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Job title:  

District Advisor

Work Location:

One of the following districts: Falaba /Tonkolili/Western Area Rural/Bonthe

Department:

Policy & Partnerships/Medical

Report to:

Chief of Party, QEHSSSP

Line Management

No

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 centre and to referral hospitals.

Position Overview

PIH-Sierra Leone has a strong track record of service delivery in Sierra Leone’s Kono district, where we have seen drastic improvements in health outcome, including in maternal/child health, HIV/TB care, and in overall quality of care and service utilization. PIH-Sierra Leone works in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS), and in the coming years will be supporting District Health Management Teams (DHMTs) in multiple districts in Sierra Leone as part of the implementation of a large donor-funded program to catalyze health service delivery and improve health outcomes in these districts and replicate the Kono model.

Strong all-rounders that are diplomatic and technically skilled, District Advisors will act as partners to DHMTs in the day-to-day implementation of district-level health policy and health service delivery, working closely with DHMT staff and other district level advisors focused on M&E and clinical operations. In this role, they will apply the nuts and bolts of project management and public health to help DHMTs get things done and scale up successful models of health services. Reporting to the Senior Technical Advisor, District Advisors will spent 75% of their time in their home districts, and approximately 25% of their time travelling to Freetown or Kono district.

The District Advisor helps to facilitate all DHMT-level project activities, including trainings for DHMT counterparts, developing project plans, and establishing or reinforcing DHMT workflows centered on clinical care, quality improvement, facility management, supply chain, and other domains as needed. S/he will regularly convene PIH district staff and Ministry of Health and Sanitation counterparts regularly to review human resource needs, facility and quality improvement updates, and overall project plans.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Responsibilities

Government accompaniment

• Support major project components undertaken by DHMT counterparts, including the hiring of key clinical and operational staff
• Along with the Senior Technical Advisor, facilitate management and quality improvement trainings for key DHMT counterparts
• Work closely with DHMT counterparts and the Senior Technical Advisor to prepare for district level in-charges meeting
• Pragmatically support government counterparts by identifying and resolving obstacles to program success, and paving the way for significant health projects and health improvements in the district
• Visiting district-level facilities to support the implementation of trainings and improvements to selected facilities based on PIH health system strengthening models
• Support district teams in creating full district project fora that regularly (semesterly) bring together all key DHMT, MoHS, and facility staff in order to develop a project identity and to address shared challenges beyond any one facility or program area

Planning and organizing

• Facilitate planning, drafting, and implementation of district-level project plans
• Facilitate rotation of DHMT and MoHS staff (especially Clinical lead and Clinical mentors) to Kono learning district work with their thematic cohort
• Provide regular updates to the Senior Technical Advisor on project progress at the district and facility levels
• Draft or assist in drafting of presentations, working documents and budgets, chair meetings and keep minutes. Track and monitor activities
• Support DHMTs through assessing DHMT capacity against project goals, and supporting professional development, HR development and policy and service delivery planning
• Lead on selected aspects on the development of PIH’s overall national approach to health systems strengthening, working closely with the Senior Technical Advisor

Leadership and relationships

• Build strong relationships with District Health Management Teams as key representative of PIH at district-level in a spirit of partnership
• Clarify responsibilities for district health plan outcomes; ensure that each major project component has an "owner" within the DHMT
• Deliver management training on topics such as goal setting, supportive supervision, project planning and management, data for decision-making, and standardized tools
• Promote and model tenets of PIH philosophy such as 'the patients are our bosses'
• Act as coach and mentor to national district-based staff in M&E and operations

Education and Work Experience Requirements:

Qualifications

Required

• Medical Doctor or master’s in public health with at least 5 years of experience
• Self-driven, with track record successfully managing complex projects with multiple stakeholders. ‘Gets things done’
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, and ability to structure and recall information, and develop processes and systems for project and information management
• Strong interpersonal skills, and ability to work effectively with a range of stakeholders including from public sector and across organisations, including through 1:1 coaching and hosting formal workshops and trainings
• Solid technical writing skills, and able to produce meeting notes, SOPs, guidelines etc.
• Numerate, comfortable with budgeting and Excel skills, and comfortable with analysing data in Excel
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team
• Ability to work with humility and achieve results, including in settings with resource limitations, through an entrepreneurial mindset, planning and persistence
• Willingness to spend multiple weeks a month in field locations in rural Sierra Leone
• Passion for PIH’s mission and commitment to social justice and developing a preferential option for the poor in healthcare

Desirable

• Experience working in the public health sector (ideally, alongside DHMTs) in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Prior experience in Sierra Leone
• Experience with large scale projects/quality improvement/management consulting or similar
• Experience with health systems strengthening, especially maternal/child health or primary care
• Technical skills in one or more of quality improvement; medicine; lab strengthening; pharmacy strengthening; supply chain
• Experience with donor-funded projects in public health or international development, especially high-compliance institutional donors (e.g., USAID, CDC, GAC, FCDO, World Bank, Global Fund etc.)
• Familiarity with PIH’s 5S health systems strengthening model
• Strong technical writing skills and advanced Excel skills

Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

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 Partner 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.

Method of Application

Interested candidates are required to apply through our website: www.pih.org/employment  .In your application, please ensure to include names, addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers of three (3) referees. This position will be open and running until filled.

Please kindly note that the recruitment of this position is subject to funding confirmation.