Primary Health Care Director at Amref Kenya

JOB PURPOSE

Amref Health Africa is seeking an experienced professional to provide PHCs overall strategic and technical leadership on policy analysis, generation and translation, while building the team’s capacity on policy issues and network with relevant decision makers at national, regional and global level. Under the supervision of Senior Director, Health System Strengthening and in collaboration with Directors; Health Financing, Reproductive Maternal Child and Adolescent Health [RMNCAH], and Social Determinants of Health (SDoH), the incumbent will support partner countries in direct guidance and technical oversight of PHC.

The PHC Director will be responsible for supporting a portfolio of work focused on understanding PHC system efficiency, the contribution of PHC systems to health outcomes, as well as deeper analyses of specific PHC system drivers that ultimately create a compelling product that will support policy makers, funders, advocates and researchers to improve the quality of global health decisions.

Primary Responsibilities

Strategic Program Management

•  Provide technical expertise on how to strengthen implementation of the Primary Health Care model in the various countries by overseeing national and sub-national technical support to partner countries.
•  Work closely with HSS pillar directorates in building and ecosystem of partners in support of PHC for Universal Health coverage.
•  Support partner countries and Amref’s Country Offices (COs) in the costing of their PHC packages and advocacy to increase domestic funding for PHC.
•  Work closely with stakeholders in driving conceptual and strategic project alignment, overall workplan execution, and deep dives on specific policies while monitoring program budgets, tracking expenditures and identifying potential savings.
•  Advise on best practices regarding Universal Health coverage (UHC) and PHC to ensure the highest level of quality for the delivery of health care in Amref’s COs and partner countries.
•  Oversee the development and implementation of all PHC programs, ensuring they are aligned with strategic objectives and donor requirements by technically supporting Amref’s COs in the region to develop the relevant analyses aligning with their national context.
•  In collaboration with health economists, develop package of guidance, tools and terms of reference for defining and estimating the costs of PHC packages, measuring PHC progress and financing, ensuring alignment with Amref’s PHC frameworks, PHC global guidance frameworks and comparability across countries/regions.
•  Support Amref’s COs to prepare, present and summarize PHC financing findings for advocacy and use at country, regional and global level.
•  Contribute to cross-country analyses of findings in support of emerging issues in health while building an ecosystem of technical partners working in priority countries and advocacy partners for PHC services.
•  Advocate, during strategic discussions with Ministries of Finance and Health and other key decision makers and stakeholders, including Amref’s COs, to influence agenda setting in favor of PHC.
•  Participate in regular weekly HSS meetings, Health section quarterly reviews, and region wide activities (e.g. country office annual reviews and regional office planning).

Business Development

•  Identify new PHC programs and funding opportunities through networking, meetings and other channels.
•  Initiate resource mobilization concepts for the PHC programs and participate in proposal writing for potential PHC grants.
•  Develop and implement strategies to increase Amref and HSS’s PHC programmes visibility and impact.
•  Negotiate with donors to secure funding for PHC programs and manage PHC grant proposals and contracts.

Stakeholder Engagement

•  Engage and build relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, including government officials, donors, community leaders, and healthcare providers.
•  Collaborate with WHO, BMGF, World Bank/GFF, USAID and other UN agencies and implementing partners to build an ecosystem of partners who support country-level technical assistance on public financing: costing, financial and fiscal space analysis, budgeting and design of financing for PHC.
•  Build consensus on PHC priorities and strategies and advocate for PHC policies and programs at the national and regional levels.
•  Develop and maintain communication materials for PHC stakeholders and support partnership development.

Special Projects and Initiatives

•  Support the leadership in new, high priority efforts as opportunities arise in PHC and related areas.
•  Perform other relevant HSS interventions in coordination with the supervisor.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Educational Qualification

•  Master's degree in public health, Social Sciences, International Development, Health System Strengthening or a related field.

Professional Qualification and Competencies

•  Minimum ten (10) years of experience working in health and technical knowledge of policy, advocacy and governance.
•  Experience in global public health, international development and up-to-date knowledge in PHC.
•  A minimum of ten (10) years of experience at the national and international level in a relevant discipline, such as international public health or global development, is required.
•  Proven leadership in developing strategies, conceptualizing, planning, and implementing projects or programs.
•  Demonstrated ability in building partnerships with government health agencies, donors, and other key stakeholders.
•  Ability to be an effective agent of change in the partner countries advocating for evidence-based program and policy changes that enhances primary health care.
•  High level of organization, attention to detail, professionalism, and reliability with the ability to prioritize and manage work in a fast-paced environment.
•  Technically sound in DEIB-focused approaches.
•  Highly collaborative and accessible leadership style, with experience managing teams.
•  Enthusiastic about working in an open environment with multicultural peers and staff, including global, regional, national, local, public, and private sectors.
•  Strong communication and relationship building skills with diverse stakeholder both the national, regional and the global health community, particularly among donors, multilateral partners, and implementers .
•  Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including demonstrated ability to effectively facilitate high-level meetings; prepare clear and concise briefs, presentations, and reports.
•  Strong interpersonal and capacity-building skills, including training, mentoring, and coaching skills.
•  Good knowledge of theoretical and practical modeling is required with the ability to make data-driven and analytical decisions.
•  Preference will be given to candidates who have knowledge and experience of health economics, Public Financial Management in Health and analyses of global health financing issues and trends.
•  Experience with Health Systems Strengthening applications and programs and in strengthening public health financing and governance.
•  Fluency in French would be an added advantage.

Compensation
 This role offers competitive benefits commensurate with experience.