John Snow Incorporated (JSI) is a public health research and technical assistant firm.

POSITION : Chief of Party

 Description

• Measure Evaluation Phase IV is a cooperative agreement awarded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to a consortium of partners lead by the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, and includes John Snow, Inc. (JSI), Palladium Group, Tulane University, ICF International and Management Science for Health.
• The overall objective of Measure Evaluation Phase IV is to enable countries to strengthen their systems to generate high quality health information that is used for decision making at local, national, and global levels.
• In Nigeria, Measure Evaluation Phase IV activities contribute to the project results by supporting the Nigeria Federal Ministry of Health to develop a strong, sustainable and fully-functioning HIS operating at national and sub-national levels. This includes building local capacity in M&E and strengthening structures and systems capable of producing quality data and promoting the use of data for evidence-based decision making.
• The Chief of Party will provide vision, direction, leadership and management to the Measure Evaluation Nigeria portfolio, in close collaboration with the management team to implement project objectives and activities.
• The Chief of Party will ensure that activities are carried out as planned, and that information is flowing between project staff, USAID, and country partners.
• Technically, the Chief of Party will support the Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria, to strengthen the HIS/NHMIS nationally by supporting developing and maintaining a standardized master facility list, ensure seamless interoperability of DHIS instance and harmonized data collection and reporting tools.

Management/Leadership:

• Ensure the quality and timeliness of work and the completion of the project within budget with minimal direction from the Senior Management from the home offices;
• Recognize and attend to specific USAID and Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) needs at all phases of the project;
• Communicate in a timely fashion with Measure Evaluation and USAID on the coordination of activities, status of activities and challenges encountered and offer proposed solutions;
• Ensure project financial systems and controls comply with generally accepted accounting practices and USG standards;
• Oversee monitoring of project activities and ensure incorporation of lessons learned into ongoing activities;
• Participate to USAID implementing partner meetings as required;
• Work with Measure/JSI HQ collaboratively.

Technical Oversight:

• Provide leadership and technical assistance in the development and maintenance of master health facility list with required guidelines and protocol;
• Build relationships and collaborate with USAID, FMOH, HISP/ University of Oslo, USG-implementing partners and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that HMIS/DHIS strengthening activities are planned and implemented in a coordinated and collaborative manner and aligned with national strategies, to prevent duplication of efforts and improve synergy and complementarity between partners;
• Provide technical assistance and support to the FMOH/DPRS and other stakeholders in the revision and harmonization of HMIS data collection and reporting tools;
• In collaboration with the FMOH and other relevant stakeholders, facilitate the interfacing between the HMIS (DHIS2) and DATIM to improve data exchange and linkage as well as use of data in routine reporting in both systems;
• Work in collaboration with other DHIS/ICT Advisor, US-based Activity and Technical Leads to ensure that high quality data is entered into DHIS2 and that data is used on a regular basis at the national and sub-national levels;
• Participate in the development and implementation of data collection and reporting tools and systems that correspond to the needs of decision makers at every level of the health system, as needed, and ensure compatibility with other existing systems;
• Oversee the development of appropriate planning, monitoring, management and control systems to ensure informed decision-making and implementation of project activities;
• Oversee monitoring of project activities and assist with documentation of best practices (what worked and what didn't work) to ensure incorporation of lessons learned into ongoing activities;
• Work with the US-based Activity Lead and Technical Leads in the preparation of MEASURE Evaluation annual work plans, budgets, quarterly reports and annual progress reports to the Mission and MEASURE Evaluation headquarters;
• Ability to travel within Nigeria as required by the position; and
• Perform other assigned functions relevant to MEASURE Evaluation work in Nigeria based on the emerging needs either from the Mission and government agencies.

Qualifications

• Advance degree (MPH, MS, MA, other) in public health or related fields such as health systems or health information;
• At least 5 years experience managing a project office with demonstrated ability to manage a diverse team and familiarity with human resources, financial management, and financial and operational reporting;
• Diplomacy and tact to work effectively and harmoniously across partners, host country counterparts, USAID, consultants, other donors and international organizations;
• At least 10 years “hands on experience” in health information systems in a health or related international NGO or bilateral/multilateral organizations, with knowledge of the Nigerian context. Knowledge experience in the implementation of DHIS 2 platform will be added advantage;
• Prior work experience with the government of Nigeria and international donors such as USAID, UNAIDS, UNICEF, DfID, Global Fund, etc.;
• Good understanding with demonstrable, with substantial developing country context experience, in facilitation of health information system strengthening, including central level coordination and systems integration, and sub-national strengthening for quality collection, analysis, dissemination, and use of health information;
• Experience with adult training approaches and excellent workshop and meeting facilitation skills; and
• Analytical skills in quantitative and qualitative research activities in terms of planning and implementation are desirable. Thus experience and knowledge of any other databases in addition to DHIS2 and statistical analysis packages such as SPSS, SAS, STATA or EPI-Info is a plus;
• Good interpersonal skills;
• A team player but also able to work independently and to manage various projects on a daily basis;
• Experience budgeting project funds and accounting standards and norms;
• Superior knowledge management, communications, report writing and presentation skills;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English;
• High level of professionalism and confidentiality.

Salary
Commensurate with experience.