Closing date: Monday, 2 March 2015
Partnerships Specialist (Health) , P-4, Nairobi, Kenya
Vacancy No: E-VN-2015-000318
Duty Station: Nairobi
Country: Kenya
Region: ESARO
Job Level: P-4
Position#: 00090603
Application Close: 02-Mar-15
Contract Type: Long-term Staff (FT)
Purpose of the Position
Under the supervision of the Chief Health, incumbent is responsible for spearheading UNICEFs leading role in maternal newborn health and elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV partnerships. Responsibilities will include coordination of UN joint Elimination of HIV transmission from mother to child (e-MTCT) response; facilitation of joint program review meetings; facilitation of evidence generation; and consistent use of evidence for planning and monitoring. In close collaboration with the Maternal and Neonatal Health (MNH) Specialist (NOD) and the OR and Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist (L-4) responsible for Management and Coordination of the Department for International Development (DFID), Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) – UNITAID and other Partnerships; while maximizing integration of e-MTCT and the wider Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) activities at all levels.
Key Expected Results
- Support the national MOH to improve leadership and governance for MNH and eMTCT by working with the national MOH leadership in Nairobi to improve the development of policies and guidelines for MNH and eMTCT through direct engagement and active participation in the MNH, Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) and Pediatric HIV TWGs
- Convene and coordinate key MNH and eMTCT partnerships including the Joint UN team eMTCT group. Facilitate joint mapping of efforts and investments with regular reviews of bottlenecks and progress.
- Facilitate strengthening of knowledge management systems for MNH and eMTCT for better documentation of best practices/lessons learnt with incorporation of cost effective promising practices into costed scale up plans.
- Provide oversight for the management and sustainability of the MNH innovations funds and facilitate recognition and adoption of promising innovations.
- Coordinate and support the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and other implementing partners in UNICEFs geographic areas of focus; to increase availability of skilled delivery and emergency obstetric and neonatal services through assessment and training of existing workforce in emergency obstetric and neonatal care; supporting of county development and implementation of human resource plans; with a focus on improved mentoring and supervision; while ensuring continual alignment to the national policy and guidelines.
- Oversee the strengthening of integration of eMTCT in MNCH including playing a facilitatory role in the harmonization of implementing partner inputs in the UNICEFs areas of geographic focus.
- Spearhead evidence generation activities including the scale up and institutionalization of evidence based planning and monitoring to enhance expansion and optimization of access to quality services for maternal newborn and child health; including care and treatment for women and children living with HIV.
- Coordinate UNICEF country office and Programme Division HQ inputs in the development of the Point of Care (POC) country operational plan and annual work plans with CHAI and MOH
- Working with CHAI country office, contribute to and coordinate UNICEF inputs in the development of national policies and scale up plans for POC.
- Facilitate operational evaluations that are conducted in UNICEF focus geographic areas, and coordinate inputs of other UNICEF country office staff, in order to attain regulatory approvals.
- Ensure appropriate transitioning of UNITAID support through adequate planning and budgeting for POC diagnostics in the Kenya National AIDS Strategic Plan and development financing such as the Global Fund.
- As specified within the country work plan, lead/coordinate/support technical assistance for scaling up systems and processes for scaling up the utilization of HIV POC, including training of trainers, development of M&E systems, ad development of quality assurance systems.
- As specified within the country work plan, support the collection of monitoring and evaluation data to assess project impact.
- Represent UNICEF in national task-forces, workshops and conferences, and advocate for the adoption of POC in these fora.
- Report on UNICEF country project activities to UNICEF HQ.
- Coordinate UNICEF country inputs in the development of the country transition plan.
Qualifications of Successful Candidate
- Advanced university degree in Medicine, Social Sciences, Epidemiology, Public Health or related technical field.
- Eight years of relevant work experience in programme planning, coordination, strategy formulation, monitoring and evaluation, and programme communications of HIV/AIDS or health.
- In-depth understanding of Maternal and Newborn Health as well as Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission of HIV including planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation.
- Experience in working with multilateral or other non-profit international organization in health development is desirable.
- Fluency in English and another UN language. Knowledge of the local working language of the duty station would be an asset.
Competencies of Successful Candidate
- Communicates effectively to varied audiences, including during formal public speaking.
- Sets high standards for quality of work and consistently achieves project goals.
- Able to work effectively in a multi-cultural environment.
- Has good leadership and supervisory skills; co-ordinates group activities, ensuring that roles within the team are clear.
- Translates strategic direction into plans and objectives.
- Analyzes and integrates diverse and complex quantitative and qualitative data from a wide range of sources.
- Quickly builds rapport with individuals and groups; maintains an effective network of individuals across organizational departments.
- Identifies urgent and potentially difficult decisions and acts on them promptly; initiates and generates team- and department-wide activities.
- Demonstrates, applies and shares expert technical knowledge across the organization.
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