Maternal Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) Initiative Job Opportunies in Nigeria

The Maternal Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) initiative is a 5-year aid programme which operates alongside the PRRINN programme that focuses on strengthening routine immunization in four Northern Nigerian States.
The MNCH programme aims to address the unacceptable high rates maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality in selected Northern Nigerian States. This programme is funded by the Norwegian government in partnership with the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and is operated by a consortium of three, organizations, namely: Health Partners International UK, Save the Children, UK and GRID Consulting Nigeria.

The joint programme collaborates with stakeholders in the health sector as well as civil societies to provide quantifiable improvements to the PHC systems in Northern Nigeria. PRRINN/MNCH is managed by a team of internationally recruited professionals. Its programme activities are carried out in Jigawa, Katsina, Yobe and Zamfara with coordination from the programme head office in Kano. The programme seeks to recruit a qualified professional to fill the vacant position as identified below:

Job Title: State Team Manager (STM)
Location: Zamfara

Responsibilities

• The State Team Manager will provide leadership and coordinate all programme activities in the State office.
• S/he will work in close collaboration with other state counterparts, stakeholders in the ministries, health professionals, civil societies and other funding partners to jointly facilitate the planning and implementation of all technical activities aimed at reforming maternal, neonatal and child health (MNCH) and routine immunization (RI) services in the state.
• In addition to developing appropriate Terms of Reference (TORs) for short-term consultancy inputs and monitoring and supervision of consultancy inputs, the STM will prepare progress reports, comprehensive quarterly and annual reports against annual work- plans and budgets.

• Candidates applying for this position must hold a post graduate qualification in any of the Health Management related discipline with a minimum of 10 years working experience at a senior management level.
• In depth understanding of the Health Development System within Nigeria (or Africa) with a sound knowledge of operations in the Public Health Sector is required for this post.
• Proven experience in planning and management of RI activities, communicable disease control, epidemiology, logistics, financial governance, strategic planning, effective use of data and social community mobilization are also essential to this post.
• Previous working experience in a donor-funding environment will be an added advantage.

• S/he will provide technical advisory support to the relevant bodies and the State Social Mobilization officers on the appropriate capacity building support required to address the issues to demand and access to immunization services.
• The SMDA will also ensure the coordination of efforts in activities that will increase the participation of communities in immunization activities in the programme states; establishing mechanisms to promote community voice, and develop stronger accountability relationships between policy-makers, service providers and communities.
• As the technical lead for the programme on social development and communications issues, the Social Mobilization and Development Advisor will engage with the Federal Ministry of Health to build capacity and understand social development and communication issues in immunization.

• Candidates must hold a post graduate qualification in any of Social Development, Health Management, Public Health, or any related disciplines with a minimum of ten (10) years’ work experience at a senior level.
• Previous experience in similar role and environment will be an added advantage.
• and engaging with senior government officials on social development issues at the highest level are essential skills required for the position.
• Good understanding of immunization in Nigeria and previous work experience in Northern Nigeria as well as in DFID-funded health projects will be an added advantage.
• Previous experience in an advisory position in providing social development technical support to health projects/programmes in Africa, specifically in Nigeria is essential for this position.
• S/he must have a good understanding of the role communication in creating the demand/awareness for services.
• Prior experience in designing/implementing qualitative research studies are also required for this job.