Job Description
Overview
This position provides technical leadership and expertise in Monitoring and Evaluation, Research (MER), and Health Information Systems (HIS), including Health Management Information Systems (HMIS) within the Global Health Systems Innovation (GHSI) Unit, across both the Evidence, Performance and Impact (EPI) and the Data and Digital Health Technologies (DDH) practice area. The Senior Manager, Strategic Information leads activities in MER conducted by EPI, servicing MSH Projects so they use information for decision-making, improving performance, and maximizing and measuring health impact. The Senior Manager, Strategic Information participates in the strengthening of local HIS, M&E, and learning systems. The position also assures technical support to HMIS/DHIS2 initiatives, the inter-operability of various information systems with the national HMIS, synergies between local HMIS/DHIS 2 with MSH’s customized DHIS 2 system (DREAM@MSH) and the strengthening of HIS in a timely fashion with a client-centered approach. The Senior Manager acts as a relay to the EPI lead and has managerial responsibilities in the MSH Arlington office. The position reports to the EPI lead, also following a matrixed reporting format based on the various work streams s/he will be supporting, especially in relation to DDH.
Specific Responsibilities
Technical Support in Monitoring and Evaluation, Research (MER) (50%)
- Develop, manage, and enhance MSH M&E, research, and learning systems and activities, including developing standards and guidance to enhance data use for decision-making.
- Provide direct support to selected field projects in MER and oversee the field project support of the position’s direct reports.
- Perform statistical analyses (quantitative and qualitative).
- Strengthen and maintain MSH’s MER/HIS community of practice.
- Lead the MER section of MSH selected new bids and proposals.
Technical Support in Health Information Systems (HIS) (30%)
- Support the DDH Lead in the development and implementation of its new strategy on data and digital health.
- Provide technical leadership to HMIS/DHIS2 initiatives, including on the interoperability of various information systems with DHIS2, synergies between local HMIS/DHIS2 with MSH’s customized DHIS2 system (DREAM@MSH), analysing in-country DHIS2 health instances, and assisting local stakeholders to configure and/or improve these.
- Strengthen MSH DHIS2 instance (DREAM@MSH), ensuring its efficient scaling-up to new projects and technical areas.
- Develop and manage dashboards and large databases.
Managerial Responsibilities in the MSH Arlington Office (15%)
- Participate in the management of the EPI team, deputizing the EPI Lead.
- Lead and manage practice area team members assigned to be supervised by this position.
- Ensure all staff annual performance reviews are completed by all practice unit members supervised by this practice area leader.
- Monitor the workflow and work volume of all direct reports to maximize efficiency and productivity of M&E practice area employees supervised by this position.
- Review, approve, or request additional information for timesheets of direct reports.
Strategic Support to the Evidence, Performance, and Impact (EPI) and the Data and Digital Health (DDH) Leads (5%)
- Provide ad-hoc senior-level support to the EPI and DDH Leads, as required.
Qualifications and Experience
Education:
Required:
- Master’s Degree in Public Health, Sciences, or Statistics, with required major in Health Information Systems.
Preferred:
Experience:
- At least 8 years of related experience.
- Experience living or working in developing countries to understand program context, field realities, and technical needs.
- Experience in staff management.
- Experience with global health project-level HIS, and in M&E, knowledge management, and working as part of an integrated support team.
Knowledge and Skills:
Required:
- Demonstrated capacity to lead, develop, manage, and enhance M&E and learning systems and activities in LMICs.
- Extensive understanding of the M&E systems in countries, and how HIS links with M&E.
- Extensive high-level knowledge of DHIS2, functionality, configuration, and technical programming.
- Complete expertise in data management systems, such as Excel and MS Access.
- Proven capacity to analyze in-country DHIS2 health instances and assist local stakeholders (e.g. MOH, MSH field projects) to configure and/or improve those in the context of Public Health.
- Proven capacity to assess and propose development plans and deliver direct technical assistance to strengthen HIS in LMICs, using HMIS as the basis for such development plans (including with interoperability).
- Demonstrated knowledge of pharmaceutical-related information systems in LMICs, and how to enhance those is an asset.
- Proven skills in at least one statistical package software for quantitative data analysis (SPSS, STATA, R, etc.).
- Proven capacity to develop and manage dashboards and large databases for quantitative and qualitative data.
- Excellent writing, analytical, organizational, and communication skills, including organizing, scanning, summarizing, and presenting information.
- Demonstrated time management skills.
- Fluency in English (written and oral) required.
Preferred:
- Ability to converse in one of MSH’s primary working languages in addition to English (e.g. French, Spanish, Portuguese).
Competencies:
- Demonstrated ability to lead innovative portfolios in MER and in HIS, and to learn and follow the latest lessons learned concerning MER and HIS in LMIC.
- Demonstrated ability to manage staff, and to collaborate effectively with professional colleagues from multiple units and within various socio-cultural contexts.
- Demonstrated flexibility and openness in responding to changing work priorities and environment, and working under tight deadlines.
- Demonstrated competence to assess priorities and solve problems using innovative, evidence-based solutions.
- Highly detail-oriented, meticulous, and consistent in the execution of his/her work.
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities and projects at a time.
- Enjoys learning; a team player and a self-starter who can use her/his own initiative to identify useful work.
Physical Demands:
- Keyboard use, pulling drawers, lifting papers <10lbs.
- Travel requirements: up to 35%.
About the Organization
Management Sciences for Health, an international nonprofit organization, is dedicated to closing the gap between what is known and what is done about public health problems. MSH saves lives and improves health by helping public and private organizations throughout the world to effectively manage people, medicines, money, and information. Working from more than 30 country offices and our US headquarters, our staff from 65 nations is highly regarded for its technical expertise, integrity, and commitment to making a lasting difference in health.
Management Sciences for Health (MSH) is a nonprofit international health organization composed of more than 2,000 people from 73 nations. Their mission is to save lives and improve the health of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people by closing the gap between knowledge and action in public health. Together with their partners, they are helping managers and leaders in developing countries to create stronger management systems that improve health services for the greatest health impact.
EXPERTISE
MSH takes an integrated approach to building high-impact sustainable programs that address critical challenges in leadership, health systems management, human resources, and medicines. Simply put, they support stronger health systems for greater health impact.
Their expertise in these areas falls into the broad categories of management functions—for example, leadership and governance or pharmaceutical management—and health areas like tuberculosis or maternal, newborn, and child health. They apply their expertise by
- Partnering with governments, local organizations, and communities in developing nations to build their own capacity for long-term health impact;
- Providing global leadership in critical areas of health management and health care delivery;
- Bringing the best of MSH from around the globe to the people we serve, working as One MSH with a focus on lasting health system improvements.
Leadership, Governance, & Management
They work with in-country partners to build stronger health systems to improve:
- the management and leadership of priority health programs, health organizations, and multisectoral partnerships such as The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, developing a critical mass of managers at all levels of the health system who can lead and inspire teams to achieve results;
- the management systems of health organizations in the public and private sector, transferring practical approaches and skills to ensure that management structures contribute to sustainable organizational success;
- the governance and management of health organizations and multisectoral partnerships, facilitating change and transferring knowledge to enable organizations to administer their resources efficiently and scale up their services.
Health Service Delivery
MSH combines extensive public health expertise, proven service delivery approaches, and evidence-based interventions in five critical areas:
- HIV & AIDS
- Tuberculosis
- Maternal, newborn, and child health
- Family planning and reproductive health
- Other communicable diseases, including malaria and pandemic and avian influenza
Human Resources for Health
MSH helps governments develop multisectoral strategies and policies to plan and manage their health workforces. We use a comprehensive approach that addresses all the facets of human resources for health needed to achieve an adequate supply of well-trained and motivated health workers. MSH offers capabilities in leadership, human resource management, education, partnerships, policy, and finance to achieve these goals.
Pharmaceutical Management
Vital to our success is a participatory approach to project design and implementation, which cultivates broad-based support from all stakeholders. We also build and improve infrastructure and local capacity to effectively purchase, store, deliver, and use quality essential medicines.
Health Care Financing
MSH helps governments and NGOs assess their current financial situation and systems, understand service costs, and develop initiatives to use existing funds more effectively and generate additional revenue—all with the goal of supporting a nation’s health priorities.
Health Information
MSH has developed proven methods for rapidly strengthening the analysis and use of existing health data—normally at the province, district, and facility levels—without revising existing recording and reporting requirements. With an emphasis on learning through action, district teams undertake assessments of health services, identify gaps in performance, and design solutions to support better decision-making and, therefore, better management of improved services.
MSH has worked closely with the Health Metrics Network of the WHO to develop a comprehensive approach for enhancing the performance of health information systems and data by employing a practical, strategic planning process that can be carried out by national working groups.
