Program Officer - County Support Strategic Purchasing for Primary Health Care at ThinkWell

Job Location: This is a full-time position based in Makueni County, Kenya.

Reports to: SP4PHC Kenya Country Director

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Technical support to the County
• The candidate will undertake the following functions:
• Facilitate communications between County Department of Health and NHIF on strategic purchasing of PHC services, with a focus on FP and MNCH.
  • Support county efforts to increase uptake of NHIF’s Linda Mama scheme in public facilities. This includes:
  • Supporting County Government efforts to build awareness of NHIF opportunities in public providers.
  • Supporting monitoring of NHIF claims and accreditation data by County Department of Health
  • Support County Government to track flow of NHIF claims and reimbursements, from claims submission to claims reimbursement to the county to the flow of funds to facilities.
  • Support County Government to develop innovative mechanisms to increase demand for MNCH and FP services
• Work with County Government to identify and implement ways to utilise NHIF funds to align incentives between County Department of Health and providers.
• · Review public financial management procedures and by-laws relating to NHIF funds.
• · Share best practice from other counties with current county administrators and assembly members.
• · Advocate and facilitate reform as appropriate.
• · Support the County Government to monitor impact of changes in terms of claims volume and improved access
• Liaise with non-governmental organisations, community-based organisations, and other development partners working on MNCH and FP in the county, and identify areas for collaboration including, for example:
• · Raising community awareness of NHIF Linda Mama benefits, or
• · Quality improvement programs for MNCH and FP services.
• Act as focal point for communication with NGO partners as applicable.
• Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)
• The candidate will undertake the following functions:
• Work with the County to conduct monitoring and evaluation of MNCH and FP services including developing key metrics, guide data collection and analysis, and share findings periodicaly with relevant stakeholders.
• Provide technical advisory support and develop facility plans to improve MNCH and FP indicators i.e. needs analysis as indicated from the M&E reports identification of skills or knowledge gaps and addressing the same through capacity building and training, identify and address reasons for input gaps at facility level e.g. forecasting.
• In collaboration with County Department of Health focal person, conduct supervisory facility visits to implement MNCH and FP performance monitoring and evaluation.
• Design and test approaches to monitor quality of care
• Collect data to report on project indicators as guided by the Country Director.
• Planning
• The candidate will work with the County Government to support budgeting for MNCH and FP services during the annual work-planning cycle, and support the utilization of funds dedicated to MNCH and FP.
• 1 Provide technical advisory support in the development of annual work plans, with a focus on the inclusion of MNCH and FP.
• 2 Support the inclusion of output-based payments (including but not limited to those based on NHIF income) into county planning.
• 3 Support the use of funds from the Global Financing Facility (GFF) to incentivize improved counselling and increased choice of family planning methods.
• 4 In collaboration with County focal person, facilitate adherence to MNCH and FP plans such as those financed by GFF.
• Other
• 5 Produce high quality reporting content and documents as necessary, based on guidance from the Country Director
• 6 Perform any other related duties that may be assigned by the immediate supervisor.

QU ALIFICATIONS

• Master level qualification in public health, nursing, biostatistics, health economics or M&E with a minimum of 3 years of relevant health systems work experience for example with a development agency, NGO, county government.
• Bachelor’s degree public health, nursing, biostatistics, health economics or M&E with a minimum of 5 years of relevant health systems work experience, for example in a development agency, or development NGO; county government
• Previous experience and proven track record in providing technical advice to counties in strategic and operational planning, monitoring and evaluation, and quality management in the health sector
• Prior work experience linked to FP, MNCH or reproductive health highly desirable
• Proficiency in MS Excel and other MS Office products
• Expert level written and verbal communication skills;
• Fluency in English and Kiswahili

SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES

• Ability to work as part of a team with good interpersonal and relationship building skills and demonstrated ability to work constructively within an inter-cultural environment.
• Experience on learning projects or structured learning and dissemination activities.
• Ability to work under pressure, independently and with limited supervision.
• Demonstrated ability to operate in both office and field settings.
• Team player with positive attitude.