Job Opportunities with Health Focus

Health Focus implements project and programmes worldwide and continually strives to develop and seek funding for innovative project concepts. The variety of our portfolio offers numerous opportunities for experienced managers, team leaders and specialists to work with Health Focus in the fields of health, education and social development. We are always looking for professionals with different qualifications to expand our network of experts.

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Current job opportunities:

Job advertisement - Project to strengthen individual and institutional capacities of health sector service providers relating to EmONC in Sierra Leone

Health Focus GmbH is recruiting a team of qualified professionals for the following tender of the German International Development Agency (GIZ) in Sierra Leone. We are looking for an international or regional expert with the profile listed below.
If you are interested in the position and in working with us, please send us your CV. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at krammisch@health-focus.de to contact us. For project details and the job description for the position, please see the information below.

Background information on the tendered work packages
The tendered work packages are part of the German Technical Cooperation module “Health System Strengthening and Epidemic Prevention in Sierra Leone”, which aims for the Sierra Leonean health system to be better aligned with the gender-specific health needs of the population in selected areas in Kailahun, Kambia and Pujehun.

The work packages aim to strengthen selected competencies (obstetric and neonatal emergency care, digital, and pandemic prevention and One Health) of service providers in the health sector in a gender-sensitive manner (output 1) and strengthen institutional capacities in the area of emergency obstetric and neonatal care in selected health care facilities (output 2) in Kailahun, Kambia and Pujehun.

The work packages include the following activities:
Work package 1: Strengthen the individual capacities of health care workers relating to EmONC in Kailahun, Kambia and Pujehun

a) Support the training of 325 health care workers:
▪ Familiarize with the EmONC trainings plan for the 3 partner districts provided by the GIZ team in charge of Output 1 and coordinate the planning and implementation of EmONC trainings with them
▪ Liaise with the MoH, DHMTs, Health facility in-charges as well as other relevant stakeholders for organizing and implementing EmONC related trainings for 325 health care workers from 64 health facilities; MoH is providing certified trainers.
▪ Document gender-disaggregated participation of trainings and report progress to GIZ regularly.
▪ Advice MoH trainers on competency-based and women-centered training implementation.
▪ Support the sustainable institutionalization of EmONC in-service trainings in the 3 partner districts in close collaboration with MoH/Directorate for Human Resources and Directorate of Reproductive and Child Health and the DHMTs of Kambia, Pujehun and Kailahun.

b) Support the mentoring of 340 health care workers on EmONC and institutionalize a mentoring system in the 3 partner districts:
▪ Liaise on their lessons learned and current activities with the respective Development Partners (e.g. FCDO and others) that implement mentoring approaches on EmONC in in the 3 target districts.
▪ Assess number of existing mentors at the selected DH and BEmONC centres and train mentors on mentoring approach as per needs.
▪ Prepare detailed mentoring system concept for each district aiming for regular mentoring visits as well as appropriate continuous communication channels/formats between mentors and mentees including related guidelines in close collaboration with the respective directorates of the MoH and relevant partners in the districts.
▪ Develop individualised mentoring documentation tools/formats taking into consideration existing tools/formats from various DPs and/or MoH to assess number and competency of 340 mentees.
▪ Ensure individual baseline assessments of the 340 mentees to be conducted by mentors until February 2025 using the documentation tool/format (Output Indicator 2.1) before the first mentoring session. Using the same tool, conduct a progress assessment until November 2025 and the endline assessment until November 2026.
▪ Support mentors in implementing 1 biannual mentoring sessions at each District Hospital as well as quarterly off-site follow-ups.
▪ Support mentors in implementing 1 biannual mentoring visit from the DH to each of the 5 BEmONC centres per district as well as quarterly off-site follow-ups.
▪ Support mentors in implementing 1 biannual mentoring visit from each of the BEmONC centres to each of the 3 CHP/MCHP per district as well as quarterly off-site follow-ups.
▪ Facilitate annual internship programmes for the midwives and CHOs of the 5 BEmONC to the DH in each of the 3 districts (total 15 BEmONC, 31 health workers).
▪ Ensure regular use of the skills lab's equipment in each district.

c) Establish and institutionalize the use of 3 skills labs for EmONC mentoring/trainings:
▪ Liaise with the DHMT and MoH when identifying suitable premises for establishing 3 EmONC skills labs. Use nationally approved standards for establishing the skills labs if available, or lessons learned from existing skills labs.
▪ Based on the results, develop a procurement plan for the equipment for 3 skills labs and procure equipment for the 3 skills labs.
▪ Coordinate with DHMTs and/or other in-charges on ensuring regular use of skills labs and its documentation.

Work package 2: Strengthen the institutional capacities relating to EmONC in selected health facilities in Kailahun, Kambia and Pujehun

a) Equipping health facilities with priority medical equipment for EmONC services:
▪ Initiate procurement of medical equipment for the 64 health facilities as soon as possible based on the procurement plan developed by GIZ after the needs assessment
▪ Distribute the equipment and ensure all staff handling the equipment are trained by competent senior health care workers on proper handling and preventive maintenance. Ensure quality of the training on the equipment, and make managing,
using, and adequate handling of the equipment a regular component of the mentoring sessions that are to be integrated into the mentoring visits.

b) Support quality assurance in EmONC service delivery
▪ Collect complementary information on the existing quality assurance approaches, availability of standard operating procedures (SOP), regular quality circles, feedback mechanisms etc. during the first mentoring visit based on a previously developed checklist according to the “Quality Facility Assessment for Maternal, Newborn Health and Paediatrics” tool of the National Quality Improvement Programme, in collaboration with the MoH and DHMT
▪ Develop an action plan jointly with relevant national and district partners to improve quality management for EmONC services in each district building on existing procedures and resources and within the means of the contract, with clear targets and timelines
▪ Support the implementation of the plan. Minimum target should be the availability of SOP in all 64 health facilities, the standardized evaluation of maternal and neonatal death aiming at learning, and the establishment of a professional network for exchange and consultation on routine as well as emergency questions. The latter should be established as part of the mentoring system.
▪ Liaise with GIZ staff concerned with Output 3 on the establishment of feedback mechanisms in 33 selected health facilities to ensure feedback is taken up by the quality management of the health facility and acted upon for the improvement of services.
▪ Support the Facility Management Committees (FMC) of the supported facilities in their role as institutionalized feedback mechanism. Strengthen their regular follow up on feedback received, their regular interaction with the DHMT, and their follow-up on developed actionable activities as part of the Integrated Supportive Supervision Visits (ISSV) that the project implements as part of Output 3.
▪ Support the FMCs and the facility management in resource mobilization to implement activities derived from the feedback received and/or from the ISSVs conducted.

c) Support the referral system in each district
▪ Collect information on the existing referral processes and resources, their functionality and challenges during the first mentoring visit
▪ Develop a plan jointly with relevant national and district partners to improve the referral system in each district building on existing procedures and resources and within the means of the contract, with clear targets and timelines.
▪ Support the implementation of the plan. Minimum target should be that health care workers are trained and mentored (as part of work package 1) on critical signs and capable of initiating appropriate referral timely, that appropriate referral guidelines (to be up-dated, if needed) including SOPs and referral record templates/forms are available and health care workers are trained on proper use, which is to be checked during mentoring visits. Beyond that, engage and advice district and national partners relevant for the functionality of the referral system and provision of required resources on improving the referral system planning and management to ensure safe and timely transportation of mothers and newborns

d) Support DHMT in EmONC planning to improve readiness of EmONC services in each district
▪ Engage MoH and DHMTs in developing an action plan to improve the readiness of EmONC services in the 3 districts. Advice partners for instance and if applicable on improving annual planning of resources in the health sector, on liaising with local administration to prioritize electricity and water supply for health facilities in their annual planning and other priorities, aiming at improving the long-term functionality of institutional processes which are the precondition for functioning service delivery

Tasks and profile sought for the position of team leader
The team leader will work on a full-time basis from November 2024 to December 2026 (26 months) from Freetown and will travel frequently to Kailahun, Kambia and Pujehun.

Tasks of the team leader
▪ Overall responsibility for the tendered advisory packages
▪ Ensuring the coherence and complementarity of the tendered services with other services delivered by the project at local and national level
▪ Design the methodology and format for all assessments as outlined in work package 1 and 2 and supervise the implementation by the short-term expert pools and expert 2 and 2
▪ Design and implement, monitor and evaluate all other activities as outlined in work package 1 and 2
▪ Responsibility for taking cross-cutting themes into consideration (e.g. gender equality)
▪ Staff management, in particular identifying the need for short-term assignments within the available budget, planning and managing the assignments and supporting the entire expert team as well as support staff
▪ Ensuring that monitoring procedures are carried out
▪ Regular reporting in accordance with deadlines
▪ Responsibility for checking the use of funds and financial planning in consultation with the officer responsible for the commission at GIZ
▪ Supporting the officer responsible for the commission at GIZ in updating and/or adapting the project strategy, in evaluations and in preparing a follow-on phase
▪ Maintaining contact with the MoH and its respective directorates, trainings institutions and development partners
▪ Maintaining a close working relationship and collaboration with the GIZ project, above all with colleagues from Output 1 on EmONC and referral system, and output 3 on Quality Assurance including feedback mechanisms.
Qualifications of the team leader
▪ Education/training: University degree in medicine with specialisation on obstetrics/gynaecology
▪ Language: C1 Language skills in English
▪ General work experience: 10 years of professional experience in the health sector
▪ Specific work experience: 5 years of professional experience in obstetrics/ gynaecology
▪ Leadership/management experience: 4 years of management experience in projects, companies or other organisations with disciplinary leadership responsibility for 2 people
▪ Professional experience in the country/ region: 10 years of professional experience in West Africa
▪ Experience in the field of development cooperation: 3 years of experience in development cooperation projects; experience with GIZ or in GIZ programmes is desirable

Dr Muriel Krammisch - Health Focus GmbH – Am Neuen Markt 10 - D-14467 Potsdam - Germany E: krammisch@health-focus.de - T: +49-331-2000 70 - www.health-focus.de

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International expert 1 (100%, Jan 2021-Aug 2023, DRC, Bukavu):

Qualifications:

University degree (Diploma/Master) in social or economic sciences or psychology or educational sciences
Competent use of language (at CEF C1 level) French; Independent use of language (CEF B2) English; Elementary use of language (CEF A2) German
10 years' professional experience in the conflict, peace and security sector and/or vocational training and/or employment promotion in development cooperation
5 years of work experience in the promotion of livelihood in the context of flight and displacement and planning and implementation of vocational training measures in fragile contexts
3 years management experience as team leader in projects or manager in companies with proven experience in finance and contract management
4 years experience in projects in sub-Saharan Africa
5 years of experience in development cooperation projects
Proven training in Capacity WORKS
English, French, ideally German as well

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International expert 2 (100%, Jan 2021-Aug 2023, DRC, Bukavu or Uvira): responsible for using pilot cash-for-work measures linked to vocational training measures

Qualifications:

University degree (diploma/master) in social sciences, or economics or psychology or educational sciences
Competent use of language (at CEF C1 level) French; Independent use of language (CEF B2) English
10 years' professional experience in the conflict, peace and security sector and/or vocational training and/or employment promotion
5 years in the promotion of livelihoods in the context of flight and displacement, MHPSS, psychosocial support, including trauma and/or planning and implementation of vocational training measures in fragile contexts and planning and implementation of cash-for-work measures in fragile contexts
3 years management experience in projects or in companies
4 years experience in projects in sub-Saharan Africa
5 years of experience in development cooperation projects
Training in Capacity WORKS
5 years experience in financial and contract management
French, ideally English as well

Health Focus is responding to project tenders published by the German Government, the European Union or other development partners in francophone, lusophone and anglophone Africa. If you are an experienced development professional with a health or social science background (ideally Master Degree), looking out for new carrier opportunities on the African continent, don´t hesitate to contact us.

Short-term Experts with experience in Global Fund grant management, dashboard oversight tool, M&E and CCM strengthening.

Short-term Experts with experience in organizational development (strategic management & leadership, human resources management, finances/administration, procurement/tendering, and M&E systems).

Internships:

Health Focus is open to receiving international, flexible and committed interns. We expect an involvement of at least 3 months. You should have at least a bachelor degree in a relevent field (i.e. business, health, international development) and should posess proficient English and German language skills. Other languages are considered assets, especially French and Spanish. Please send a letter of motivation via the contact page.