Senior Technical Advisor Health Systems Strengthening Team Lead at Project Hope

POSITION SUMMARY:

Project HOPE is seeking to engage a Senior Technical Advisor Health Systems Strengthening Team Lead to support USAID THRIVE- South project in Nigeria.

• The purpose of the USAID THRIVE project is to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS on orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). The project will ensure that OVC are cared for and protected by their households, communities, local and state governments; while engaging with both government and private sector stakeholders for visibility of the project.
• The Systems Strengthening Team Lead reports to the Country Director and will be responsible for providing technical leadership to the USAID THRIVE project with emphasis on strengthening social service systems and building capacity of the social service workforce (formal and informal).
• S/he will work closely with the project leadership and staff to ensure program success and will be responsible for designing and implementing workplan and leading program activities as it relates to stakeholder engagement and systems strengthening for the OVC program at State and LGA levels.
• The Systems Strengthening Team Lead will provide technical leadership on all aspects of health systems to improve the quality of OVC service delivery by local and State government in all THRIVE SOUTH Implementation States, as well as lead efforts in resource mobilization from the Private sector.
• S/he will lead the technical team to produce quarterly, semi-annual and annual quantitative and narrative reports, including relevant information on lessons learnt, challenges encountered, and opportunities identified for improvement.

PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

 Program Implementation and Systems Strengthening:

• Contributes to program success and technical quality by mapping of existing networks and engage with government and private stakeholders on matters of concern.
• Coordinates with AONN network for monitoring of service delivery, capacity building and coordination of OVC CSO in focus states
• Engage with private sector service providers on agriculture and enterprise development
• Monitors USAID THRIVE program by reviewing information, reports, and data and assessing quality through regular exchange and communication with program teams. Collaborates with technical and monitoring and evaluation teams to monitor achievement of program and subproject objectives, indicators, and data collection.
• Builds program team capacity in technical areas and Systems Strengthening by training and mentoring and updating staff on technical developments.
• Leads, contributes to the development of, and ensures completion of program planning documents for assigned programs, including Work plans, Detailed Implementation Plans, Quarterly and Annual reports
• Ensures all safeguarding and PSEA trainings are coordinated with other partners on the project
• Coordinate and contribute to capacity building activities for government ministries and social service workforce at State, LGA and CBO level
• Ensures program utilization of up-to-date quality technical materials and guidelines that meet international standards including program design frameworks.
• Provides technical guidance on activity implementation and evaluation plans (consults with other technical staff especially M&E as needed).

• Coordinate the integration of adequate referral pathways on the USAID THRIVE project
• Design a Framework a framework to ensure strengthening of household, community, structures and government agencies to ensure a sustainable intervention that institutionalize OVC case management into health and social systems at the LGA level

Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning:

• Work with the Strategic Information Director to ensure that THRIVE South Project have strong M&E systems in place for program sustainability
• Responsible for program reporting to the Country Director
• Work with the Strategic Information Director, CQI Advisor to ensure quality data is captured at all levels, managed properly, and utilized for monitoring progress to target.
• Participates in developing & disseminating technical abstracts, articles, conference presentations & strategy papers.
• Contributes to sharing of “lessons learned” from the project to both government and private stakeholders.
• Other duties as assigned.

MINIMUM REQUIRED SKILLS, EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• Master’s Degree in Public Health, Statistics, Social Sciences, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Health Informatics or a health-related field is required
• At least 10 years of professional work experience designing and implementing Health System Strengthening activities for complex programs in developing countries.  Previous experience on USAID programs and health or social welfare-focused programs preferred
• Familiarity with the Nigerian Health system including government planning and budgeting processes at Federal and state levels
• Strong skills in negotiating with and engaging Ministry of Health officials at all levels of the health system.
• Familiarity with the challenges and opportunities of strengthening health systems in Sub Saharan Africa
• Familiarity with the use of organizational capacity assessment tools and performance tracking tools.
• Experience working with private sector actors involved in health service delivery
• Experience in designing and implementing annual resource mobilization plan
• Demonstrated experience in setting up and managing M&E systems that track organization development performance as per the objectives of the project
• Demonstrated computer skills in Microsoft Office Suite applications including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook and advanced skills in the use of analytical tools
• High degree of familiarity with community-based data bases such as DHIS 2 – its use, customization, and interoperability of related data management platforms.
• Demonstrated results with capacity building/training, and implementing training programs and workshops in Health and Community System Strengthening
• Demonstrated experience and understanding of PEPFAR MER Indicators, particularly OVC outcomes indicators
  Fluency in English.

 OTHER ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS  
Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse  

• Actively promote PSEA (Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse) standards within Project HOPE and among beneficiaries served by Project HOPE 

 Compliance & Ethics  

• Promote and encourage a culture of compliance and ethics throughout Project HOPE. 
• As applicable to the position, maintain a clear understanding of Project HOPE' and donor compliance and ethics standards and adhere to those standards. 
• Conduct work with the highest level of integrity 

Competency  

• Strong writing and presentation skills 
• Proven capabilities in leadership 
• Strong negotiation, interpersonal and organization skills 
• Ability to read, writes, analyze and interpret, technical and non-technical in the English language 
• Ability to effectively present information and respond appropriately to questions from senior managers in the field and HQ, counterparts, senior government and rebel leaders and other related regional players