Director at Interchurch Medical Assistance

IMA in Kenya is looking to recruit Director, Health Systems Strengthening for the Afya Jijini Project. He /She will be responsible for developing and implementing Health System Strengthening activities for the USAID-funded Afya Jijini project. The project Afya Jijini’s ultimate aim is to improve access and uptake of quality health services in Nairobi for the most pressing health issues. Building on the success of USAID’s APHIAplus Nairobi County work, the Afya Jijini Project will strengthen Nairobi County-level institutional and management capacity to deliver quality healthcare services. The project seeks specifically to increase access and use of quality HIV; family planning (FP) and reproductive health (RH); maternal, neonatal and child health (MNCH); water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and nutrition services.

Based in Nairobi with frequent travel to informal settlements and health facilities in the county, the Director, Health System Strengthening will work with project staff, partners, and sub-grantees to develop innovative and evidence-driven approaches to boosting uptake of health services. He /She will help develop an overarching strategy to help health facilities, Sub-Counties and Counties to strengthen Health Systems, plan and implement capacity strengthening approaches, including trainings and mentorship models, to roll out these approaches.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide overall project leadership on the development of Health System Strengthening and implementation policies and implementation plans linked closely to Health System Strengthening activities at planning, and implementation level in Nairobi County.
• Oversee the work of technical advisors ( Human Resources for Health, Health Products and Technologies, and Quality Improvement) to ensure Health System Strengthening is incorporated into all Afya Jijini technical support guidelines, tools and implementation activities of the UHAI service delivery teams.
• Work specifically with the Ministry, County and Sub-County Health Management Team, to ensure Health System Strengthening is implemented in Nairobi County. This include strengthening Governance, Leadership, and Human Resources for Health, Health Products and Technologies, Quality Improvement and Monitoring and Evaluation.
• Provide oversight and assistance in achieving technical and operational deliverables.
• Ensure the quality of service delivery support provided by promoting the use of data-driven collaborative improvement team initiatives.
• Represent the project as technical expert in meetings with donors and partners and participate in technical working group meetings at the National, and County level.
• Work with County Health Executives to develop strategic and annual operational plans to facilitate government funding and support
• Participate in drafting, reviewing and approving scopes of work and other related technical documents as they relate to project activities.
• Work with M&E to set up a robust database that showcases our Health System Strengthening work
• Develop and assist in the development of Health System Strengthening related technical briefs, monographs, success stories as part of capacity building and contractual reporting.
• Work to build capacity internally and at Health Facility, Sub-County and County level in Health System Strengthening
• Supervise technical staff

Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in clinical qualification with specific training and experience in Health System Strengthening with a Master Degree in Public Health or related field.
• 8+ years post-graduation experience with 5 years in Health System Strengthening
• Prior experience in implementing donor-funded HIV/AIDS programs in Kenya
• Knowledge of and familiarity with Health and HIV guidelines and PEPFAR indicators.
• Ability to successfully represent the project as technical expert with Sub-County and County level government, NGO, multilateral and bilateral organizations.
• Strong technical experience in implementing HIV and or MNCH/Nutrition/WASH Health System Strengthening activities.
• Proven track record of developing relationships and working successfully with major international health donors (USAID, CDC, etc.) and potential partners.
• Prior experience managing client relationships, reporting, work planning, financial management, and overall program implementation.
• Experience working on U.S. government (including PEPFAR) or other large donor-funded projects required. Knowledge of PEPFAR and GoK indicators for M&E for HIV prevention areas.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint).
• Fluent in English, Kiswahili and one or more local languages.