Country: Senegal
Closing date: 10 Aug 2015
Job Title: Regional Technical Advisor – Health Systems Strengthening
Department: West Africa Regional Office (WARO)
Position Type: Full-time
Job Location: Dakar, Senegal- WARO
Band:D
FLSA: Exempt
Reports To: WARO Deputy Regional Director for Program Quality
About CRS:
Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is an international non-governmental organization supporting relief and development work in over 93 countries around the world. CRS programs assist persons on the basis of need, regardless of creed, ethnicity or nationality. CRS works through local church and non-church partners to implement its programs.
Job Summary:
The Regional Technical Advisor (RTA) for Health Systems Strengthening will provide technical assistance for 12 countries (8 country programs) in the West Africa Region: Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Senegal (including outreach to Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and the Gambia) and Sierra Leone. The RTA for Health Systems Strengthening will work closely with the RTA for Community Health and Nutrition and the Senior Technical Advisor (STA) for Malaria to advance health programming in the region and maximize synergy between community and facility-based approaches. The RTA will also engage with the larger CRS health, nutrition and social services technical community on agency wide initiatives.
Background:
Health systems strengthening is the framework for CRS’ Global Health and HIV strategy and is central to the Agency’s work in health. In Fiscal Year 2015, in West Africa, CRS implemented seven projects with a value of over $10 million that had a substantial health systems strengthening focus. Key health systems strengthening efforts include:
·Ebola-related health systems strengthening activities;
·Malaria and Tuberculosis programs with substantial HSS components (Malaria-specific technical assistance provided by the STA for Malaria);
·A multi-country project focused on strengthening civil society engagement in immunization (with Technical Assistance provided from outside the region);
·A global health security project (pending);
Primary Function:
·Provide technical assistance and leadership to CRS West Africa country programs in the development, implementation and monitoring of health systems strengthening (including community systems strengthening) projects and activities to ensure the application of best practices and standards; ensure necessary technical support for existing TB-focused projects
·Mentor and build the capacity of regional staff in health systems strengthening.
·Lead efforts to grow the regional health system strengthening project portfolio through building rapport with donors, intelligence gathering, positioning, participating in project design/proposal writing and/or reviewing proposals.
·Represent CRS’ health systems strengthening work in the West Africa region to key stakeholders.
Specific Job responsibilities:
1.Technical Leadership and Assistance***
·Serve as a member of the Global Health and Social Services team to contribute to and advance the agency strategy and Global Health and HIV strategy and report on achievements in WARO.
·Provide overall technical assistance in health systems strengthening to country programs in the West Africa Region to ensure high program quality.
·Provide guidance in the use of relevant agency tools (including those developed under the AIDSRelief and FOCUS awards), approaches and frameworks (especially the CRS Global Health & HIV Strategy) and international best practices during project implementation.
·Conduct regular technical visits to country programs to support effective implementation, monitoring, evaluation and documentation of ongoing health systems strengthening projects.
·Assist programs to develop and implement qualitative and quantitative monitoring and evaluation tools, methodologies, performance tracking and reporting as well as formative and operational research protocols.
·Contribute to the agency learning agendas for health systems strengthening.
·Identify and disseminate promising practices, including developing and/or identifying innovations in health systems strengthening activities and supporting their refinement and scale-up in the region, assisting with the testing of new tools developed by the field or headquarters, and documenting innovations.
·Liaise with CRS Regional Health Technical Advisors from other regions and Technical Advisors in PIQA through virtual and in-person meetings to ensure the sustenance of cross-regional learning for high impact programming in WARO.
·Coordinate technical support for Tuberculosis focused-projects and identify other technical assistance gaps; liaise closely with other Agency Technical Advisors and support country programs to identify and manage consultants to ensure countries receive the health technical support they need.
·liaise closely with other Agency Technical Advisors to ensure countries receive the health technical support they need.
2.Mentorship and Capacity Building***
·Participate in the recruitment of country program staff with health systems strengthening responsibilities.
·Mentor staff from across the region working in health systems strengthening, including facilitating community of practice exchanges; advising on staff development plans; and identifying, organizing, and/or facilitating relevant trainings.
·Identify and inform country programs of opportunities to share CRS experiences and contribute to the knowledge/evidence base.
3. New Project Development
·Be familiar with relevant donor strategies (e.g. WHO, World Bank, CDC, USAID and other US government agencies, Catholic Donors and other potential donors).
·Provide vision for health systems strengthening programming in WARO.
·Contribute to strategic planning for country programs in the region in health systems strengthening.
·Collaborate with CRS/headquarters and country programs to identify and position for new funding opportunities.
·Develop and maintain strong linkages with international donors and partners and country and regional systems, platforms and networks.
·Provide technical direction and content to project proposals, including participating in design workshop and writing technical sections of proposals in health systems strengthening.
·Review all proposals for health systems strengthening projects/activities to ensure application of agency and international standards and best practices.
4. Representation, Influence, and External Engagement***
·Network with appropriate organizations to build CRS’ profile in health systems strengthening, with special attention to faith-based health systems strengthening, and build alliances that further strategic objectives.
·With country program teams, coordinate with faith-based health systems, platforms and networks in the region.
·Support country program teams to form new partnerships with faith-based health networks, including providing guidance to and conducting assessments, participating in strategy discussions, etc.
·Facilitate and attend relevant workshops organized by headquarters, consortia and country programs.
·Share lessons learned from CRS evaluations of health systems strengthening work, within and outside the region, including in formal settings.
·Attend international health conferences, preferably as a presenter of CRS work. Prepare abstracts for conferences and assist country programs in preparing their abstracts.
·Support country programs and staff in ensuring quality partnerships with key partners and donors.
·Represent CRS WARO and actively participate in donor and professional workshops, meetings, and working groups on health systems strengthening.
Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):
These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results.
·Serves with Integrity
·Models Stewardship
·Cultivates Constructive Relationships
·Promotes Learning
Key Working relationships:
Internal:Deputy Regional Director for Program Quality, RTA for Community Health and Nutrition, and STA for Malaria, PIQA Health and Social Services Unit; Health RTAs from other regions. Collaborate with the CRS West Africa Regional Director, CRS Country Representatives, CRS Heads of Programming, country Health Program Managers and other country staff; and WARO technical advisors for WASH, and MEAL.
External: Collaborate with host country government health ministries, other national and international NGOs, UN Agencies especially UNICEF (regional and country levels), USAID and EU missions, local bilateral institutions, other funding agencies, WHO, local and US Catholic agencies.
Qualifications:
·Advanced degree in medicine, nursing, hospital administration/management, public health or health-related field.
·Minimum of 8 years of experience in international health development either as a technical advisor or health program manager, preferably in Africa.
·In-depth knowledge of the WHO health systems strengthening framework, community systems strengthening, other HSS frameworks (e.g. Global Fund, World Economic Forum, etc) and bottleneck analysis approaches.
·Track record of designing and writing successful funding proposals in health systems strengthening.
·Experience in working with or through developing country health systems; experience with faith-based health systems strongly preferred.
·Capacity to work closely, understand, and support local partners; experience collaborating with local NGOs and church partners preferred.
Personal/Professional Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
·Strong leadership, teamwork, coordination, interpersonal and negotiating skills
·Strong analytical skills, sound judgment and the capacity to think and plan strategically.
·A good team player and ability to effectively work well in a multi-cultural environments.
·Excellent written and oral communication skills, including fluency in French and English.
·Representation, liaison and negotiation skills.
·Computer literacy and familiarity with Microsoft Office, including PowerPoint presentations and spreadsheets and budgeting.
·Willingness to travel extensively and at short notice; ability and willingness to travel to areas experiencing and Ebola outbreak
Supervision:
None
Travel Requirements:
The position will be based in Dakar, Senegal. The position will require extensive travel (50-65%) primarily within West Africa or to CRS headquarters in Baltimore.
Disclaimer:
This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skills, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.
CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation
EOE/M/F/D/V
How to apply: