State Technical Assistant (STA) - Katsina at The Health Strategy and Delivery Foundation (HSDF)

Role Summary

• The State Technical Assistant will provide critical technical support to intervention secondary health facilities and PHCs in designated LGAs for the successful implementation of project objectives aimed at ensuring the consistent and uninterrupted availability of MNH bundle commodities for access by end beneficiaries.
• The STA activities will focus on improving the management of DRF MNH commodity stocks and generated revenue, digitalization of facility inventory management and full adoption of NHLMIS tools by FLHCWs.
• He/she will also identify and manage relevant stakeholders at state, LGA and facility level who will be central to project implementation progress and delivery of targeted interventions across health facilities.
• Provide technical support to intervention public secondary and PHC facilities in designated LGAs through routine mentoring and supportive supervisory visits
• Strengthen facility-level DRFs through effective MNH bundle commodity stocks and revenue management
• Support FIELD Intelligence in transitioning health facilities from paper-based to electronic inventory management for MNH commodities and ensure the onboarding of all intervention sites unto NHLMIS
• Provide mentoring support and track progress of LMIS digitization to ensure full adoption and use of electronic tools by FLHW
• Use performance data from state dashboards to inform strategy reviews and targeted technical support to improve facility-level supply chain management.

About the MNH-ASSIST Project

• The Maternal and Newborn Health Accelerated Scale-Up of Sustainable Supply Chain Interventions and Systems Transformation (MNH-ASSIST) project aims to improve the uninterrupted availability, beneficiary access, utilization, tracking, and reporting of MNH bundle commodities across supported health facilities.
• This will be achieved through multi-stakeholder collaborations that cut across various MDAs, including the SMoH, SPHCDAs, DMA/CMS and health facilities, and partners like FIELD Intelligence, C4SD, ACEPHAP, TA Connect, SCIDaR, and CHAI among others.
• The project seeks to sustainably achieve the following: effective MNH commodities last-mile delivery (LMD) to facilities, improved states capacity to plan, finance, and execute LMD, digitalize states' LMIS and enable real-time visibility for logistics data, consumption-driven MNH bundle commodities forecasting/quantification, and strengthened DRF programs to ensure continuous replenishment of MNH commodities.
• Additionally, the project aims to facilitate affordable access to these bundled MNH services for beneficiaries by leveraging existing government and donor-driven financing mechanisms that protect women and their families from financial risks; these include national and state health insurance schemes, free/subsidized MNCH services integrated into BHCPF 2.0 and HOPE-PHC project, and states' free MNCH programs where available.

Key Responsibilities
Technical Assistance and Capacity Building:

• Conduct regular assessments of secondary and primary health facilities to identify program gaps in DRF, facility inventory management, and LMIS digitization and adoption implementation
• Work with facility management and FLHCWs to bridge identified gaps and escalate to relevant authorities where required
• Deploy targeted mentoring approaches to improve facility DRF revenue and stock management, facilitate rapid adoption of electronic tools for facility inventory management, and improve adherence to inventory management best practices
• Work with facility management to establish client service charters and put up commodity price lists for the purpose of transparency

LMIS Digitization and System Management:

• Support the conduct of LMIS digitalization cascade trainings and NHLMIS onboarding across all supported health facilities
• Provide mentoring support and track progress of LMIS digitization to ensure full adoption and use of electronic tools by FLHW
• Support FIELD with the resolution of challenges with electronic tools use and NHLMIS platform issues across facilities
• Provide technical support for post-NHLMIS deployment operation and sustainability

Inventory Management/DRF:

• Ensure all supported facilities use NHLMIS as their primary stock management tool for day-to-day inventory operations
• Strengthen knowledge and practice of standard inventory/stock management practices among relevant personnel

DRF Stocks and Revenue Management:

• Support all health facilities to operationalize dedicated DRF revenue accounts after securing approval from relevant state authorities
• Routinely monitor and track all DRF commodity sales across health facilities ensuring that all revenue generated from MNH commodity sales are deposited in a dedicated DRF bank account within 2 days
• Track the use of the funds in facility DRF accounts to ensure withdrawals align strictly with commodity replenishment requests

Data Management:

• Conduct routine data validation exercises to confirm alignment of uploaded electronic data with facility paper-based records
• Support integration of facility data into state and program dashboards to aid stakeholder engagements and decision-making
• Facilitate continuous flow of logistics data from health facilities to state level platforms and stakeholders
• Provide context-specific insights for reported data to facilitate decision-making by DRF committees and DMAs
• Actively monitor KPIs including MNH commodity stock balances, tracer commodities stock out rates, order fill rates, % of facilities reporting, and expiry date tracking among others
• Develop and submit weekly reports on progress of mentoring, gaps identification, mitigation measures and stakeholder engagements.

Stakeholder Engagement:

• Routinely engage with each LGA Health Department RMNCH Coordinator, Director M&E, Essential Drugs Officer and DRF focal person to ensure their buy-in and cooperation for targeted facility-level interventions
• Conduct periodic joint supervisory visits to facilities with these LGA-level stakeholders to promote state ownership of interventions and ease eventual full program transition to the state
• Share facility-level data and observed system gaps periodically with these key stakeholders for joint decision-making and action
• Engage the WDCs to ensure their participation in strengthening DRF accountability

Documentation and Reporting:

• Document best practices, lessons learned, and case studies from the project’s activities
• Prepare and submit regular progress reports as required by supervisor
• Assist in the preparation of technical reports and presentations for government stakeholders, donor, and other partners

Qualifications and Experience
Education:

• A Bachelor’s Degree in public health, Health Economics, Health Financing, or a related field.

Experience:

• 2-3 years of relevant experience providing technical assistance to FLHCWs at public PHCs and secondary facilities in areas of supply chain, maternal and newborn health, DRF, or other related program areas.
• Experience in implementing or supporting health system strengthening initiatives, particularly in supply chain and RMNCH.
• Experience working with secondary and primary healthcare facilities in Nigeria

Skills and Competencies:

• Strong advocacy and stakeholder management skills
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to effectively engage with a variety of stakeholders.
• Familiarity working with the Nigerian health system, with experience in MNCH and supply chain implementation
• Critical thinking and problem-solving skills and ability to interpret data to inform decision-making.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
• Candidate must be a resident of Bauchi State.