Health Financing Lead at Options Consultancy Services Limited

Options Consultancy Services Limited was established in 1992 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marie Stopes International. We are a consultancy organisation providing technical and management expertise in the health and social sectors to governments and international development partners to transform the health of women and children.

We are is recruiting to fill the vacant position below:

Job Title: Health Financing Lead, WISH Lot 1 Nigeria

Location: Kano, Nigeria (also covering Jigawa State)
Programme: Overseas Programmes for Women’s Integrated Sexual Health (WISH)
Contract type: Full time, fixed term contract - up to 36 months
Reporting to: Regional National Ownership Lead, WISH Lot 1 Nigeria
Responsible for: Evidence and Accountability Advisor and Technical Officer
Hours: Full time, 40 hours per week
Type of contract: Fixed Term, up to 36 months

WISH Consortium and Options
DFID’s Women’s Integrated Sexual Health (WISH) programme (Lot 1) will provide up to £78m to deliver integrated Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) services in eleven countries across West Africa. The WISH programme builds on previous successful initiatives supported by DFID and others to expand sexual and reproductive health care services across Africa and Asia. The programme will increase access to family planning and integrated sexual and reproductive health services for women, men and young people across the two continents through a combination of: (i) rights-based provision of private sector sexual and reproductive health information and services and, strengthening of public sector health information and services; (ii) addressing barriers to family planning uptake at individual, interpersonal, community and institutional level; and (iii) improving policies, government financing and commodity security to create an enabling environment for family planning and sexual and reproductive health and rights.

The programme is designed to contribute to the following four outputs:

• Community / individual choice: people have the knowledge and community support to make informed SRHR decisions and advocate for quality services;
• National Ownership: improved policies, government financing, commodity security and public sector SRHR capacity and services;
• Private Sector Access: access to quality, voluntary Family Planning (FP) and other Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services, eliminating barriers for young and marginalised women;
• Global Goods: evidence-based innovations and practice shared globally to increase women’s choice and access to SRHR services, [particularly about medical abortion].

WISH Lot 1 is led by Marie Stopes International (MSI) with the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF); IPAS; DKT International; Options Consultancy Services (Options); Leonard Cheshire and Thinkplace as consortium partners. Options is responsible for leading output 2 (National Ownership).

Our approach to National Ownership comprises of four strategies: increase government commitment to SRH outcomes through domestic financing; use evidence-based advocacy and effective partnerships to strengthen policy and legislation; use evidence to hold government to account for SRH outcomes; and promote quality control and standards of service provision and care.

Liaison with:

• Senior Technical Support (STS) for WISH Lot 1, based in London
• Technical Advisor, Health Financing based in London.
• Stakeholders working on budget advocacy in Kano State
• National Ownership and Health Financing Leads in DRC and Burkina Faso.

Main Purpose of Job

• The Health Financing Lead is responsible for leading and coordinating the implementation of strategies to increase government commitment to SRH outcomes through domestic financing in Kano and Jigawa States.
• This will be achieved through context specific activities, that are founded on an analysis of the political economy and health markets.
• S/he is responsible for the achievement of the quarterly Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and logframe indicators relating to domestic financing for Nigeria.
• The Health Financing Lead will also line manage the Evidence and Accountability Advisor who will also be based in Kano State.

Main Duties
Provide technical support to government for increased allocation and more efficient spending on SRH and Family Planning (FP) in Nigeria:

• Build effective relationships with the State Ministries of Health and parliamentarians in Kano and Jigawa States and undertake budget tracking and advocacy activities jointly with them in order to build their capacity and secure their buy in;
• Work with MSI and other consortium partners to support the analysis, interpretation and packaging of health budget data and support its use for decision-making;
• Support the Ministries of Health in Kano and Jigawa States to effectively engage with the State Ministries of Finance to secure increased investments in SRH/FP;
• Support the Ministries of Health in Kano and Jigawa States to make better use of domestic resources for SRH/FP including through high impact interventions that are proven to be efficient;
• Undertake a market analysis of essential commodities to support more accurate budgeting;
• Build the capacity of Ministries of Health staff in Kano and Jigawa States to strengthen the use of data from facilities during quantification and budgeting processes;
• Support the Ministries of Health in Kano and Jigawa States to leverage financing mechanisms such as the Global Financing Facility (GFF) and the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS);
• Contribute to budget advocacy processes at the Federal level by sharing lessons and tools with the Regional National Ownership Lead, WISH Lot 1 Nigeria.

Build effective partnerships with other actors engaged in budget advocacy for SRHR in Nigeria:

• Maintain relationships with key stakeholders engaged in budget tracking and advocacy, including WISH consortium partners;
• Build capacity of civil society organisations to package budget data and effectively engage in the budgeting process.

Support the Evidence and Accountability Advisor to ensure effective use of data to hold government accountable for SRH/FP outcomes:

• Support the development of specific messages and materials for promotion of increased domestic financing for family planning;
• Support the packaging and use of data from global and regional initiatives such as Track 20, PMA2020, FP2020, Advance Family Planning (AFP) to reinforce national ownership.

Report on progress towards domestic financing for SRHR/FP through the consortium monitoring, evaluation and learning system.:

• Contribute to the development of logframe indicators relating to domestic financing for Nigeria;
• Collect baseline data and milestones for these indicators during the inception period;
• Ensure the achievement of the KPIs relating to domestic financing for Nigeria and ensure the availability of evidence required as proof of this achievement.

Lead and manage a small team of technical experts:

• Provide management support to the Evidence and Accountability Advisor and the Technical Officer to enable them to deliver to the highest technical quality, on time and to budget.

To succeed in this role, you will:

• Provide technical support to government for increased allocation and more efficient spending on SRH and Family Planning (FP) in Nigeria
• Build effective partnerships with other actors engaged in budget advocacy for SRHR in Nigeria
• Support the Evidence and Accountability Advisor to ensure effective use of data to hold government accountable for SRH/FP outcomes
• Report on progress towards domestic financing for SRHR/FP through the consortium monitoring, evaluation and learning system.
• Lead and manage a small team of technical experts.

Note: this job description reflects the present requirements of the post. As duties and responsibilities change and develop the job description will be reviewed and be subject to amendment in consultation with the job holder.

Person Specification
Qualifications:

• Undergraduate degree in Health Economics, Health Management or related field

Experience:

• At least three years’ work experience in a highly competitive and busy work environment
• Solid understanding of the health sector, including the relationship between national and state levels
• A solid understanding of Public Financial Management (PFM) including annual budget cycles, Medium Term Expenditure Frameworks (MTEFs) and the principles of transparency and accountability
• Strong analytical skills with experience in analysing and interpreting annual budgets

Skills and attributes:

• Excellent time management and organisational skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills, with experience interacting with government officials at the national and district level
• Excellent influencing skills, with an ability to identify and act on opportunities to build buy-in and support among decision-makers
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with a demonstrable ability to present complex financial concepts in easy to understand language for a range of audiences
• Proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint

Other requirements:

• Commitment to equal opportunities
• Fluency in written and spoken English
• Fluency in written and spoken French

Salary & Benefits

• Salary is commensurate with experience.
• Basic salary will include the following allowances and benefits: housing, transportation and meals.
• Medical insurance
• 25 days paid annual leave per annum in addition to local bank or public holidays
• Pension scheme including an employer contribution of 10% of your basic salary.

Application Closing Date
28th September, 2018.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV's with a summary note of your skills and experience to "Claire Gaulier" via: wish@options.co.uk Candidates should state the role in the subject header.

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Note

• Applications will be reviewed and invited to interviews on a rolling basis.
• Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for an interview. Interviews will be organised directly with shortlisted applicants on a rolling basis.
• Options is an equal opportunities employer
• Overseas candidates require to have the right to work in Nigeria.