Program Officer - Sokoto at Jhpiego - John Hopkins University

Overview

• Jhpiego seeks a State Program Officer to provide technical and programmatic oversight, and act as an integral part of Jhpiego project team for an innovative Unitaid project that seeks to reduce PPH-related mortality and morbidity globally.
• The State Program Officer will be located in Ondo State. Accelerating Measurable Progress and Leveraging Investments for PPH Impact (AMPLI-PPHI) is a two- and half--year project that will catalyze early adoption and set the stage for scale up of new and recently recommended drugs for postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) in high-burden countries with a focus on DRC, Guinea, India, Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia. AMPLI-PPHI Nigeria will generate evidence (feasibility, acceptability, costing) to support the expansion of new PPH medicines at all different levels of the health system. Project efforts will also focus on supporting efforts towards State and national readiness, from community to district and national level stakeholders, to help propel scale-up after life of project.
• The State Program Officer's responsibilities include providing technical guidance in the development, implementation and evaluation of project activities. In additions s/he will be responsible for managing and implementing training/capacity building at project facilities and overseeing community-based activities to support drug delivery at the community level. S/he will also engage closely with key stakeholders including civil society organizations (CSOs), national societies and technical working group (TWG) representatives to help propel coordination of PPH efforts and shape efforts for continuity following life of project. Under the leadership of the global senior MNH Technical Advisor and the local Sr. MNH Program Technical Lead, the State Program Officers will work to ensure the technical and methodological soundness of activities and, in collaboration with the project team, the MOH and partners, support the design of service delivery strategies to implement new and recently recommended drugs for PPH based on sound, current scientific evidence.

Responsibilities

• Ensure that the project is technically sound, evidence-based and aligned with project objectives.
• Develop and maintain strong working relationships with host State, local government and ministry, country professional associations for obstetrics and gynecology, nursing and midwifery, as well as other implementing partners, private sector partners and other key stakeholders to maximize resources and avoid duplication of effort.
• Present Jhpiego and the project’s progress, achievements and lessons learned to donors, key stakeholders, and through meetings, and conferences.
• Represent Jhpiego as an advocate for WHO guidance on package of new or newly approved drugs for PPH at TWGs, committees, and at meetings with key stakeholders.
• Working with the global and local Senior Technical Advisors, the Ministry of Health (MOH), Local government and key partners, participate in the review and adaptation of service delivery guidelines and the materials and processes to build capacity of the health workforce to deliver the package of PPH drugs within the current health system structure at both facility and community levels.
• Develop and implement capacity building strategies and activities including conducting master trainings to build capacity of State trainers to cascade training/technical updates to project facilities using Jhpiego’s low-dose, high-frequency (LDHF) approach to learning.
• Mentor State trainers to provide LDHF training onsite at the selected health facilities.
• Ensure community level stakeholders are part of the process for informing and shaping MNH aspects of the program.
• Collaborate with the MER team, and other project personnel, to support ongoing monitoring, evaluation and learning including collaboration with global and in country MER Leads as required.
• Provide technical support in creating and strengthening linkages between facility and community activities ensuring there is seamless implementation of activities leading to improved health outcomes at facility, local and state government levels.
• Support implementation and dissemination of implementation research and program learning, aligned with national stakeholders interests and the global project learning agenda
• Provide technical support for Quality Improvement/Quality Assurance interventions at facility level in collaboration with local government Health Management Teams
• Work closely with the community health workers to ensure good facility- community linkage and successful project implementation at the community and facility levels.
• Draft and/or review inputs to project reports and other programmatic and technical documents.
• Maintain effective communication between relevant partners, including identifying, compiling, and disseminating relevant literature and tools.
• Coordinate learning activities and leading efforts to translate data and findings into programmatic guidance and policy advocacy.
• Identify training needs and assist in design/implementation of measures to address those needs.
• Represent the project at the state and local government technical forums as well as other stakeholder meetings.
• Document best practices and success stories during routine programming.
• Work closely with Jhpiego home office staff to ensure effective, timely and coordinated project implementat
• Ensure compliance with Unitaid operational policies and regulations.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Nursing science and Midwivery, public health or a related field.
• 5 to 6 years' experience successfully providing technical assistance and training in international health sector development projects that have implemented successful activities in maternal and newborn health, obstetrics hemorrhage, and/or postpartum care
• Professional, licensed provider (MD, RN, RNM), or qualification in other public health related field of study
• Demonstrated competency in provision of clinical, obstetric services.
• Middle-level experience in advising and collaborating with the MOH at central and sub-geographic level
• Excellent diplomacy skills and a proven ability to establish and maintain interpersonal and professional relationships with varied stakeholders.
• Excellent technical writing, problem solving, communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to work in a complex environment with multiple projects/tasks, short deadlines, competing deadlines and intense pressure to perform.
• Able to work independently and manage multiple tasks in a team setting with minimal supervision.
• Awareness of, sensitivity to, and experience effectively working in diverse socioeconomic settings and with multi-cultural staff and groups.
• Strong teamwork skills: establishing productive relationships; meeting team objectives
• Computer literacy and experience with Office 365
• Travel: Ability and willingness to travel
• Domestically to conduct training, mentorship and supervision of trainers, and attend stakeholder/partner meetings and,
• Internationally to attend global conference

Preferred Qualifications

• Previous experience serving as clinical trainer in basic emergency obstetric and newborn care (BEmONC), Helping Mothers Survive or similar training approach
• Demonstrated experience in trainer development.
• Implementation research data collection, analysis or management experience
• Excellent problem-solving skills and demonstrated experience with health care systems of low and middle-income countries.
• In-depth understanding of and experience working in the local health system
• Fluent in written and spoken English preferred.