Technical Lead at Amref

The Strategic Purchasing Africa Resource Center (SPARC) is a resource hub aimed at strengthening strategic purchasing capacity in sub-Saharan Africa. Our vision is to empower countries with knowledge and practical tools to make access to affordable and quality health care a reality for all. SPARC is a complementary resource and partner to the many health financing initiatives on the African continent and globally. SPARC is supported by Amref Health Africa as the institutional host and Results for Development (R4D) as the core technical partner. An advisory committee made up of key global, regional and country stakeholders provides additional input and guidance to SPARC's approach and activities.

SPARC’s approach – key pillars:

Coaching and mentoring: Build a cadre of regional experts who can work alongside and provide contextualized support to country-led strategic purchasing processes.

Country engagement: Broker tailored packages of strategic purchasing support to address country needs and demand.

Knowledge management and joint learning: Build a learning agenda on strategic purchasing and capture and share practical lessons and experiences.

THE POSITION

Under the leadership of the Executive Director, the Technical Lead will provide technical and strategic support to the leadership of SPARC, and specifically to the Technical Consortium. This includes providing input through discussions with leadership, review of technical papers by the technical consortium and other SPARC stakeholders, writing technical papers and similar documents based on evidence generated and lessons learned from across countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Principal responsibilities are described in the section below.

SCOPE OF JOB

PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Technical Consortium Support

• Engage with technical partners frequently in open and meaningful dialogue to build rapport and trust as a key point of contact.
• Manage the technical consortium’s application process, including calls for applications and reviewing all submissions quickly and efficiently against a rigorous set of criteria, for approval.
• Lead the partner onboarding and orientation process to immerse new members in SPARC’s philosophy, approach and expectations.
• Conduct outreach to potential consortium partners to share information about SPARC and answer questions about membership.
• Work closely with SPARC’s pillar team leads to support technical partners as needed.
• Support in-county events such as new member launches or other technical partners’ country needs in close collaboration with KM/Comms and other SPARC pillars.
• Develop and administer surveys, questionnaires and other forms to solicit feedback on SPARC’s performance and partner engagement activities (in collaboration with the Knowledge Management and Learning Lead and other SPARC Team Leads).
• Support the Executive Director and other members of the SPARC team in matters relating to technical partner outreach and organization.**

Consortium Coordination

• Lead on note taking and other follow-up from learning sessions and other Technical Consortium-related meetings. Coordinate action items so that all Consortium members have clear direction on next steps.
• Coordinate quarterly and other reporting as needed
• Support annual workplan and budgeting processes for the Technical Consortium

Technical Leadership

• Identify and create demand for support on SHP approaches and interventions and evidence use, working with country partners and technical consortium partners to articulate this need
• Work closely with SPARC’s leadership to refine and expand the program strategy, develop and deliver on clear operational plans for execution
• Identify capacities and needs in health insurance implementation and performance management, including provider empanelment and payment mechanisms claims and fraud management
• Provide direct technical assistance to country partners to articulate demands, identify priority challenges and resources for implementation of identified challenges and support the co-creation of a package of support for brokerage and/or implementation. Facilitate input from key experts and practitioners from SPARC’s network of partners.
• Work with the Coaching and Mentoring Team Lead and Knowledge Management and Learning Lead to develop innovative approaches to capacity building, ensuring skills transfer and government ownership in all projects
• Work with SPARC’s Knowledge Management and Learning Team Lead to organize and facilitate learning exchange meetings, workshops and trainings for peer to peer exchange, to strengthen capacity and knowledge sharing on priority technical topics
• Contribute to the writing and editing of reports, presentations and policy briefs on related topics as necessary. Participate in meetings, technical working groups and conferences as required
• Participate in meetings with SPARC’s leadership, technical partners and other key stakeholders to discuss and report on progress of work
• Establish and maintain effective and collaborative working relationships and engagement with SPARC’s fellows, senior fellows, editorial board and Technical Review Panel, and ensure maximum coordination of resources and effort**

Donor Liaison

Support in liaison with donors to identify potential areas of donor support for SPARC activities and to create partnerships that foster effective use of skills and resources

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

SPARC works in a fast-paced, results-driven environment. We are seeking a highly-motivated individual who is both detail oriented and can ask the key questions or see the 'big picture'. SPARC places great value on resourcefulness, entrepreneurship, responsibility, tenacity, flexibility, independence, energy, work ethic and humility. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate excellent communications skills and display cultural sensitivity.

MINIMUM EDUCATION

Master’s degree in a relevant field such as health economics, public health, public policy, finance, business, or other relevant disciplines and/or significant experience working in a public or private health insurance scheme or on a public health financing reform.

EXPERIENCE

5-10 years of experience in demanding, results-oriented environments in the public sector and/or private sector. Experience working at a strategic level on another Sub-Saharan African country on an insurance scheme or reform is highly preferred.

COMPETENCIES

• Demonstrated experience working with high level government stakeholders and/or other senior stakeholders in consensus-building processes on major health systems reforms;
• Experience informing development of government strategy, policy, and operational plans, preferably in health or health systems is a plus
• Experience designing and managing teams and long-term projects
• Excellent problem solving, analytical, and quantitative skills, including attention to detail
• Strong communication skills, including delivery of compelling presentations and documents in Microsoft PowerPoint and Word
• Exceptional diplomacy and interpersonal skills demonstrated ability to build strong professional relationships with a range of stakeholders in a challenging, multi-cultural environment;
• Ability to work independently, set priorities, and handle multiple tasks simultaneously
• Ability to and absorb and synthesize a broad range of information
• Ability to work with humility and achieve results
• Ability to mentor and lead teams in a fast-paced and changing environment
• Strong command of the English language.
• Strong writer, facilitator and oral communicator
• Professional experience working with government authorities in developing countries, with experience in sub-Saharan Africa
• Familiarity with a broad range of key global health issues, including health systems or health financing challenges in developing countries.