.
• Demonstrable experience of building capacity of private sector  providers of services in the health or social development sectors and/or the organisations that purchase those services
• Proven experience of having worked in social development in at least one of the countries grouped together in the table above (three for group 6). Experience of working on health programmes which focus on the Global Funds’ disease areas is desirable.
• Proven track record of delivering programme outputs, including producing high-quality written content (e.g., reports, technical or operational guidelines etc.), and achieving desired results.
• Track record of coordinating and quality assuring the work of teams, including consultants.  
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Excellent spoken and written French – for applicants for francophone countries.
• Experience implementing Global Fund programmes desired