Job Description
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Public Health Specialist/Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) fills a key technical and management role on the USAID Eswatini Team. S/he contributes to the team’s ability to achieve results by providing essential programmatic and technical expertise in strategic information (SI) and specific components of HSS. The incumbent is the technical expert for strategic information across USAID’s HIV/AIDS portfolio. Strategic information includes monitoring and evaluation (M&E), health management information systems (HMIS), surveys/surveillance. The incumbent will provide technical and M&E support to the Senior Management and Operations Advisor who serves as USAID’s Coordinator for the PEPFAR Site Improvement and Monitoring System (SIMS). The incumbent serves as the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) or Activity Manager for USAID-funded SI and HSS awards and regional/bi-lateral contracts issued by the Regional Mission, as well as USAID Washington (USAID/W) procured Field Support activities. S/he will supervise two Coordinating Country National (CCN) positions: the Project Management Specialist for Strategic Information position and the Project Management Specialist for Health Systems Strengthening position. The incumbent provides strategic guidance to the interagency PEPFAR team on supply chain management for critical HIVTB commodities in the country. The incumbent collaborates with other HSS Specialists on the inter-agency team to develop an updated and strategic vision for PEPFAR support to health systems strengthening in Eswatini. The incumbent works as a part of the inter-agency SI team to strengthen the USAID and PEPFAR Eswatini program data collection, analysis and reporting system.
Technical Leadership
The Public Health Specialist works in close coordination with all USAID Eswatini team members, PEPFAR Eswatini interagency team members, GKoE and other stakeholders and is responsible for, or provides support to, a variety of institutional components in the areas of SI and HSS. The Public Health Specialist:
- Is responsible for all technical M&E support to USAID’s SIMS Coordinator and, in collaboration with the interagency PEPFAR team, supports analysis and monitoring of SIMS information across the PEPFAR program. With the Senior Management and Operations Advisor, ensures USAID compliance to all SIMS requirements as developed by (S/GAC) and establishes and tracks USAID’s SIMS workplans. This may include supervision of other USAID SI/SIMS staff/contractors, field monitors and/or program assistants.
- Leads the development of and updates USAID’s evaluation plan and serves as USAID Eswatini’s point of contact for performance monitoring.
- Acts as the Contracting Officer’s Representative or Agreement Officer’s Representative (COR/AOR) or Activity Manager for external evaluations as required.
- Assists USAID Activity Managers staff with: establishing program level targets, reviewing implementing partner performance monitoring plans, tracking partner performance against established benchmarks and targets, and reviewing partner evaluation plans/methodologies/reports to ensure technical soundness.
- Reviews, analyzes and disseminates results from High Frequency Reporting, quarterly and annual reports across a range of dimensions and variables for audiences including USAID Eswatini, the PEPFAR/Eswatini interagency team, S/GAC, USAID/W, RHO and other relevant stakeholders.
- Coordinates all USAID data quality assessment (DQA) efforts, ensuring compliance to USAID and S/GAC requirements for DQAs across all USAID mechanisms.
- Assists USAID Activity Managers to analyze and use annual expenditure analysis data to evaluate program and unit expenditures and identify potential efficiencies.
- Serves as the USAID point of contact for all SI and HSS related requests for information from SGAC, USAID/W and RHO.
- The incumbent recommends and organizes site visits for VIP visitors, and provides clear briefings on USAID SI and HSS activities.
- In collaboration with inter-agency SI team, strengthens the capacity of USAID implementing partners to implement the PEPFAR Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (MER) Guidance as needed. This includes promoting the use of mobile technology as a more efficient and less costly approach to routine data collection.
- Supports USAID efforts to introduce GIS technology as a tool for enhanced data management and utilization within the USAID and PEPFAR Eswatini teams, implementing partners and GoKE.
- Participates in and provides technical assistance to SI and HSS-focused national Technical Working Groups and task teams, including those related to the planning and management of Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria resources in Eswatini.
- Provides strategic and technical direction for USAID HSS programming including SI, Commodity security and supply chain, Human Resources for Health especially with an aim towards sustainability
- • Provides technical and managerial oversight for commodity security and supply chain support with emphasis on provision of technical assistance to the GkoE, forecasting and managing the supply chain, HIV commodityprocurement, distribution and monitoring
- • Monitors the supply chain of critical HIV-TB commodities in the country, regularly updates the PEPFAR Eswatini team, Embassy Front Office, USAID/W and SGAC on stock status, state of the supply chain and provides strategic guidance to PEPFAR Eswatini Senior Management, implementing partners and GOKS counterparts on technically sound, cost-effective and practical approaches to strengthening supply chain management in the country.
- • Keep abreast of current public health literature, reports, international guidelines and standards, and best practices in public health SI and HSS.
- • In collaboration with the PEPFAR inter-agency HSS team, makes recommendations to develop an updated strategic vision for USAID and PEPFAR support to health systems strengthening in Eswatini.
- • Carries out other duties related to SI and HSS as assigned.
Project Management
- Serves as COR/AOR or official activity manager for designated activities awarded under the USAID SI and HSS portfolios. In this context, the incumbent is responsible for all aspects of project management for her/his assigned activities, including technical and financial oversight of the implementing partners, reviewing reports, documents, and scopes of work.
- Reviews and determines the appropriateness of proposed agreement modifications and submits recommendations to the RHO or USAID/W COR/AOR for follow-up action.
- Negotiates directly with counterpart officials and partners on all aspects of financial expenditures, and recommends action to the respective COR/AOR.
- Carries out routine monitoring and evaluation of project progress by reviewing technical documents and reports, completing site visits, and engaging in one-on-one reporting and meeting with key counterpart officials.
- Undertakes regular site visits (for designated activities) and maintains regular communication with implementing partners to ensure that they have feasible, results-oriented, gender-sensitive work plans and sound management and financial plans in place; that activity implementation is proceeding in accordance with the approved COP; that planned inputs and outputs are clearly identified and produced on schedule; that funding advances are requested, provided, expended and liquidated in accordance with financial plans and relevant USG procedures; that pipelines are reviewed with grantees at least quarterly; that timely audits are carried out in accordance with the respective activity agreements and any audit recommendations are closed; that completed activities are promptly closed out; and that implementing partners comply with the terms and conditions of activity agreements.
- Assists implementing partners to troubleshoot implementation problems, and bring any major management or politically sensitive issues to the attention of the USAID/Eswatini PEPFAR Country Director.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION
Required Minimum Qualifications:
1) Education:
An advanced degree in public health, social sciences, epidemiology, health administration, public policy or other field related to international development and/or public health. Emphasis or completed coursework on quantitative analysis and measurement for public health outcomes.
2) Prior Work Experience:
Minimum 10 years of progressive and responsible experience in public health monitoring and evaluation and/or research with field-based applications.
Experience working in technical oversight, design, monitoring and evaluation of HIV/AIDS programs in the southern African context.
Experience working to strengthen health systems in a developing country context.
3) Post Entry Training:
Upon hiring, USAID will provide the new employee with USAID required trainings such as AOR/COR, program cycle training, annual ethics, and trainings relevant to the position, e.g., Supervision Certification Course, Africa Manager’s Workshop.
4) Technical Knowledge:
Demonstrated in-depth knowledge of the current evidence base as it applies to HIV/AIDS program design, management, monitoring and evaluation.
Demonstrated in-depth knowledge of at least two of the following areas: health management information systems, GIS applications and geospatial analysis for public health programs, m-health applications, HIV/AIDS modeling applications, supply chain management for health commodities, health finance.
A working knowledge of PEPFAR and U.S. government operations, rules, regulations, procedures, policies.
