Deputy Health Office Director at USAID

Job Description

Statement of Duties to be Performed:

Technical and Programmatic Leadership

• The Specialist will be the most senior Cooperating Country National (CCN) position in the USAID/Zambia Mission, requiring a seasoned and highly experienced individual, with exceptional leadership, management, organizational, technical, writing/editing, diplomatic, and interpersonal skills. S/he will oversee strategy and planning functions for both the Health Systems Strengthening and the Decentralized Divisions’ budgeting and accounting. S/he will oversee the two divisions’ work in monitoring, evaluation, and learning; supply chain; and overall program implementation.
• As a subject matter expert, the Specialist will advise on and backstop USAID/Zambia’s development assistance activities in two key divisions of the USAID/Zambia Health Office portfolio: the Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) and the Decentralized Divisions, both of which work in all technical areas of the Health Office portfolio. S/he will oversee activities within these two sectors by reviewing and analyzing program performance and financial data, while providing guidance on health partnerships with key Zambian governmental entities, USG leaders across the interagency, and other key health sector counterparts.
• The Specialist will assist the Health Office Director in formulating, coordinating, and managing strategy, policies, concepts, procedures, guidelines, and models for establishing program activities in health systems strengthening and within the five provinces of the Decentralized Division. S/he will analyze constraints to development, both sectorwide and country-specific, and recommend courses of action.
• The Specialist will serve as a senior technical expert, contributing the design and planning for a broad range of health system strengthening and population/health/nutrition activities. This will include identifying opportunities for building health partnerships with district-level GRZ officials, as well as with other public and private health sector players. S/he will participate in the formation of policies and guidelines to further health system strengthening at both national and provincial levels. S/he will also advise on policies and guidelines relevant to the health activities of the five decentralized provincial offices in their respective geographic areas. S/he will coordinate and oversee program and new activity development and implementation, while tracking implementation progress, and monitoring performance of both the health systems strengthening and decentralized division’s activities.
• As the most senior CCN professional in the Health Office, the Specialist will advise the Health Office and Mission leadership, Health Office technical team members, and Health Office project managers on important aspects of USAID programming processes. This will include analyzing the effects of U.S. legislation and GRZ policies, strategies, and priorities on USAID/Zambia’s development assistance program objectives. S/he will identify constraints and develop approaches for the USAID Health Office to mitigate the constraints. S/he will also track Congressional directives, earmarks and multiple funding sources which have a significant bearing on annual funding allocations to ongoing and new activities in the Mission’s portfolio, and guide and oversee preparation of program documentation related to the above. When budget changes occur, s/he will make recommendations to the Health Office and USAID/Zambia Mission management and USAID/Washington to improve the USAID/Zambia Health Office program management and health activity outcomes.
• The Specialist will provide Health Office input for the long-term resource requirement section of the USAID/Zambia Mission and US Embassy Lusaka Integrated Country Strategy documents. S/he will provide Health Office input for the Mission’s annual planning documents such as the Mission Resource Request (MRR), Congressional Budget Justification (CBJ), Mission Performance Plan and Report (PPR), the Health Implementation Plan (HIP), the Operational Plan (OP), the HIV Country Operational Plan (COP), and the Bureau Budget Submission. S/he will prepare health office justifications and rationales for the requested resources for submission to USAID/Washington, State and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
• The Specialist will lead and oversee the development, management, and assessment of her/his respective Health Systems Strengthening and Decentralized Divisions’ portfolio activities in critical program areas such as private sector engagement, integration of primary health care, health partnerships and operations, strategic information and data analytics, and supply chain strengthening. S/he will participate and assist the development of plans and programs for technical assistance, capital assistance, and other activities within the health sector. The Specialist will lead strategic development, implementation, financial management, and monitoring and evaluation of USAID health programs that complement Government of the Republic of Zambia priorities. The Specialist will manage a broad range of key activities, including the development of in-depth analyses of existing programs and projects and make policy recommendations to strengthen USAID programs.
• The Specialist will conceptualize, design, document, and manage envisioned future activities of USAID/Washington centrally administered projects within the Health Systems Strengthening and Decentralized Divisions. USAID/Washington project activities may be targeted toward a specific Zambian county, province, or region, or they may be targeted to a specific development problem. In such cases, the Specialist will develop concept papers, project authorizations, and activity amendments in line with agency regulations and guidance. S/he will maintain effective communications with the AOR/CORs at USAID headquarters who are responsible for the centrally administered projects, to assure effective activity implementation at the Zambia in-country level.
• The Specialist will have a role in conceptualizing and operationalizing the Health Office’s efforts to effectively advance localization. This will include contributing towards evolving Health Office strategies, partnership models, and program practices to achieve greater and more durable locally-led development outcomes.
• The Specialist will respond to taskers and urgent requests by the Front Office and the Embassy, delegating tasks to appropriate office technical experts/project managers. S/he will write briefers and strategic documents to support and provide input into the development of new programs and project activities.

Supervision and Management

• The Deputy Health Office Director will serve as one of three Deputy Health Office Directors and support the Health Office Director to manage an office of 61 staff. The Specialist supports the Office Director in day-to-day management and oversight of Health Office technical programs, with direct responsibility for supervising, leading, and managing the HSS and Decentralized Divisions’ respective health portfolios.
• The Specialist will directly supervise the HSS Division Chief and the Decentralized Division Chief, and will provide management oversight for two teams of 20 total staff of which 19 are FSNs and one is a Third Country National Personal Services Contractor. This oversight will include management of five FSN Senior Technical Advisors based in provincial offices.
• As a subject matter expert, the Specialist will guide the Health Systems Strengthening and Decentralized Division Chiefs in their supervision and oversight of their respective divisions’ staff members. S/he will provide mentoring and guidance to newly hired staff within the two divisions. The Specialist will strengthen and mentor the HSS and Decentralized Division Chiefs in all aspects of health program design, development, and implementation activities. S/he will provide technical support and leadership to strengthen the skills of the two Divisions’ teams in reporting and documentation, monitoring and evaluation, and budget and data analysis. Additionally, the Specialist will coach staff to set professional development goals, and will enable the Division Chiefs to identify relevant training opportunities to advance those goals and strengthen the overall USAID/Zambia Health Office team.
• The Specialist, together with the Health Office Director and the two other Deputy Office Directors, will manage internal Health Office operations, including development and implementation of the Health Office’s personnel strategy, workforce planning, and recruitment of staff. Budget and resource planning, budget execution and reporting, establishing systems, and ensuring the office is responsive to strategic opportunities is a responsibility of the three Deputy Office Directors, under the direction of the Health Office Director.
• Should the Health Office Director and the other Deputy Health Office Directors be absent, the Specialist will take on an “Acting” Office Director role and, as such, productively engage with the Mission Director and Deputy Mission Director, as well as with USAID/Zambia support Office Directors. The Specialist would participate in senior leadership meetings and discussions, and represent the Health Office in external meetings and functions.

Strategic Coordination and Representation

• The Specialist will serve as a key advisor on health-related donor coordination activities and policy forums. The Specialist will represent USAID/Zambia’s Health Office to a wide range of stakeholders from the GRZ at the national, provincial, and district levels, as well as with research institutions, academia, and other development partners. S/he will also engage with the Zambia Health Cooperating Partners (CPs) group.
• The Specialist will collaborate with the Health Office Director and the other two Deputy Office Directors to strengthen the USAID/Zambia – Government of Zambia relationship in the health sector. S/he will support USAID/Zambia’s engagement and coordination with senior-most government officials at national, provincial, and district government counterparts, while staying abreast of changes in host government and US processes and policies to keep the Health Office and USAID/Zambia Mission leadership informed.
• The Specialist will play a leadership role in coordinating, planning, and oversight of assigned USAID/Zambia activities with host government institutions, particularly in the Ministry of Health and Provincial Health Offices. S/he will foster health partnerships, when such partnerships are deemed of strategic importance to the USAID/Zambia Mission and to the Health Office. S/he may identify opportunities for collaboration or partnering with in-country health sector counterparts. The Specialist will also coordinate closely with USG Country Directors across PEPFAR agencies at post.
• The Specialist will liaise with counterparts in USAID regional and headquarters bureaus, on behalf of the USAID/Zambia Health Office, to contribute to development of agency-wide policies, strategies, performance indicators, assessments, and evaluations of programs. S/he will liaise directly, on an on-going basis, with USAID staff in the Bureau for Global Health and the Africa Bureau n Washington DC. S/he will help orient the USAID/Zambia health program to align optimally with USAID/W principles and program objectives.
• The Specialist will lead and guide the Health Systems Strengthening Division and Decentralized Division teams in their efforts to collaborate effectively with Ministry of Health officials at national and provincial levels, as well as with civil society organizations and other relevant health sector actors. Additionally, the Specialist will be a thought leader for the health office in crafting approaches for advancing locally led development in line with USAID’s global vision, with particular focus on public health sector systems.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION

1. Education: An advanced or terminal degree in Public Health/MPhil, Social Sciences, Medicine, or related subjects is required.

2. Prior Relevant Work Experience: Minimum of ten (10) years of professional and progressively responsible experience in public health or a related sector is required, including demonstrated expertise in program design and management, monitoring and evaluation including data analysis, interpretation, and presentation with donor agencies, host-government organizations, or the private sector is required.

CLOSING DATE AND TIME FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS/APPLICATIONS: June 16, 2024, at 23:59pm Lusaka time