HSS Advisor Job at Options Consultancy

The Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) Advisor will support the county and Sub-County Health Management Teams (SCHMTs) to strengthen systems for improving health service delivery including budgeting and planning, HRH, drugs and supplies, and information systems. He/she will work with the CHMT to strengthen their capacity for coordination, planning, budgeting and financial management to provide effective, efficient and coordinated quality Family Planning/ Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (FP/RMNCAH) services. He/she will also support the county to develop public private partnerships and integrated approaches for delivery of RMNCHAH services.

Main Tasks

• Assessment & Monitoring

· Jointly administer an organizational capacity assessment tool with GOK colleagues to assess baseline health system capacity, and develop targeted capacity development plans. Administer repeat OCAs over time to assess HSS improvements.

• Technical Leadership and Advisory Services

· Provide technical guidance, advice and support to project counterparts to improve health system performance across domains, including:

· Governance & Leadership: support development of S/CHMT leadership and management skills, improved health sector coordination, and efficient and effective planning and budgeting cycles.

· HRH: coordinate with other USAID funded technical assistance at the national level to improve the Ministry of Health’s human resource management systems, and provide targeted TA at county and sub-county level to improve HRH management (strategy development, HRH mapping, HRH data management, etc.)

· Supply Chain Strengthening: coordinate county, sub-county and facility level procurement and supply chain efforts and reforms. Support CHMTs improve commodity security and quality assurance for FP/RH/MNCH commodities. S/he will oversee a programme of work to prevent stock-outs, reduce commodity wastage, and reduce order lead time for priority RMNCAH commodities.

· Information Systems: oversee activities to strengthen county health information systems and data use to improve quality and use of FP/RMNCAH data at the sub-county and county levels. He/she will work with an HMIS Officer and the county government to implement activities such as data quality assessments, M&E TWG functionality, development of a county M&E framework, county and sub-county data review forums, build capacity of HMIS mentors, support use of the RMNCAH scorecard, etc.)

· Health Care Financing: provide technical assistance to the county government to develop a strategic approach to address financial barriers to accessing health care, and engage in public private partnerships.

• Project Management

· Effectively plan, deliver and evaluate the implementation of activities and critically reflect and improve on project strategies to promote health system performance

• People Management

· Supervise various Officers, and effectively source and manage short term consultants to support priority activities

• Partnership and Team Work

· Work closely with other project staff to ensure that project strategies and approaches are delivered in a coherent and coordinated way, in line with project targets, and build partnerships with other key organisations to promote synergy

Person specification

• The candidate will hold at minimum a Master’s Degree in the health sciences, public health or related field
• The candidate will have at least 5 years’ experience in implementing complex public health programs of similar scope and size in Sub-Saharan Africa, preferably in Kenya.
• The candidate will have at least five years demonstrated experience at mid- or senior level in health system strengthening, ideally including planning and budgeting, human resources for health, information systems and/or supply chain management.
• The candidate will have experience in managing donor-funded programs and demonstrated ability to work effectively with all kind of stakeholders: government representatives, local community organisations, for-profit private sectors entities.
• The candidate will have experience in managing a technical team and monitoring HSS activities.
• The candidate will have strong leadership and management skills.
• The candidate will be fluent in English and Swahili.
• A practical knowledge of Samburu context would be an added advantage

About Options and the programme

Options Consultancy Services Limited was established in 1992 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marie Stopes International. We are a consultancy organisation providing technical and management expertise in the health and social sectors to governments and international development partners to transform the health of women and children. We provide information, expertise and influence to governments, health workers, NGOs and businesses to catalyse change so that health services can be accessed by the people who need them most.

Afya Timiza project is contributing to improve the quality and accessibility of Family Planning and Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent health services by supporting sustained change planning and provision of and access to more efficient health services in Turkana and Samburu counties. Afya has a strong focus on reaching remote and nomadic communities.