Results for Development (R4D) is a leading non-profit global development partner. We collaborate with change agents around the world — government officials, civil society leaders and social innovators — to create strong systems that support healthy, educated people. We help our partners move from knowing their goal to knowing how to reach it. We combine global expertise in health, education and nutrition with analytic rigor, practical support for decision-making and implementation and access to peer problem-solving networks. Together with our partners, we build self-sustaining systems that serve everyone and deliver lasting results. Then we share what we learn so others can achieve results for development, too.
We have a unique and vibrant culture at R4D. Diversity, equity and inclusion are at the heart of our work environment and help advance our mission. Diversity—of ideas, identities, perspectives and backgrounds—is vital to who we are and what we do. We seek people who embrace these values and will help reinforce them. Our work culture is collaborative, creative and entrepreneurial. We operate based on trust and respect. Teams across the organization frequently collaborate on programmatic work and support each other in continuously building a better R4D.
R4D’s Global Health portfolio leverages extensive networks and expertise to improve health and achieve equity in health outcomes for all people around the world. Whether it’s assessing policies that can support research and development on new drugs and vaccines, exploring innovations in healthcare and connecting innovators to each other or to investors, supporting the growing global movement for universal health coverage, or producing on-demand research and forecasting to help countries and global institutions plan their healthcare futures, R4D’s global health work unlocks new possibilities for global health actors worldwide.
R4D’s Nutrition portfolio works at the global and country-level to help change agents as they navigate complex, multi-sectoral challenges to improving nutrition. R4D has designed a suite of approaches to support global and country partners across a broad range of areas, including:
– Strengthening health systems to provide essential nutrition services through integration into primary health care, as countries pursue universal health coverage
– Food systems: enabling policymakers to achieve better policy outcomes across the different dimensions of the food system, with a specific focus on ensuring healthy diets and nutrition
– Sustainable nutrition financing across sectors: Providing high-quality tools, guidelines, and resources for multisectoral nutrition planning and sustainable financing for nutrition at the global, national, and sub-national levels
– Data for Nutrition: Generating quality nutrition evidence and innovative data for decision-making
To meet ambitious nutrition targets, Results for Development works at the global and country-level to help change agents as they navigate complex challenges. Across all of our work, we are committed to building the capacity of change agents at the national and sub-national levels- including government and civil society organizations partners.
Opportunity:
R4D is seeking a Health System Strengthening Advisor to lead the nutrition service quality improvement interventions for the recently released USAID Feed the Future Ethiopia Community Nutrition Activity. As described in the notice of funding opportunity, the Activity is intended to foster appropriate nutritional practices in households and communities and increase demand for nutrition services from the community-based health facilities i.e., health posts, health centers and primary hospitals, and Health Extension Workers (HEWs). The Activity will also improve quality of services delivered from the health facilities and strengthen coordinated implementation of nutrition intervention from different sectors. The interventions will have a strong focus on the first thousand days of life, the critical window of opportunity to have greater nutritional impact.
This position is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Health System Strengthening Advisor will be an R4D employee and will sit in the project office reporting to the Chief of Party. This position is contingent on funding.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, sex, religion, marital status, disability, gender identity, national origin, cultural affiliation, sexual orientation, race, or other characteristics. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
Deadline for submission: January 6, 2023
Responsibilities
- Responsibilities of the Health System Strengthening Advisor will include, but will not be limited to, the following:
- Pursuing collaborative efforts among public health, communities, and both public and private health care institutions can transform the health system
- Lead strategic planning and work plan development for health system strengthening activities
- Advocate for the equitable health system to every individual a fair opportunity to attain their highest level of health regardless of social or demographic factors, with particular emphasis on underserved, socially excluded, and vulnerable populations
- Lead various health system strengthening technical analyses to make policy recommendations on how best to integrate and strengthen nutrition actions within health service delivery across health system building blocks, with a focus on effective engagement at the community level
- Lead the HSS components across the different Intermediate Result areas of the CNA project that could be led and managed by consortium member partners.
- Ensure the strong correlation and alignment if the CNA project HSS approach with the MoH initiatives.
- Participate in the development and designing of HSS implementation and monitoring guidelines within the scope of the CNA project.
- Increasing the ability for a health system to withstand and effectively respond to shocks and stressors is critical to achieving HSS and to maintaining progress to date on priority health outcome
- Support partners and local government to implement quality health system that is responsive to patient and population needs and utilizes data-informed, continuous process improvement to consistently provide safe, effective, trusted, and equitable health care and medical products to improve and maintain health outcomes for all people
- Produce policy advocacy papers for audiences including the Federal Ministry of Health, Regional Health Bureaus, and district planning officials
- Facilitate health system strengthening policy dialogue and advocacy between Federal Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Financing and Economic Development (MOFED), to ensure sustainability of health system strengthening recommended actions
- Facilitate learning and experience sharing using existing government platforms
- Lead in the identification, design and implementation of operational research related to health system strengthening to improve nutrition outcomes and quality of services within health service delivery
- Provide technical support in the advocacy and development of a phased plan for sustainable financing of priority integration actions
- Support innovation and digitalization of tools to support both health care and management decision making in health systems
- Actively develop relationships with USAID, consortium members and other health care financing stakeholders
- Act as R4D’s primary liaison to consortium partners
- Manage the development of progress reports and updates
- Manage technical staff supporting the above-mentioned technical activities
- Participates fully as a member of R4D by contributing, assisting and participating in projects, activities, and initiatives as requested by management
Required Qualifications
- 10+ years of relevant work experience in some combination of health systems, health financing, health policy development and implementation, health service delivery and quality of care, or health supply chain management
- 10+ years of demonstrated experience in health system strengthening management or technical advisory support, with experience with USG funded projects or other internationally funded programs
- Master’s Degree in Public Policy, Public Health, Economics, Business Administration, or equivalent
- Proven understanding of the Ethiopian health system and service delivery providers, especially at the community level, e.g., health posts, health centers and primary hospitals, and Health Extension Workers (HEWs)
- Proven understanding of the nutrition context in Ethiopia, essential nutrition actions and priorities established by the Ethiopian government in various policies and strategy documents (including the Food and Nutrition Strategy, National Nutrition Plans, Seqota Declaration strategy, etc.), and strategies to integrate nutrition actions within the health system for broader health str
- Strong network of relationships within the Ethiopian health system and financing community; experience working closely with the Ethiopian government, particularly the Federal Ministry of Health and Health Extension Program, Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, major donors and philanthropic foundations
- Good understanding of USAID’s Vision for Health System Strengthening 2030
- Proven understanding of the sources of inefficiencies in health spending and feasible tools and approaches to address them
- Experienced working with remote “home office” technical support to maximize the value of such support to program activities
- Strong written and verbal communications skills, especially in conveying technical materials to audiences of non-specialist policymakers
- Good and active listener and facilitator of policy dialogue
- Productive, energetic, task oriented, works well leading and as a member of teams, good at providing and receiving feedback
- Proven leadership experience in conceptualizing, planning, and executing projects
- Strong analytical, problem solving, and quantitative skills, with experience leading the development of analytical products
- Highly collaborative and approachable working style, and enthusiastic about working in an open-structure environment with multicultural peers and staff
- Spoken and written fluency in English and Amharic
- High level of proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, PowerPoint, and Word
How to apply
Please click here to apply.