Technical Director, Digital Health at PATH

Job Description

Job Locations: Geneva, Switzerland; Seattle, Washington DC, United States; Nairobi, Kenya; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Dakar, Senegal; Johannesburg, South Africa

PATH is currently recruiting a Technical Director who will lead and support a growing portfolio of ongoing initiatives within the Center of Digital and Data Excellence. Successful applicants will have proven technical knowledge and practical experience in the design and/or application in multiple LMIC-contexts  of the following:

1. Solution engineering and architecture utilizing open-source digital health software tools in markets with various maturities. 
2. Global health information standards, policies, and guidelines
3. Strengthening local technical capacity for LMIC stakeholders, expanding the  ownership and leadership of interoperable ecologies of choice in LMICs, where stakeholders have increased their understanding of and decision-making around technology architectural trade-offs.

In addition, successful applicants will have proven experience in fostering and leading virtual and geographically diverse teams working on a complex portfolio of digital health activities. The successful applicant will foster harmonization of interoperability architectures in support of communication with and between digital systems, and technology standards to improve health system performance both directly within PATH projects as well as an advocate with ministries of health, global donors and implementation partners.  

The Technical Director will be the lead relationship manager and business driver of PATH’s digital technology collaborations and opportunities, overseeing and cultivating a technical portfolio of cross-cutting work related to the topics outlined above. The successful applicant will play a critical role in advocacy for the utilization of Global Good / Digital Public Goods and foster communities of practice aligned to best practices in digital health.

Responsibilities:

Digital Health Technical Direction Setting

1. Providing strategic leadership and guidance to the technical strategy around digital health implementation across the CoDE and broader PATH digital health portfolios including providing overall direction and guidance to CoDE’s flagship digital health programs, Digital Square and the CDC HIT TAP program.
2. Working closely with and supervising CoDE technical staff (e.g. business analysts, engineers, technical program managers) in ensuring the strategic and functional integration of all technical areas.
3. Supporting in-country, and regional and global coordination, both within PATH and in support of the larger global health community of digital health interventions and provide technical guidance/best practice on implementation of architecture design and standards in areas including, but not limited to:
4. HL7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) Implementation Guides (IGs), and ensure that these are reviewed/validated by key stakeholders prior to “piloting”/roll out of the guidance
5. Health information exchange (HIE) standards and governance policies, and ensure that these are reviewed/validated by key stakeholders prior to “piloting”/roll out of the guidance (e.g. OpenHIE)
6. Case reporting architecture development standards/guides and ensure that these are reviewed/validated by key stakeholders prior to “piloting”/roll out of the guidance.
7. Technical assistance to countries and regional networks on the design and deployment of digital health infrastructure.
8. Actively own and manage technical digital health projects and contracts that are often multi-faceted and span software development, implementation, design and data use in low resource settings.
9. Work with leadership across multiple projects and initiatives to track, identify and drive forward work, issues and solutions in a proactive and results driven approach with a focus on supporting country objectives and systems use. Manage contractors spanning the range from NGOs to corporate consulting firms.

 Global Leadership in Digital Health

1. Provide oversight of and input to communications with major funders, host country government counterparts, local and international organizations, and program partners to ensure alignment with vision and mission of PATH/CoDE.
2. Advocate with donors, government officials, and multilateral agencies to ensure adoption of best practices (e..g Digital Health Implementation Investment Guide) and alignment with PATH/CoDE’s vision for country ownership and leadership of digital transformation for health equity.
3. Champion PATH/CoDE’s vision and agenda for Digital Public Goods and supporting country capacity to adopt and adapt Digital Public Goods into local goods – leveraging them to maximize health and development outcomes and equity.
4. Participate in higher level strategic conversations with ministries of health, regional and global bodies, donors, and key implementation partners across the sector
5. Represent CoDE at workshops, conferences and other events.
6. Support internal team and Ministries of Health with capacity development, mentorship and supervision of local & regional technical staff.
7. Actively collaborate with project staff across PATH to support the establishment of guidelines, review data systems, and oversee adherence to the Digital Development Principles, eHealth strategies and standards.
8. Assist countries and donors in adoption of evidence-based policies that strengthen digital health implementations and data use, while keeping security and safety of individually identifiable information and related ethical issues a paramount priority. Be a champion for data security, quality and use across different levels of the health system.
9. Evolve and execute PATH methodologies and processes to sustainably evolve, update and maintain health information systems.
10. Promote PATH’s user-centric design methodologies for service and applications. Ensure data platforms have strong technical project management and change management support with an emphasis on replicable health information systems that multiple countries and programs can leverage.

Required Experience

1. Bachelor’s degree and fifteen (15) years or Master’s degree and ten (10) years of experience providing technical assistance for healthcare-related ICT interventions including in low- and middle-income settings required. Advanced degree in public health or technology-related field (e.g. computer science, international relations, economics, management) desirable
2. Extensive practical experience in health information and disease surveillance systems, interoperability and international standards
3. Passion for PATH’s mission, as well as for broader global issues of public health, information systems, technology and international development
4. Excellent interpersonal skills, and the ability to develop and maintain effective working relationships with colleagues and relevant project stakeholders.
5. Demonstrated and proactive organizational, prioritization, and workload management skills in a high-pressure environment.
6. Quality assurance and quality improvement experience related to digital health care service delivery.
7. Experience developing, adapting, and/or integrating software for LMIC contexts as part of international development efforts.
8. Experience managing technology providers and subcontractors.
9. Experience translating complex technical material related to digital health, health systems, system architecture, standards and interoperability, IT policy, data governance and data analytics into digestible communications for lay audiences.
10. Experience managing US Government (preferred) or large bi/multilateral funded projects, leveraging knowledge of procurement processes, contracting, rules and regulations is desired.
11. Willingness and ability to travel within the country (with some potential international/regional travel) up to 30 percent per year – as allowable per local health regulations.
12. Strong problem-solving, critical thinking and analytical skills.
13. Excellent IT/software development/architecture skills, including a good understanding and experience with open-source software tools and digital health systems architecture
14. Excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills in English
15. Able to communicate effectively with both ICT professionals and health sector professionals and be able to facilitate communication between these communities.