Director, Health Systems Strengthening & Senior State Lead (HSS/STL) at Heartland Alliance Limited / GTE (HALG)

Heartland Alliance Limited / GTE (HA) is an indigenous non-governmental organization established to address the human rights needs of vulnerable persons in the society.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Director, Health Systems Strengthening & Senior State Lead (HSS/STL) 

Location: Lagos
Position type: Full Time
Reports to: Technical Director and Deputy Chief of Party
Project: ACE6/KP-CARE 1

Job Summary

• The Director of Health System Strengthening (DHSS)/State Team Lead (STL) for Lagos is responsible for the overall direction and coordination of all HALG programs in Lagos State.
• The DHSS/STL conducts advocacy to secure support of stakeholders, lead technical assistance efforts and provide voice for the populations HALG serve through funding and legislation to maintain high standard of public health initiatives in the state.
• The responsible person will work with other HALG leadership and management team, state public health officials as well as policy makers, relevant government officials, and various community leaders to implement programs that respond to HALG’s mission. The DHSS/STL will serve as the focal technical expert for the State, providing training, supportive supervision, and mentoring to field staff, local implementing partners (LIPs), CBOs and program participants. The DHSS/STL will report directly to the Technical Director/Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP).
• He/She/they will work directly with the Director of Programs for the design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and analysis of all program activities, the direction and supervision of senior technical staff in Lagos State and coordinating with the respective Directors of Finance and Operations to ensure appropriate financial and administrative management support is provided to all program activities in Lagos state.
• The Director Health Systems Strengthening and State Team Lead will support the Public Health facilities in Lagos by leading and coordinating the efforts in strengthening health systems and public health investments by HALG across Lagos state. This person will ensure the alignment with government of Nigeria's health sector strategic plans and regional/global health priorities.
• Integration of services for efficiency and implementation of multiple projects aimed at value for money and supporting country/state level ownership and sustainability initiatives as well as ensuring commodity management in transparent and accountable manner.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Program Management:

• Manage and oversee the daily programmatic activities at the state for all programs and supervisee assigned.
• Develop technical components of state annual work plans and draft technical sections of state quarterly reports.
• Lead in the drafting, review, and implementation of the state annual work plan.
• Lead in the execution of state’s activities according to workplan and donor guidelines.
• Lead in the development of forms, set up files to ensure that the state’s Project information is appropriately documented and secured.
• Monitor progress of state’s annual workplan implementation and adjust as necessary to ensure successful execution of annual WPs.
• Accountable for ensuring implementation approaches are in line with donor expectations and will achieve the results required to deliver performance targets; ensuring corrective action is implemented where necessary.
• In consultation with the appropriate Regional Technical Lead, support recruitment processes for project(s) activities.
• Ensure clear communication: convene regular review meetings and conference calls with teams for project coordination; provide written and other guidance as necessary to disseminate vital information.

Technical Leadership:

• Provide technical leadership and strategic oversight to all technical activities in the state across all projects
• Ensure project technical objectives and deliverables are met in a timely manner
• Work with TD/DCOPs of both projects to design and implement all HALG programs across the state by supporting the team including field staff with relevant guidance to implement projects.
• Ensure state teams conduct technical visits to monitor implementation and performance at site and community level.
• Entrench high-performance culture among state technical teams by building capacity and providing timely feedback on performance.
• Provide guidance and technical support in alignment with GoN policies and strategies, including donor’s development priorities.

Advocacy and Stakeholder Engagement:

• Coordinate stakeholder management, advocacy engagements that shape the way HALG work. Work with other public health officials, policy makers, government officials, and community leaders and act as a liaison and exchanges information with public and private health services/programs, hospital and medical associations, state and national public health organizations, advocacy organizations, volunteer groups, law enforcement agencies, emergency medical and disaster service providers, and community groups. 
• Lead Program Strategic Initiatives while building effective partnerships with external organizations.
• Identify, assess and prioritize areas for program sustainability efforts and recommend strategies for proactively addressing significant health equity issues.
• Provide high-level coordination with the State and Federal Ministries of Health (LSMOH/FMOH), other line MDAs, and other key stakeholders on technical issues for smooth implementation of state and national health policies and strategies and project activities.

Health Systems Strengthening:

• Support HALG Total Market Approach (TMA) services in line with HALG sustainability efforts.
• Research and identify developmental grant funding opportunities in support of the all-inclusive health equity operation.
• Develop methodologies/metrics to evaluate the viability and effectiveness of HALG initiatives in the state.
• Lead and manage HSS initiatives in Lagos and coordinate at national level by providing technical direction on HSS programming for state, LGA, facility, and community-level interventions based on local and global best practices.
• Lead on HSS-related program/project design, implementation, learning, and monitoring and evaluation through active collaboration with project teams and Government of Nigeria (GoN) structures at central, state, and local levels.
• Contribute to the learning agenda by identifying knowledge gaps in integrated health systems and services that could be filled by secondary data analysis, literature reviews, field testing of new approaches and collaborative learning activities, and lead technical inputs on learning activities related to HSS.
• Actively engage in networks and forums to support GoN integrated health priorities and promote the involvement of multiple government sectors, donors, and the private sector.
• Maintain high-quality interactions and clear and consistent communications internally and with partners in the state as well as other relevant stakeholders.
• Execute other duties/responsibilities as may be required or assigned by the Supervisor and Chief of Parties or CEO. 

Qualifications

• To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.
• The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or competency required.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

Education and/or Experience:

• Master’s degree in public health, public policy, clinical science, business administration or a related field strongly preferred.
• 10 years’ experience in an administrative or senior management, leadership role as well as budget preparation and monitoring skills.
• 12 years’ experience in HIV/AIDS/TB care, treatment, and prevention.
• 10 years’ experience managing USG-funded/other donor-funded activity including program planning, implementation, data use, monitoring, and reporting.
• Experience in project management, change management, marketing and communications, development, research, health equity, diversity and inclusion.
• Research and publication experience will be added advantage
• Passion for working with a justice involved population and commitment to social justice.
• Knowledge of web-based meeting platforms (Zoom, GoToWebinar) and database management system.
• Demonstrated understanding, experience, and competency in working with community-led organizations with a strong track record in grant writing and proposal development.
• Demonstrated experience with supervising program staff, designing projects; prioritizing and setting realistic work plans and timelines; and evaluate work plan progress appropriately.
• Knowledge of the policies, regulations, reporting formats, and cultures of principal donors, including USAID, PEPFAR, and others.
• Experience working with senior government officials and donor agency representatives.
• Ability to guide strategy development, manage implementation of projects and lead a team.
• Strong negotiation and relationship-building skills with Ministries of Health or other institution.
• Ability to travel for extended periods of time in-country to support technical activities.

Other Competencies:

• Time Management – Ability to prioritize tasks, manage time and complete projects in a fast-paced, changing environment with minimal supervision.
• Quality Management - Looks for ways to improve and promote quality; Demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness.
• Written Communication - Writes clearly and informatively; Edits work for spelling and grammar; Varies writing style to meet needs; Presents numerical data effectively.
• Adaptability - Adapts to changes in the work environment; Manages competing demands; Changes approach or method to best fit the situation; Able to deal with frequent change, delays, or unexpected events.
• Cultural Sensitivity – Respects cultural environment in which person is working and does not act in a manner that is outwardly offensive to the local community.
• Non-discriminatory- Do not discriminate persons based on sexual orientation or gender identity, age, preferred jobs or behavioral habits.

Language Skills:

• Excellent oral and written English communication skills.
• Demonstrated competency in public speaking.

Computer Skills:

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, Outlook/Exchange, Windows operating systems, PowerPoint, Microsoft Outlook, Word, and Adobe Acrobat.
• Other software routinely used by Heartland Alliance.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note

• Heartland Alliance Ltd/Gte does not charge any fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, processing). Heartland Alliance Ltd/Gte is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work including sexual harassment, exploitation, abuse, lack of integrity, and financial misconduct, and is committed to promoting the human rights of children, young people, and adults. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate our values are recruited to work for us.
• Heartland Alliance Ltd/Gte provides Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, or genetics.