Technical Director, Maternal & Newborn Health

Job Description

Through its Center for Healthy Women, Children & Communities (HWCC@JSI), JSI works to ensure that every woman and child can access good-quality affordable health care services. Our approach is rooted in a life-course perspective that encompasses childhood, adolescence, pregnancy, childbirth, and the postnatal period. We work across the continuum of care—from the community to the health facility—to improve the quality of maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) services and outcomes. Many of our programs focus on improving access to and quality of MNCH services by following our guiding principles: ensure quality standards of care, support locally led initiatives, develop innovative and scalable solutions, strengthen community engagement and patient-centered services, and build resilience through systems-level support to improve health outcomes.

JSI is recruiting for a Technical Director, Maternal & Newborn Health (MNH) to 1) serve as a thought leader in maternal and newborn health; 2) provide technical support to JSI projects, 3) actively participate in new business development, and 4) support the implementation of an overall strategic vision and workplan for HWCC@JSI. RESPONSIBILITIES Global Thought Leadership

• Participate in defining and implementing JSI’s technical agenda to support MNH as a global technical priority;
• Prepare technical documents, issue papers, guidelines, presentations, and write articles on program strategies, findings and research results and publish in peer-reviewed journals;
• Make substantive technical and policy contributions to the development and implementation of the global maternal and newborn health agenda in collaboration with international and national partners (such as USID WHO, UNICEF, World Bank, NGOs, CSOs);
• Identify opportunities to implement joint initiatives with USAID and other international partners such as UNICEF, WHO, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and World Bank, among others;
• Represent JSI on international groups and at international forums for technical exchange, including technical advisory bodies, working groups, workshops and conferences.

Technical Excellence within JSI

• Provide technical guidance and promote the inclusion of state of the art maternal and newborn health interventions and approaches throughout JSI’s work;
• Provide direct on-site and virtual technical support to country programs and other field activities;
• Facilitate the identification of maternal and newborn health-related program learning priorities and contribute to the design of specific implementation research;
• Identify and publicize JSI’s innovations in MNH and build a culture of continuous learning and innovations in MNH.

New Business Development

• Participate in proposal development and client management, including design of technical implementation strategies, leading or contributing to technical writing and engaging with clients and partners as well as contributing to strategic planning for new business;
• Generate new business opportunities, cultivating partnerships with donor agencies, building strategic partnerships, and generating demand for JSI’s expertise and services.
• Perform other duties as assigned to expand JSI’s overall MNH portfolio.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Medical Doctor, Midwife, or Clinician with MPH, DrPH or PhD in public health or related fields.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in LMICs designing, leading, managing, implementing and evaluating large international health projects, specifically with experience in the following areas: maternal health, newborn health, primary health care, health systems strengthening, and health policy,
• At least seven years of direct experience providing thought leadership and technical assistance in maternal and newborn health at the global, national and subnational levels in LMICs with experience preferred in both Africa and Asia;
• Well-developed entrepreneurial skills and demonstrated experience generating new business opportunities, cultivating and building strategic partnerships with donors.
• Demonstrated team spirit and ability to work effectively within a small team, while also being able to reach out to and collaborate with others groups.
• Demonstrated professional experience working in partnership with international donors and agencies, host country governments, partners and other relevant stakeholders.
• Able to navigate in already established structures and show flexibility to adapt and take initiative.
• Demonstrated effectiveness in coordination, both internally within an organization and externally with other organizations.
• Strong interpersonal skills in working with international partners and demonstrated effectiveness in networking.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple activities simultaneously and work in a complex environment with teams whose members are physically located in different time zones and geographic areas around the world.
• Results-oriented and able to produce high quality work under deadlines.
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills and the ability to organize and present information in a compelling way.
• English fluency- spoken and written; proficiency in French would be a plus.
• Ability to travel up to 25%.

Salary commensurate with experience.

Interested candidates should submit their resumes and cover letters online by 07/14/2023.

About the Organization

We are more than 3,000 public health care and health systems consultants and researchers driven by a passion to improve health services and outcomes for all. Our fundamental goal is to ensure that all individuals can live their best and healthiest life, regardless of age or circumstances.

In pursuit of our goal, we provide innovative management consulting and technical assistance incorporating a broad range of skills. Founded in 1978, we collaborate with government agencies, the private sector, and local nonprofit and civil society organizations to identify and implement solutions to public health challenges. These partnerships improve the quality, accessibility, and equity of health systems and lead to better health outcomes.

We work within communities and rely on local staff to ground our approach in a deep understanding of those who will benefit. While we promote using best practices and sharing solutions, we tailor strategies to each situation and seek creative options to meet clients’ needs.