Vacancy Announcement

Job title:

Technical Specialist- (Reproductive Maternal Neonatal Child Adolescent Health and Nutrition)

Work Location:

Freetown with 60% travel within Sierra Leone

Department:

Policy & Partnerships / Clinical

Reports to:

Chief of Party

Line Management

No

Application Status

External Advert

Organisation Profile

Partners In Health (PIH) is an international health organization relentlessly committed to improving the health of the poor and marginalized. PIH partners with local governments to build local capacity and works closely with impoverished communities to deliver high-quality health care, address the root causes of illness, train providers, advance research, and advocate for global policy change. Our delivered services in the field are based in our partnership with the Governments and Ministries of Health and the support to education, training and mentorship to Health care workers and students is one of our pillars for the Health care system... strengthening.

PIH currently has implementation programs in Haiti, Rwanda, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Peru, Mexico, Russia, Sierra Leone and Navajo Nation. Through our partnership with Harvard Medical School and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, we support a wide range of programs in dozens of other countries around the world.

Our Work In Sierra Leone:

Partners In Health (PIH) began supporting the government of Sierra Leone in response to the Ebola epidemic in October 2014. Recognizing the large need for continued investments in the health system after Ebola, PIH is committed to long-term health system strengthening in support of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS), guided by the same principles as our emergency response and our work around the world: public sector accompaniment, integrated and comprehensive services, social justice, nimbleness and flexibility, partnership, community ownership, and evidence-based interventions. In the aftermath of the epidemic, PIH is committed to supporting the delivery of comprehensive health services in Sierra Leone, from the community level to the health center and to referral hospitals.

Position Overview

PIH-Sierra Leone is supporting the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in the implementation of the five-year World Bank funded QEHSSSP health systems strengthening project that will implement a comprehensive Hub-and-Spoke approach in 5 districts in Sierra Leone through focused investments in staff, stuff, space, systems and nutrition.

The Technical Specialist will support the Chief of Party in leading the technical aspect of the program to realize this vision, overseeing and managing offsite trainings conducted through the project, leading the QI and clinical mentoring, data quality and use, and activities such as MDSR, District In charges meetings etc.

An experienced public health and health systems strengthening specialist, s/he will oversee all PIH service delivery, technical advising and support activities to the project districts. S/he will support in development and implementation of technical materials ensuring that district health management teams—the district-level technical implementers of health plans—are equipped to manage various aspects of project implementation. S/he will work in coordination with the PIH district teams to support needs assessment at the supported districts and health facilities followed by development and implementation of plans contextualized to the needs of each district.

This is an exciting role to make a significant difference to health policy and health service delivery in Sierra Leone, for an individual that combines very strong interpersonal skills, with clinical and public health expertise, and experience in global health delivery.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Technical and operational support for programme implementation:
• Support the development of high-quality technical documents, e.g., SOPs and guidelines that codify existing PIH systems and processes for replication, such as in clinical algorithms, referral, triage, monitoring and evaluation, quality improvement, and management of clinical operations ensuring alignment with the National systems to the extent possible.
• Support DHMTs through assessing DHMT capacity against project goals, and supporting professional development, HR development and policy and service delivery planning
• Under the guidance of Chief of Party, support needs assessment and support the District Health Management Team in developing contextualized plans for implementation.
• Provide technical guidance and operational support to PIH district teams and government counterparts on the best practices and approaches to achieve the key deliverables of QEHSSSP.
• Work closely with DHMT counterparts to prepare for district level in-charges meeting
• In coordination with the District advisors, support the MDSR processes in the supported districts.
• Develop and implement a QI/clinical mentorship plan and framework based on overall PIH QI/mentorship vision and strategy working with relevant teams at PIH.
• Co-facilitate facility level review meetings with DHMT staff
• Coordinate with internal PIH stakeholders and the MoHS to ensure delivery of high quality technical trainings on RMNCAH and Nutrition.
• Coordinate with the stakeholders at MoHS to implement the agreed packages of capacity building for the hubs supported by the project and their associated spokes.
• Support in consolidation and response to requests arising from the supported DHMTs.

Program Management, Monitoring and delivery of results
• Support data quality improvement at the supported health facilities and DHMTs.
• Oversee the technical aspects of program delivery and ensure success in line with vision, targets, and deliverables, directly overseeing all technical aspects of the program.
• Support the Integrated Health Project Administration Unit (IHPAU) in collection and compilation of data needed as per the Project Monitoring and Evaluation Framework.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises and programme reviews with the government and other stakeholders to assess progress and to determine required action/interventions to achieve results.
• Actively monitor programmes/projects through field visits, surveys and/or exchange of information with partners/stakeholders to assess progress, identify bottlenecks, potential problems and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.
• Support in preparation of regular and mandated programme/project reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of programme progress.
• In the absence of Chief of Party, act as the focal point for the project technical aspects in relations with the World Bank and Ministry of Health and Sanitation including IHPAU

Representing PIH-SL with policymakers at national and district levels
• Represent PIH-SL in technical working groups and with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, working closely with the Chief of Party, PIH Chief Medical Officer and clinical teams to support advancement of health policy and strategy in Sierra Leone and ensure inputs according to PIH mission and vision
• Work with PIH staff and District Health Management Teams on the implementation of clinical systems based on standard tools and processes, to accompany ongoing service delivery efforts.

Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment

At Partners In Health, we are committed to ensuring that those who benefit from our work- including our patients, families and community members – as well as our staff are treated with dignity and respect and protected from sexual exploitation, abuse and sexual harassment. A range of pre-employment checks will be undertaken in conformity with Partners In Health’s PSEAH policy. Partner In Health will request information from applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.

Education and Work Experience Requirements
• Master in Public Health or at least 5 years of experience in RMNCAH and Nutrition
• Demonstrated experience in capacity building approaches such as Mentoring and offsite trainings in national protocols.
• Demonstrated experience in conducting capacity building on RMNCAH and Nutrition services.
• Strong track record in global health delivery, with experience in low- and middle-income country settings and working in collaboratively with the government stakeholders to deliver results.
• Track record of successfully delivering complex, fast-paced projects with multiple stakeholders and deliverables, to tight timelines
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office suite, including Word, Outlook, PowerPoint and Excel
• Strong interpersonal skills, and ability to work effectively with a range of stakeholders
• Strong technical writer, able to produce high-quality technical deliverables, including SOPs, guidelines
• Willingness to spend multiple weeks a month in field locations in rural Sierra Leone
• Ability to work with humility and achieve results, including in settings with resource limitations, through entrepreneurial mindset, planning and persistence
• Passion for PIH’s missi
Sierra Leone

Salary Criteria