Save the Children is the leading independent organization for children in need, with programs in over 120 countries. We save children’s lives. We fight for their rights. We help them fulfil their potential. Save the Children is working in Nigeria because one in five children in Nigeria dies before their fifth birthday. About 40% of children miss out on school and have to work to survive while nearly 2 million children have lost one or both parents to an AIDS-related disease.
We are recruiting to fill the position below:
Job Title: Health Technical Advisor
Location: Abuja (FCT)
Employment Type: Contract
Ref No: 220000BA
Team: Programme Development & Quality
Grade: 3
Post Type: National
Reports to: Head of Health and Nutrition (HoH&N)
Staff reporting to this post: None
Context : Humanitarian and Development
Primary Technical Areas: Health
Primary Sub Technical Area: Child Health, Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health, Maternal and Newborn Health
Secondary Technical areas: Water Sanitation And Hygiene
Child Safeguarding
- Level 3- The responsibilities of the post may require the post holder to have regular contact with children or young people and, in the overseas context all posts are considered to be level 3 posts in view of potential situations which may allow staff unsupervised access to vulnerable children and young people.
Role Purpose
- The Health Technical Advisor will be responsible for ensuring that health programming in Nigeria is supported with quality technical inputs and to drive the child survival breakthrough, drawing upon Health and Nutrition strategic priorities.
- The role will lead strategy development and the technical design and implementation of high-quality programmes that deliver change for children in both emergency and development programming.
- The role supports national advocacy and influence while driving strategic partnerships for new business development. It supports the design and implementation of monitoring and evaluation systems to demonstrate impact, while sharing learning across our programmes, teams and partners.
- The role will also link with regional and SCI health capacities, and contribute to organizational learning, evidence generation and knowledge management where appropriate.
- The role will work closely operations colleagues and with partners in Nigeria, building their capacity and building ownership and agency of local organisations. This position will be expected to engage with the National partners in health, including FMOH and NPHCDA, and coordination mechanisms, as well as represent the organisation with key stakeholders.
- The role would also be expected to support emergency preparedness, DRR and support the assessment, design and implementation of humanitarian responses with other Public Health staff in the country setting.
- In the event of a major humanitarian emergency, the role holder will be expected to work outside the normal role profile and be able to vary working hours accordingly.
Role Dimensions:
- The role is expected to foster relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders including Save the Children members, the Country Office Programme Development & Quality team, advocacy colleagues, Regional Advisors, technical counterparts in other organisation, donors etc.
- The role is also expected to engage with internal technical working groups and communities of practice.
Key Areas of Accountability
Technical Leadership:
- Provide technical leadership for Health for the Country Office, and advise the HoH&N on the strategic approach in relation to the wider country strategy.
- Capacity build, mentor and build a supportive health community across the Country Office.
- Contribute to nutrition programming as relevant and requested.
Ensuring Programme Quality (Design & Implementation):
- Support the HoH&N and the business development team to identify funding opportunities that allow for both integration into broader programmes and standalone health and nutrition projects; engage with technical partners, donors and colleagues across Save the Children.
- Lead the technical scoping, planning, and design and proposal writing during new programme development, and ensure that we design and deliver high quality integrated health programmes for children with public health resources, building on global best practice. Ensure that gender, disability and resilience considerations are reflected in our programme design and implementation.
- Promote a Health Systems Strengthening approach as the overarching framework, that supports working in collaboration and partnership with governments and national bodies, local partners and working towards impact, scale and sustainability.
- Provide oversight and guidance to the programme implementation teams to ensure that thematic programme components are technically sound, implementation methods are consistent with national and global strategies, good practices are acknowledged (e.g. Save the Children Common Approaches); and that programmes are likely to achieve scale, as well as equitable and sustainable results.
- Promote and monitor integrated programming in a way that increases overall impact of health programmes at the community level.
- Undertake field visits to project sites; work with implementation teams to understand impacts, operational challenges, and continuously identify opportunities for learning and improvement.
- Supported by the Global Medical Team (GMT), lead on issues related medical services quality in the CO, in line with SCI’s quality framework, ensuring SOPs are followed and required documentation and reporting are in place.
- Work with the supply chain unit in processes related to medical commodities and equipment supply chain issues, such as providing specifications, quantifying needs, reviewing quality, defining and supervising storage conditions, etc.
- Work with Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability & Learning (MEAL) teams to carry out health related assessments, and conduct quality monitoring against international standards through participatory methodologies that promote gender equality and social justice (including child-friendly and gender sensitive/transformative methodologies).
- Contribute to organisational learning on health ensuring that learning from our programmes is shared across the Country Office and our partners, as well as with colleagues in the wider regional and global health, nutrition and WASH community in Save the Children. Contribute to strengthening the use of health competencies within training and learning initiatives in the sector.
- Support Humanitarian colleagues (as needed) to develop emergency preparedness plans, and conduct sectoral assessments and to design and deliver emergency response and recovery programmes.
- Be the CO focal person for health and pharmaceutical services for the GMT and RO, in the absence of pharmacists.
Networking & External Engagement:
- In alignment with Country Office strategy and leadership, support strategic positioning with donors, partners and government in-country, and ensure that Save the Children is a partner of choice in Health.
- Ensure that Save the Children is influencing and learning from others through national technical coordination and networking bodies such as health clusters and working groups.
- Represent the program to National and Local government representatives, donors, partner agencies, etc. as required.
- Ensure the quality, clarity and consistency of technical components of internal and external reports (e.g. programme reports, sit-reps, internal updates), working closely with awards, programme implementation and communications colleagues as needed.
- Leverage and liaise with technical colleagues from across Save the Children, including technical working groups and centres of excellence, ensuring that learning from the Country Office is shared with others and global lessons brought back.
Behaviours (Values in Practice)
Accountability:
- Holds self accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
- Holds their team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in accordance with the context, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.
Ambition:
- Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own professional development and encourages their team to do the same widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others future orientated, thinks strategically and on a national and even regional scale.
Collaboration:
- Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, technical advisors and working groups
- Members and external partners and supporters values diversity
- Sees it as a source of competitive strength approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.
Creativity:
- Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions willing to take disciplined risks.
Integrity:
- Honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity
- The post holder must commit to work in an international agency that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion and fights racism, gender inequality and discrimination in all forms
- Model positive behaviours that demonstrate a commitment to equality and respect to all colleagues, partners and communities.
Experience, Qualifcations and Skills
- Health, Medical or Public Health graduate
- At least 5 years experience as a health practitioner including experience on Public Health / Nutrition with a Humanitarian or Development Organization
- Good understanding of the Health Thematic area in Nigeria, the current situation, the policy environment and the stakeholders involved
- Understanding and experience in nutrition programmes will be a plus
- Familiar with health systems, and health service provision including community health and the engagement of civil society organisations
- Good experience in training, and capacity building of workforce and health staff
- Skilled at networking, representation and partnership development in order promote learning, strengthen civil society and mobilise resources
- Understanding of the health sector donor environment and positive track record on business development
- Able to generate and use data and evidence to innovate, deliver, learn and share what works and what doesn’t work for children
- Experience of promoting quality and impact through at least one cross-cutting area: gender equality and inclusion, adaptive and safer programming; child rights; disability; migration and displacement.
- Demonstrated program design, monitoring and evaluation skills, including designing pathways to sustainable impact at scale.
- Experience of supporting humanitarian preparedness, response and recovery is desirable
Key Competencies (Indicative / Key Competencies)
Technical Competencies:
- Drives Quality Health Programming: Trains and mentors others on the application of relevant health sector standards
- Understanding of Impact of emergencies on health programming and health outcomes: Engages in the humanitarian aid architecture, the cluster approach and inter-cluster coordination of public health information
- Able to build integrated multi sectoral health programmes: Builds the capacity of others to design and implement integrated health sensitive and specific programming and advocacy
- Able to link local to national and global level advocacy efforts, supporting localisation of change and influencing global policy development.
Generic Competencies (Accomplished):
- Being the Voice of Children: Promotes evidence-based policy and public engagement that includes the voices of children and their communities
- Advancing Equality & Inclusion: Displays a commitment to ensuring everything we do considers the most deprived and marginalised children
- Building & Strengthening Partnerships: Promotes working with diverse partners as critical to delivery
- Child Rights: Promotes the rights of children in own work and in work with colleagues and peers
Additional job responsibilities:
- The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.
Equal Opportunities:
- The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI’s global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Gender Equality Policies, supported by relevant procedures.
Child Safeguarding:
- We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.
Safeguarding our Staff:
- The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI anti-harassment policy
Health and Safety
- The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.
