Senior Technical Advisor, Malaria in Pregnancy - Jhpiego

Jhpiego is an international, non-profit health organization affiliated with The Johns Hopkins University. For 40 years and in over 155 countries, Jhpiego has worked to prevent the needless deaths of women and their families.

Jhpiego works with health experts, governments and community leaders to provide high-quality health care for their people. Jhpiego develops strategies to help countries care for themselves by training competent health care workers, strengthening health systems and improving delivery of care.

Jhpiego designs innovative, effective and low-cost health care solutions to ensure a level of care for women and their families. These practical, evidence-based interventions are breaking down barriers to high-quality health care for the world’s most vulnerable populations.

Job Description

Jhpiego is a key partner in the USAID-funded President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) IMPACT Malaria project contributing to the country’s National Malaria Control Strategic Plan 2014-2020 and beyond. The project will operate over a five-year period.

The Ghana Country office of Jhpiego Corporation is currently looking for a passionate individual to fill the following position: Senior Technical Advisor (Malaria in Pregnancy) . Job Location is Accra

Job Summary

The Senior Technical Advisor, Malaria in Pregnancy (MiP) will provide technical and program oversight and direction in the area of malaria in pregnancy for the IM project.

Responsibilities include providing leadership and technical support and guidance in the development and implementation of MiP activities at national, regional, district and facility levels, promoting the uptake of intermittent prevention of malaria in pregnancy (IPTp), participating in national level discussions and MiP TWG meetings as well as improving databases that monitor MiP achievements. This position will ensure the technical and methodological soundness of activities and, in collaboration with the project team and partners, support the design of service delivery strategies, based on sound and current scientific evidence.

Duties and Responsibilities

Leadership

• Support for NMCP and Reproductive Health Division at the national level to review policies, protocols and guidelines.
• Support coordination at national level through the NMCP and participate in the national malaria case management and MiP TWGs, Safe motherhood and contributing technical updates, and documenting action plan
• Promote WHO’s new recommendations on intermittent prevention of malaria in pregnancy (IPTp) uptake and guidelines, as a core component of the WHO three-pronged approach for MiP
• Guide the integration of MiP services with maternal, newborn and child health
• Provide technical oversight, strategic direction and ensure appropriate support for the implementation of program activities in MiP at regional and district level
• Continue to support the National Malaria Control Program MiP activities at the facility level.
• Lead “train the trainer” sessions, site strengthening, in-service and/or pre-service education, follow-up and supportive supervision to project-supported health facilities, as required by program activities

Management

• Contribute to maintaining excellent coordination and relationships with PMI Ghana and in-country stakeholders
• Contribute to development of the project strategic plan in close collaboration with the GHS, PMI and other stakeholders
• Contribute to annual work planning and preparation of donor reports
• Work collaboratively with finance staff to prepare activity budgets and track expenditures
• Ensure timely implementation of all program inputs related to MiP, including implementing assessments, site strengthening, follow-up and supervision
• Support demand creation, policy support, capacity building in collaboration with PMI and relevant stakeholders.
• Work with M&E staff to design, implement a plan to track data/results related to maternal, newborn and child health

Required Skills or Experience

• A senior nurse with Diploma/BSc in Nursing. A Master’s in Public Health will be an advantage.
• Experience working within the Ghana Healthcare system on Reproductive Health and MiP services
• Demonstrated in-depth understanding of Ghanaian healthcare system, particularly the public health system
• Skill in at least two or more of the following technical areas: strengthening service delivery programs, training, pre-service education, performance and quality improvement, monitoring and evaluation
• At least 7 years’ experience applying malaria in pregnancy programs
• Experience in training health workers on clinical aspects related to family planning/reproductive health/malaria
• Experience building capacity at individual and organizational levels
• Experience with a mix of practical technical skills in malaria necessary for strengthening malaria service delivery at the provincial, clinical and community-level
• The ability to liaise with senior GHS officials and dignitaries, executives of NGOs, FBOs, CBOs, the for-profit business community, and senior members of the donor community;
• Strong oral and written communication and presentations skills in English
• Strong skills in word processing and Excel spread sheets
• Familiarity with USAID and/or other USG administrative, management and reporting procedures and systems
• Proven track record managing a project team composed of several technical experts and ability to foster team work
• Ability to coach, mentor and develop technical capacity in national programs and technical staff in the areas
• Ability to travel up to 50% of the time