Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Job in Abuja, Nigeria for a Technical Advisor - HIV Prevention, Care & Support
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is an International non-governmental
organization supporting relief and development work in over 99 countries
around the world. CRS programs assist persons on the basis of need,
regardless of creed, ethnicity or nationality.
CRS works through local
church and non-church partners to implement its programs, therefore,
strengthening and building the capacity of these partner organizations
is fundamental to programs in every country in which CRS operates. CRS
re-established presence in Nigeria in 2000 and currently focuses on
agriculture, HIV and health extractives and governance, and peace
building programming.
CRS is recruiting to fill the position of:
Job Title: Technical Advisor - HIV Prevention, Care & Support
Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Department: Programming
Reports To: Program Technical Director
Band: E-1
Project Background
CRS Nigeria leads the USAID-supported SMILE (Sustainable Mechanisms for
Improving Livelihoods and Household Empowerment) consortium consisting
of ActionAid Nigeria and Westat designed to scale-up care and support
services for orphans and vulnerable children in FCT, Benue, Kogi, Edo,
and Nasarawa by strengthening the capacity of government, civil society
organizations (CSOs) and communities.
SMILE seeks to improve the wellbeing of 500,000 OVC and 125,000
caregivers and will be implemented through an umbrella grants mechanism
(UGM) whereby CSOs receive sub-grants to support capacity strengthening
and program implementation at the community level.
The project will also strengthen the Nigerian Orphans and Vulnerable
Children (OVC) response by strengthening the organizational systems and
technical capacity of the five SMWASDs and targeted Local Government
Areas (LGA).The purpose of this position is to coordinate the
development and implementation of technical program activities for
community based HIV Care and Support in the SMILE Program.
Under the direction of the Program Technical Director, s/he will
collaborate closely with the SMILE Senior Program managers to foster an
integrated and holistic community based response to HIV/AIDS towards
scaling up access to HIV prevention and care services for vulnerable
children and their caregivers.
General Function
- The Technical Advisor, HIV Prevention, Care and Support (TA PCS)
will be responsible for working closely with the SMILE technical team
to achieve the strategic objectives of the program - focusing primarily
on HIV prevention, Care & Support but also supporting cross-cutting
themes and integration efforts across the project with other areas of
OVC programming including Household Economic Strengthening and
Nutrition.
- S/he will lead planning and capacity strengthening efforts while
putting in place operational strategies for achieving project aims,
results and performance expectations through adherence to high standards
of programmatic and management quality.
Major Responsibilities
- S/he will provide technical and programmatic leadership
primarily in the areas of HIV prevention, Community based HIV Care &
Support for project beneficiaries affected by AIDS.
- S/he will be responsible for strengthening the linkages between
the community based care activities and health facilities providing HIV
care and treatment towards ensuring a continuum of care.
- S/he will also support the strengthening of the capacity of
implementing CSOs in the area of HIV prevention awareness creation,
community mobilization for HIV counselling and testing, PMTCT and Early
Infant Diagnosis (EID), improving referral and counter-referral systems
between communities and facilities.
- In addition S/he will support the implementation of
evidence-based interventions aimed at addressing HIV risk behaviors, HIV
transmission, and gender-based violence with a focus on adolescent
girls and young female caregivers.
- The TA PCS will utilize approaches that support integration and maximize country and community-ownership.
Specific Responsibilities
Technical Leadership:
- Provide technical leadership for the development of strategies
for the design and implementation of HIV Prevention/ Care & Support
activities by SMILE; ensure activities improve access to HIV prevention
and care services amongst project beneficiaries and their caregivers.
- Direct CSOs towards overall technical quality - including
adherence to technical standards, best practices and donor guidelines -
for all HIV Prevention Care & Support activities of the project.
- Ensure project activities are built on strong behavior change
principles, and builds the capacity of CSOs and relevant GON staff in
effective implementation and monitoring.
- Provide guidance for the liaison with USG and non-USG funded
projects and implementing partners providing and or supporting HIV
treatment services and fostering effective working relations with these
organizations towards achieving the objective of creating an HIV-free
generation in 2020.
- Develop/identify training modules and tools, and conduct
relevant trainings and workshops for CSO staff and GON in line with
identified capacity strengthening needs. Coordinate with other USAID
Implementing Partners with relevant experience and training resources
- Identify technical support needs, develop scopes of work,
identify internal or external candidates, and monitor TDYs/Consultants.
- Identify and build relationships with relevant private sector partners, who can support project activities.
- Document and disseminate project efforts, achievements, lessons
learned and innovations within SMILE and to the larger Nigerian and
global technical community, as appropriate.
- Lead GON actors and CSOs in identifying and capitalizing on
leverage points for improved linkages and referral coordination at the
community level and for integration of HIV Prevention Care &
Support elements into other OVC areas project activities and vice versa.
- Keep abreast of research and trends in effective behavior change
approaches HIV Prevention Care & Support and engagement of
Community Health Workers/Volunteers and ensure project approaches remain
in line with Quality Improvement standards, evidence, best-practices
and lessons learned.
- Ensure that project activities and approaches used by CSOs are
in line with relevant government policies; contribute to the review,
development and elaboration of new policies, as appropriate.
- Identify opportunities for learning, formative, special studies
and operational research and work with M&E team, SMILE technical
team and external support (if needed) to conduct research.
Project Design and Management:
- Contribute to the evaluation criteria for CSO expressions of interest, concept notes and requests for applications.
- Develop the HIV Prevention, Care & Support components of
sub-recipient request for CSO applications; ensure opportunities exist
for integration with other aspects of the SMILE program.
- Work with M&E team and other partners to develop appropriate
tools for monitoring and evaluation HIV Prevention Care & Support
including providing input into the design of the baseline study,
periodic annual reviews, and regular monitoring tools.
- Monitor progress toward targets; identify and implement approaches to overcome challenges.
- For HIV Prevention Care & Support, complete on time required
work planning, donor narrative reports, quarterly reports and
performance indicator tracking tables, baseline and final evaluation
reports and other reports needed/required by the local government,
donors, the region or headquarters.
- Travel to project targeted zones periodically to monitor program
activities and provide support to the SMILE team, CSO staff, and
relevant GON entities.
- Support the development of technically sound CSO proposals that
leverage existing materials and ensure an appropriate behavior change
communication strategy for priority HIV Prevention Care & Support
behaviors using existing change agents.
- Oversee and ensure the successful implementation of HIV Prevention Care & Support activities by CSO sub-grantees.
- Develop standard operating procedures for CSO implementing HIV
Prevention Care & Support consistent with the program proposal,
Nigerian OVC Service Delivery Standards, other GON and
evidence-based/promising approaches.
- Assure appropriate engagement with the formal and community health systems and structures.
- Support the development of functional referral networks for vulnerable groups.
- Use appropriate project management tools to plan, review and
track progress on implementation of HIV Prevention Care & Support
activities and use of project resources to achieve expected results.
- Contribute to the development/update and monitoring of HIV
Prevention Care & Support indicators and tools particularly those
required by PEPFAR and the Nigerian OVC M&E Plan.
- Ensure the exchange of lessons learned and experiences and
promote coordination between SMILE sub-grantees, other donor grantees
and projects in the target States.
Representation:
- Represent the SMILE consortium in external technical meetings,
conferences and workshops related to HIV Prevention Care & Support
- Participate on behalf of SMILE in strategic meetings with USAID and GON.
- Liaise and coordinate with other HIV Prevention Care &
Support actors, including the government, the UN system, other NGOs,
learning institutions and civil society actors to promote synergy, share
lessons learned and avoid duplication.
- Link State, LGA, and CSO staff to relevant HIV Prevention Care & Support technical and coordination forums.
Supervision and Mentoring:
- Support CSOs to develop appropriate job descriptions to ensure staffing is appropriate for expected results.
- Ensure relevant GON entities have the knowledge, skills and
tools to provide technical oversight to CSO engaged in HIV Prevention
Care & Support interventions.
- Support CSOs and related GON entities to use quality improvement
science and methodology to enhance the quality of HIV Prevention Care
& Support interventions.
- Support the GON planning processes, particularly at the state
and local levels, HIV Prevention Care & Support as it relates to
vulnerable households.
- Provide regular supportive supervision to the CSO Care and Support staff to ensure achievement of expected results.
- Support CSO staff professional development, including
identifying capacity building needs for CSO staff, providing mentoring
and training and linking staff to appropriate external opportunities to
in line with project needs.
Key Working Relationships:
- Internal: Chief of Party; Program Technical Director; M&E
Director; Grants Manager, Organizational Development Director; other
staff of SMILE
- These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles
of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her
responsibilities and achieve the desired results.
- Serves With Integrity
- Models Stewardship
- Cultivates Constructive Relationships
- Promotes Learning
- External: SMILE Consortium team members; SMILE CSO partners;
USAID, Ministry of Health/Care and Support TWG; UGM and LOPIN
counterparts; UN and international community representatives, and other
stakeholders.
- Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)
Travel:
- Travel up to 50% of the time.
Qualifications and Skills
- MBBS/MD and/or MPH with a minimum of 5 years relevant experience in implementing HIV Prevention, Care and Support programs.
- Or BS/MA in a relevant health degree a plus a minimum of 7 years
technical experience with community-level HIV prevention, Care &
Support programs.
- Experience with monitoring and evaluation and reporting nutrition activities.
- Good knowledge of Government of Nigeria HIV Care and Treatment
guidelines (Paediatric & Adult)and experience working with Ministry
of Health and other relevant entities.
- Familiarity with OVC programming and principles.
- Excellent English oral and written communication skills required.
- Excellent analytic, organizational and computer skills; skilled
in MS Office including Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint. Experience
with SharePoint a plus.
- Demonstrated ability to work effectively with government and
civil society partners and communities as well as transfer knowledge to
diverse audiences through workshops, training and meetings using
participatory methods and adult learning principles.
- Proven leadership and inter-personal skills for effective team
work; as well as the ability to work independently on a frequent basis,
taking initiative, managing a variety of activities concurrently, and
delivering outputs on schedule.
- Demonstrated ability to support partners working at a distance to achieve results against program objectives/targets.
- Successful experience in project design and proposal development in the HIV/Health sector for USAID/PEPFAR preferred.
Disclaimer Clause: This job description is not an exhaustive list,
rather it is intended to be indicative of the skills, efforts, duties
and responsibilities associated with the position.
Method of Application
Interested candidates should:
Click Here To Download Application Form
Application form should be sent with their detailed resumes as attached MS word documents to:
[email protected]
Click here to download Full Job Description Here
Note:
- Only applications sent in the required format will be considered.
- Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
- Qualified women are especially encouraged to apply.
- CRS does not accept any form of fees for recruitment.
- CRS is an equal - opportunity employer and does not discriminate an the basis of race, color, region, etc.
Application Deadline Monday, 16th March, 2015.