Management Sciences for Health (MSH) saves lives and improves health by helping public and private organizations throughout the world to effectively manage people, medicines, money, and information. Working from more than 35 country offices and our Arlington, Virginia and Cambridge, Massachusetts US headquarters, our staff from more than 74 nations is highly regarded for its technical expertise, integrity, and commitment to making a lasting difference in health. We live our mission to save lives and improve the health of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people by closing the gap between knowledge and action in public health.
MSH seeks candidates for an upcoming DFID funded program that aims to improve family planning and sexual health interventions in Malawi. This program will promote and increase the use of effective family planning methods by rural, poor and young women. The program will strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Health to sustain expanded delivery of family planning services beyond the life of the program. This position is contingent upon program award.
OVERALL RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Family Planning (FP) Advisor is responsible for the oversight, technical direction and implementation of interventions to improve family planning and reproductive health service demand and coverage. The FP Advisor will lead the efforts to assess and build the capacity of the MOH health providers to deliver and sustain the provision of quality, comprehensive family planning services in rural areas. Program activities under this technical area may include a range of interventions, such as recruitment and training of outreach teams that will deliver FP services is rural areas; train MOH health providers to update their skills and knowledge; and work with community leaders and partners to reduce opposition to family planning and increase utilization of services. Together with the Team Leader, s/he will collaborate with all the stakeholders at the national and decentralized level- the MOH, CHAM, NGOs, other DFID program, development partners, local traditional authorities, local schools and community groups- to ensure that family planning services are coordinated across sectors and duplicated efforts are minimized. In collaboration with the Monitoring Evaluation Specialist, s/he will ensure appropriate oversight, performance monitoring, and evaluation of FP program results. Additionally, the FP Advisor will write and review project reports and publications.
QUALIFICATIONS
- Master’s degree in health or related area.
- Minimum of 6 yrs. experience successfully implementing and managing public health programs and specific experience in designing or overseeing family planning programs.
- Demonstrated experience collaborating with a range of counterparts at the national level and decentralized level in a way that leads to technically sound and productive family planning interventions.
- Experience and knowledge of limitations of healthcare systems to deliver quality family planning services in Malawi.
- Demonstrated competence in assessing priorities and in managing a variety of activities in a time-sensitive environment, and in meeting deadlines with attention to detail and quality.
- Excellent communication skills, demonstrated leadership, and the ability to work collaboratively.
- Excellent written and spoken communication skills. Fluency in English is required.
- Willingness to travel extensively in Malawi.
Management Sciences for Health is an equal opportunity employer offering employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, citizenship, physical or mental handicap, or status as a disabled or Vietnam Era veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces.