Program Officer, Maternal Newborn Child Nutrition Health at Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation

Your Role

• The Program Officer (PO) will lead the development and operationalization of a robust execution engine that will support the scale up of a set of high impact Maternal Newborn Child Nutrition Health (MNCNH) interventions in Nigeria. The primary focus of the PO will be to support all the Senior Program Officers leading on the conception and management of a complex portfolio of grants and technical assistance at federal level and in selected states to accelerate the implementation of the foundation’s strategy to scale high impact interventions that improve maternal, newborn and child nutrition health outcomes in Nigeria. The PO will achieve this by i) developing and implementing an operational plan for execution, ii) strengthening ecosystem capacities and partnerships for execution, and iii) supporting mechanisms for monitoring, evaluation, learning and adaptation during program implementation.
• The PO will work closely with government, private sector, and civil society partners to catalyze these efforts. The focus of the foundation’s work will involve development, testing and scale-up of high impact and cost-effective solutions in selected areas to get results and influence scale across Nigeria and potentially other similar contexts within the region and Africa.
• This is a limited term employment (LTE) for 24 months. This role will be based in Abuja, Nigeria and report to the Deputy Director, Family Health in the Nigeria country office (NCO) and will work closely with MNCNH Program Strategy Team colleagues.

What You’ll Do

The selected candidate will be responsible for the following tasks:

• Support the implementation of the NCO family health strategy for Nigeria under the leadership of the Deputy Director, and in partnership with other Nigeria Country Office (NCO) health staff, Program Strategy Teams (PSTs) and the Global Policy and Advocacy (GPA) team. This strategy will explore support for levels of policy, planning, institutional strengthening, and sustainable financing using public and private sector perspectives.
• Identify, negotiate, implement and monitor performance-based contracts/grants to operationalize the foundations health strategy in Nigeria. This will entail playing a role in increasing foundation’s engagement in the implementation of National and State Primary Health Care Development Agencies as well as engagement with other partners working on PHC issues in Nigeria
• In partnership with State Leads collaborate with development partners, and the Foundation to drive implementation of the National and sub-national PHC Strategies to strengthen the PHC systems
• Serve as a member of the Nigeria Country Office health team, acting as a technical resource on Nigeria MNCNH issues and liaise with the foundation MNCNH PST.
• Represent the foundation in working groups on maternal and newborn health at state and federal levels – this would include delving into issues from the policy level to state level implementation engagements (in agreement with the DD Family Health)
• Provide technical expertise and guidance on capacity building, planning, implementation and monitoring to key government agencies and partners in the development of achievable, measurable plans and objectives for implementation of innovative interventions for Nigeria. This will entail designing, implementation and monitoring of foundation’s support for capacity building and ensuring these efforts are integrated with system and quality improvements.
• Work closely with the MNCNH SPO to support the scale up of innovations to address maternal anemia and post-partum hemorrhage, improve neonatal health outcomes, and innovative midwifery practices.
• Support and advise colleagues within the foundation and their grantees in the design and execution of projects and initiatives to ensure integration of services to strengthen PHC health systems
• Manage partnerships and grantee relationships to ensure learning and impact, for example, by conducting site visits, convening meetings of key partners, monitoring and evaluating components of grants.
• Provide technical advice, recommendations and analytical opinions for the NCO strategy and activities in relation to the achievement of its strategy and goals.
• Implement other duties as assigned.

Your Experience

• Atleast 7+ years of experience years of relevant work experience in maternal and newborn health in African settings is preferred. Advanced degree in public health, epidemiology and human resources for health or other areas is preferred.
• Experience in a low-income country context, or equivalent experience, in working with ministries of health and finance, donors and implementing agencies in shaping the health care financing agenda. For example, Health Insurance and ensuring its implementation nationally and sub-nationally
• Established track record of carrying out analytical/diagnostic work and preparing high-quality technical reports, policy briefing materials, and presentations to influence health financing policy decision making and implementation at national and subnational levels
• Experience in the use of diagnostics and other decision tools to improve quality, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of care. Track record of building strong relationships with implementing partners, donors, and officials at all levels of government.
• Deep understanding of the Nigerian health system and of federal and state health policy, with on-the-ground experience in northern Nigeria in particular.
• Deep experience with large-scale health systems strengthening interventions – including multiple approaches to strengthening that range from interventions and sectoral-specifics.
• Significant experience in strategy and planning, organizational development, change facilitation and process management in the health sector.
• Demonstrated commitment to the foundation’s core values, mission, and programs and to serving our grantees and the people of Nigeria.
• Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared/joint objectives, both internally and externally. Ability to orchestrate effective decisions across a broad range of issues and partners, assess progress, analyse gaps, and make necessary changes.
• Seeing ahead to future possibilities and translating them into strategies, concrete theories of change and actions. Ability to think/act like an investor and a creative problem solver. Innovative and open-minded approach; ability to question and challenge colleagues including managers and partners in a constructive manner.
• Making sense of complex, high quantity and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems – especially in managing relations. Demonstrated ability to work with flexibility, efficiency, and diplomacy in a complex, fast-paced environment both in Nigeria and in headquarter (Seattle).
• Developing and delivering communications that convey complex situations in a clear and concise manner with a broad and diverse audience.
• Rebounding from setbacks and adversity when facing difficult situations both internally and externally. Self-motivated and self-managing.
• Comfortable in a wide range of cultural, geographic and operational situations, demonstrating culturally sensitive behavior with a diverse range of people.
• Ability to travel up to 40% domestically and internationally.
• Must be able to legally work in the country where this position is located without visa sponsorship.