Job Description

Opportunity

Abt Associates is currently seeking a qualified Technical Director for the upcoming USAID Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition (RMNCAHN) Continuum of Care Activity (CoC TA) in Zambia. The project’s goal is to improve the capacity of the public health system to sustainably deliver quality reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health and nutrition services (RMNCAH&N) across four provinces of Zambia. This activity is expected to provide high-impact, demand-driven technical assistance, coupled with targeted direct implementation, of reproductive maternal, newborn, child health and nutrition services. This activity will work through a whole district approach across four provinces in Zambia (Muchinga, Luapula, Southern and Eastern) with the potential to increase geographic scope in future years.

Under the supervision of the Chief of Party, the Technical Director will provide leadership and management oversight to the technical activities of the project. This position will oversee technical staff, ensure quality assurance for project activities ensuring adherence to best practices on health systems strengthening, and ensure the adaptation and integration of emerging knowledge and innovative solutions within project activities. The position is contingent upon contract award to Abt Associates.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

• Leads an integrated, multi-sectoral team for the project and provides analytical leadership and technical direction for major aspects of the program

• Provides technical leadership for the project ensuring full alignment with national and international standards for reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health and nutrition
• Leads the development of technical activities for yearly workplans
• Oversees the implementation of technical activities according to workplan
• Oversees the development of technical deliverables, ensuring they meet all client requirements and are of high quality
• Utilizes adaptive management approaches to respond to assessments, reports, and implementation findings throughout the course of the award
• Guide the learning agenda for the project, uses lessons learned to modify project approaches and strategies, and disseminate findings

• Collaborates with the COP to ensure home and field office staff produce timely, high-quality, evidence-based products that meet/exceed USAID requirements
• Assists the COP in supervising and mentoring project staff
• Ensures that lessons learned and best practices are documented and shared. Works with monitoring and learning component of project to incorporate lessons learned to enhance project results

Preferred Skills / Prerequisites

• Master’s Degree or higher in health or other relevant fields; medical degree preferred
• At least 8 years of senior-level experience designing, implementing, and managing or evaluating RMNCAH and nutrition programmes
• Demonstrated technical depth and understanding of the RMNCHAH and nutrition sectors, including international work experience
• Demonstrated management experience and familiarity with the RMNCAHN environment in Zambia preferred
• Demonstrated success managing complex multi-donor programs is desired, previous USAID project experience strongly preferred, previous SIDA and/or DfID experience is preferred

• Demonstrated leadership experience and ability to work with a minimum of direction and supervision
• Excellent organizational, interpersonal communication and computer skills.
• Verbal and written fluency in English

Application Procedure

Submit your CV and cover letter to Zambia_Jobs@abtassoc.com. Be sure to include the job title in the email’s subject line. Local candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

About the Organization

Abt Associates is a mission-driven, global leader in research and program implementation in the fields of health, social and environmental policy, and international development. Founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1965, Abt Associates was built on the concept that sound information and empirical analysis are the best foundations for effective decision making. The firm blends the subject matter expertise of our staff with technical capabilities in applied research, program implementation, and data collection to shape policy, strengthen systems, measure performance, and deliver other solutions to our public and private sector clients. Examples of Abt Associates’ work include nationally recognized research, evaluation, and technical assistance to improve the efficiency of healthcare systems, the effectiveness of government housing programs, the production of food, and the measurement of public opinion. Abt’s staff of more than 2000 includes national and international experts who are known for their understanding of communities and governments worldwide, innovative research techniques, and insightful—and often groundbreaking—analyses and recommendations. Approximately 51 percent of our staff has graduate degrees; one in six has a doctorate. Our staff’s educational and professional disciplines include economics, engineering, environmental analysis, epidemiology, food security, health, housing, international development, psychology, social science, statistics, and survey methodology. Abt’s research staff is experienced with prominent statistical software packages, including SPSS, SAS, and STATA, along with qualitative software such as NVIVO and Atlas. In 2011, Abt Associates was ranked among the top 20 global research firms and one of the top 40 development innovators. Abt has offices in Atlanta, Ga.; Rockville, Md.; Cambridge, Mass.; Chicago, Ill.; Durham, N.C.; and New York City and program offices in nearly 40 countries in Africa, Central and Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East and North Africa. www.abtassociates.com