Health Systems Strengthening Officer US Non-profit Careers – Mercy Corps
Job Title: Health Systems Strengthening Officer
Organization: Mercy Corps
Duty Station: Uganda
Reports to: Senior Health Systems Strengthening Officer
About US:
Mercy Corps is an International NGO that exists to alleviate poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities. Mercy Corps has been fully registered in Uganda as an operational NGO. Currently Mercy Corps has an office in Kampala and is implementing Food Security programs which comprise of Water and Sanitation, Livelihood and Agriculture and Conflict Mitigation Management Program in North and North Eastern Uganda. We implement programs in the northern districts of Pader, Kitgum, Agago, Lamwo, Kaabong, Abim and Kotido with funding from USAID, USDA, Walmart Foundation, SDC, DFID as well as other private donations.
Job Summary: The primary focus of the Health System Strengthening Officer (HSSO) will be to improve coordination of service provision for food and nutrition security. The HSSO will implement and support a program that improves the organizational performance of HC III and HC II-level facilities with emphasis on the Health Unit Management Committees (HUMC) which is in line with government standards and priorities. Support will be strongly focused on the management of facilities, with less support on the technical skills of facility staff. This will include a focus on advocacy for accountability of health resources and improving the communication between the facility and the community it serves. This will be achieved by strengthening the governance of HUMCs. The HSSO will work in coordination with the Senior Health System Strengthening Officer, MCHN manager and MCHN program team leads (Mother Care Group and Community Behavior Change) and all health staff working to achieve Apolou Purpose 2.
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
Program Implementation
- Work with HSS Senior Officer to identify gaps in regulatory compliance at the lower health facilities, and design training initiatives depending on identified gaps.
- Advocate for oversight at district and sub-county level through continuous advocacy for support to Health Unit Management Committees.
- Partner with MoH to refine HUMC guidelines to simplify roles and responsibilities of HUMC members and ensure that youth and women are represented.
- Support mechanisms for targeted and age specific educational trainings around SHR to VHTs to include a clear referral pathway for SGBV into the health system, strengthen coordination mechanisms by HUMCs.
- Assist the local government in the development of health facility capacity building plan.
- Work with Senior HSSO to define, design, implement and monitor a health social accountability platform.
- Recommend program priorities and explore, evaluate and present new opportunities that leverage impact and/or complement core program activities related to governance, gender and social accountability.
- Collaborate with district-level HUMC focal person to improve government led mentorship of the committees, strengthen their understanding of roles, responsibilities and community linkages.
- Provide onsite technical support supervision to health facilities by supporting the development and implementation of health facility capacity building strategies for health centers that are 1) systemically targeted and 2) sustain impact avoiding direct provision of materials/equipment to health facilities and should reflect the priorities identified under the local government.
Monitoring and Evaluation
- Under guidance of Senior HSSO take responsibility for district data gathering and documentation of program activities.
- Comply with M&E systems that will be established to measure program impacts and desired results include writing most significant change stories.
- Analyze project implementation strategies to identify constraints to program success and provide timely recommendations.
- Submit to the Senior HSSO timely weekly, monthly, and quarterly report that will be indicative of program progress during implementation.
- Work in close collaboration/consultation with MCHN Manager and BCC Save staff periodically supervise various activities implemented on the ground by the partner.
- Where needed support external evaluations by research partner Feinstein International Center and other organizations.
- Documentation of key lessons learnt and sharing with key stakeholders for improved service delivery.
Influence and Representation
- Coordination of activities with other NGO and government partners to avoid duplication of services and support an enabling environment for health promotion and health systems strengthening.
- When needed, support visits from district and sub-county government, regional and HQ based staff and external visitors, such as donors and media, in collaboration with MCHN Manager and DCoP.
- Support APOLOU activities with key stakeholders, ensuring collaboration with counterparts in partner organization Save the Children in relevant meetings, internal and external.
- Where needed support ongoing Apolou assessments in development, gender, conflict and governance & facilitate the integration of health related economic opportunities in all Apolou program objectives.
- Conduct oneself professionally and with sensitivity, awareness and respect when working with diverse groups of people, including Mercy Corps staffs, beneficiaries and partner agencies.
- Adhere to Mercy Corps policies and procedures and any other duties as assigned by the line manager
- Other duties as assigned
Security: Ensure data protection policies are adhered to, establishing security controls for software, hardware and archive beneficiary databases.
Organizational Learning: As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.
Accountability to Beneficiaries: Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
- The ideal candidate for the Mercy Corps Health Systems Strengthening Officer job opportunity should a Degree in Public Health, Nursing or a related field
- Three years of professional experience working with the government health system is desirable.
- Experience in delivering capacity building programs especially on organizational capacity of health facilities and establishing support programs.
- Comprehensive knowledge of Uganda’s public health environment and strong familiarity with the publicly funded Health Center system, particularly in the context of rural areas like Karamoja.
- Demonstrable writing and analytical skills.
- Demonstrable quantitative skills, including familiarity with financial accounting
- Proven skills in networking, collaboration, community consultations and organizational development
- Excellent reporting, communication and representation skills
- Fluency in Nga’Karimojong desirable.
- Ability to ride a motorcycle and he/she should be in possession of a valid driving/riding license
- Proven knowledge and capacity in using computer basic applications MS Word, Excel and internet
- The successful candidate is to innovatively and effectively further strengthen HUMCs and increase their sustainability of which district level advocacy will be the position’s main success factor.
- The second success factor will be strengthening structures of governance at the lower-level facilities through comprehensive mentoring, successful advocacy and inclusion of national level gender guidelines. Lastly, success will be measured by the degree to which he/she drives results, making critical decisions and producing scheduled outputs at deadline and to expected quality.
How to Apply:
All suitably qualified and interested candidates should send their E-mail applications including a cover letter clearly stating the salary requirements, updated CV (with three professional referees), and copies of academic qualifications/certificates addressed to the Senior HR and Legal Manager, Mercy Corps Uganda to: ug-mcjobs@mercycorps.org
Deadline: 27th July 2018
: List of Current Job Vacancies / Opportunities in Uganda