State Coordinator at Palladium Group

Job Ref: req8237
Reports to: Senior Activity Manager         
Program: HP+ Nigeria Sustainable Health Financing of HIV/AIDS and TB Programs at National and Subnational Levels       
Duration: June 2020 to September 2020, with a possibility of renewal.

Project Overview and Role

• Health Policy Plus (HP+) is a USAID-funded five-year $185 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 – Kano 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.  

Overall Responsibilities

• The State Coordinator, Sustainable Health Financing is a full-time position in Kano State responsible for providing overall leadership and management of the HP+ Nigeria Sustainable Health Financing of HIV/AIDS and TB Programs activity.
• Specifically, the incumbent should demonstrate familiarity with organization and status of the Kano State Contributory Health Management Scheme (KSCHMA) 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), KSCHMA, 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 PFM Consultant and collaborate with the Technical Advisors and Country Director from HP+ at the national level to ensure the delivery of Kano State-related outputs per project workplan.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide overall leadership and management for HP+ Sustainable Health Financing of HIV /AIDS and TB Programs activity in Kano State.
• 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 support development and implementation of state roadmap for HIV and TB integration at the state level.
• Support HIV and DRM activities in the state in keeping with the workplan.
• 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.
• Provide updates and documentations as required for programming.
• Other duties as may be assigned

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Master's Degree 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, TB programming;
• Experience in health insurance implementation in Nigeria.   
• 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 key stakeholders in Kano state; SMOH, KSCHMA.
• 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.