Early Childhood Development Technical Officer at Amref Kenya

JOB PURPOSE

• The Early Childhood Development Technical Officer will be responsible for the delivery and monitoring of quality ECD interventions, and provide Technical Assistance to MoH and County Departments of Health in developing and strengthening the implementation of ECD services.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Technical support to program implementation
• Support to ECD programme development and planning
• Work with the MoH in the development and integration of the Nurturing Care module in the Community Maternal and Newborn Health (CMNH) curricula
• Work with the MoH to digitize and deploy the CMNH modules
• Provide Technical Assistance to County Departments of Health on functionality and coordination of Children Advisory Committees (CACs)
• Support capacity building of CACs representatives on nurturing care framework to integrate within Early Childhood Development (ECD)
• Collaborate with ecosystem players and the Community Health Units for Universal Coverage (CHU4UHC) platform to develop an ECD integration into Primary Healthcare (PHC) resource
• Support Mentorship and Coaching sessions to develop integrated Nurturing care for ECD in PHC resource
• Support scale-up of ECD interventions within counties of implementation of CHU4UHC platform members
• Support stock-taking process of nurturing care for ECD activities

Partnership and networking

• Map out stakeholders in the ECD sector
• Collaborate with ecosystem players to disseminate ECD policy documents in counties of implementation
• Support MoH to set ECD agenda at the MNH and PHC technical working groups
• Participate in multi-sectoral stakeholder forums on ECD
• Actively participate in the planning, implementation and supervision of ECD initiatives with other partners

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Support tracking and reporting of key nurturing care for Early Childhood Development indicators within Primary Healthcare at county and national ECD workstreams and forums
• Document successes, lesson learnt and challenges in implementation.
• Prepare project activity reports as required, including monthly, quarterly and annual reports
• Conduct regular field visits to project beneficiaries in collaboration with key stakeholders to monitor progress

Knowledge Management

• Support nurturing care for Early Childhood knowledge and evidence generation and packaging to inform Primary Healthcare initiatives for ECD
• Actively participate in knowledge sharing forums on Nurturing Care for ECD to share learnings generated from the program
• Support inclusion of ECD interventions in the electronic community health information system (eCHIS) and the Afya Nyumbani Dashboard
• Support dissemination, learning and knowledge exchange platforms including Committees of Practice (CoPs) targeting ECD in the primary healthcare space.
• Support the Council of Governors to review and post ECD knowledge products from the program in the Maarifa Center
• Disseminate/Share emerging knowledge on ECD within the ecosystem players including CHU4UHC platform, Council of Governors and MoH
• Support MoH to amplify ECD insights and evidence generated at knowledge sharing forums
• Participate in development of case studies and human-interest stories for the project

Advocacy

• Conduct advocacy for ECD in Primary healthcare at CHU4UHC and within Children Advisory Committees
• Support advocacy for ECD in relevant policies and legislations including the PHC Act regulations
• Advocate for inclusion of ECD intervention in the national reporting systems

Admin and Financial management

• Support in day-to-day management of activity budgets including processing field imprests and other financial transactions.
• Ensure timely accounting for the use of project resources by stakeholders and communities in liaison with finance teams.

REQUIREMENTS
Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Education, Early Childhood Development, Public Health, or a related technical field.
• At least five (05) years of experience in implementing Early Childhood Development, Public Health, and Community Health Programs.
• Experience in Early Childhood Development with a focus on public health programming is a preferred advantage.
• Proven experience working with government agencies and stakeholders at the national, county, and community levels in Early Childhood Development and Primary Healthcare.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with government representatives, for-profit private sector entities, local community organizations, donors, and other stakeholders.

Knowledge, Skills, and Competencies

• Excellent organizational, planning, and problem-solving skills
• Proficient in ICT (Information and Communication Technology)
• Effective communication skills, both oral and written
• Solid negotiation abilities
• Competent presentation skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Ability to work independently and autonomously
• Capable of performing under pressure and meeting strict deadlines
• Target-oriented
• Demonstrate self-awareness and ethical awareness
• Thinks and acts strategically
• Embraces innovation and change
• Driven to achieve impactful results
• Manages ambiguity and complexity effectively
• Collaborates well with others
• Builds and maintains professional relationships

The closing date will be December 5, 2024