Health Systems Expert - Palladium

Palladium is seeking a Health Systems Expert (HSE) to support the management and delivery of a technical support facility to the African Health Diagnostics Programme a joint initiative by the European Investment Bank and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to strengthen diagnostics across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Their intention is to co-finance a new health-financing platform to improve laboratory and diagnostic services for low income populations in Sub-Saharan Africa, through the creation of functioning partnerships, possibly in the form of public-private partnerships (PPPs).

This 48-month programme will support the identification, preparation and implementation of investment projects related to improving health diagnosis in Sub-Saharan Africa including carrying out studies and technical assistance at various stages of the project cycle (gap analysis, studies, support to the establishment of partnership agreements, support to project implementation, etc.). It will identify any potential gaps between women and men’s access to diagnostics, the availability of diagnostics for diseases that are particularly prevalent among women (e.g. HPV, cervical cancer, anaemia, HIV/AIDS, other forms of cancer, etc.) and the feasibility and market opportunity for expanding the availability of such diagnostics.

Based in francophone West Africa the HSE will serve as the central point of technical and strategic diagnostics leadership for the programme. As such, the HSE will be responsible for the technical input management of the programme, including delivery of all outputs/deliverables and milestones, risk mitigation, and oversight of a regional team, consortium partners, in-country staff and short-term technical assistance.

Responsibilities

• Lead on the technical outputs on the programme, ensuring that delivery milestones are met and acting as a technical backstop for all aspects of the programme
• Liaises with Palladium corporate team members, programme leadership members and the programme delivery team to ensure the achievement of high-quality project benchmarks, products, and services on time and in budget
• Provides day-to-day management support to the programme leadership team and ensure efficient functioning of country teams
• Undertake technical work in technical area (health diagnostics, health financing, health partnerships etc)
• Deputise for the Team Leader, as needed.
• Required Qualifications
• Master’s degree or equivalent academic degree in a relevant discipline such as health economics, health policy, or health systems.
• Experience in health systems, preferably within the development context and in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Professional experience in preparation and implementation of investment projects including procurement and consideration of legal framework.
• Experience and specific knowledge of Sub-Saharan African healthcare markets and public sector work practices and culture.
• Demonstrated direct negotiation experience with Sub-Saharan African ministries of Finance and Health.
• Experience in building and executing financial and partnership structures.
• Experience of health investment projects preparation and implementation requirements, including adherence to relevant guidelines and legislation such as procurement, environmental and social policies.
• Fluency in written and spoken English.
• Working level knowledge of French.