Country: Uganda
Closing date: 08 Aug 2019
About Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.
PROGRAM DEPARTMENT SUMMARY
In October 2017, Mercy Corps was awarded a 5 year USAID/ Food for Peace- funded program working in 4 districts of Karamoja region. The Activity has four purposes with cross cutting themes of gender and youth and resilience. I) Inclusive and effective governance contributes to food and nutrition security; 2) Improved health and nutritional status of pregnant and lactating women, children under five, and adolescent girls; 3) Improved WASH conditions and 4) Adolescent girls, adolescent boys, women and men access diverse and secure livelihoods through improved capacities and strengthened market systems. Apolou is implemented by a consortium of actors led by Mercy Corps, including Save the Children, Whave Solutions, four local partners (KAPDA, NARWOA and Riam Riam) and Tufts University's Feinstein International Centre (FIC).
GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY
The primary focus of the Health System Strengthening (HSS) Manager will be to strengthen the capacity of health governance structures to improve coordination and quality of service provision for food and nutrition security. The HSS Manager will implement and support a program that improves the organizational performance of Hospitals, HCIVs, HCIII and HC Il-level facilities with emphasis on the Health Unit Management Committees (HUMC), which is in line with government standards and priorities. Support will be strongly focused on health governance will work closely with other partner supporting other HSS components i.e. Health Information Systems, health workforce, service delivery, essential medicines and financing. This will include a focus on advocacy for accountability of health resources and improving the communication between the facility and the community it serves. This will be achieved by strengthening HUMCs and other health governance structures at national, regional and district level. The HSS Manager will work in coordination with the MCHN Manager other purpose 2 (Mother Care Group and Community Behavior Change, Resource Transfer) and all staff working to achieve Apolou Purpose 2. Additional responsibilities of the HSS Manager include;
· Support APOLOU activities with key stakeholders, ensuring collaboration with counterparts in partner organization Save the Children in relevant meetings, internal and external.
· Where needed support ongoing Apolou assessments in development, gender, conflict and governance & facilitate the integration of health related economic opportunities in all Apolou program objectives.
· Conduct oneself professionally and with sensitivity, awareness and respect when working with diverse groups of people, including Mercy Corps staffs, beneficiaries and partner agencies.
· Adhere to Mercy Corps policies, procedures, and any other duties as assigned by the line manager.
ESSENTIAL JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION
· Collaborate with Ministry of Health to build the capacity of District Health Team to functionalize all health governance structures including Health Unit Management Committee at lower health facilities in Moroto, Kotido, Kaabong and Amudat.
· Collaborate with MOH to refine and disseminate HUMC guidelines to simplify roles and responsibilities of HUMC members and ensure that youth, women and PWD are represented.
· Work with Save the Children and Gender sector to support mechanisms for targeted and age specific educational trainings around SRH to VHTs and include a clear referral pathway for SGBV into the health system.
· Collaborate with MOH and district-level HUMC focal person to improve government led mentorship of the committees, strengthen their understanding of roles, responsibilities and community linkages
· Document and communicate findings and key lessons for improved accountability at community, sub county, district, regional levels and among stakeholders.
· Facilitate close coordination and linkages between health structures in Kotido and the purpose two components; Mother Care Groups, Male Change Agents and resource transfer
· Take lead in updating Apolou files containing MCHN progress reports, work plans and related documents at district and Sub-county level.
· Provide technical and supervisory oversight for the HSS officers while implementing routine program activities like training and mentorship of health governance structures, Dialogue for Health (D4H) meetings, learning visits among others.
· Provide financial oversight to MCHN activities by participating in the budgeting process, submitting timely cash projections and managing expenditure of HSS activities across all four districts.
· Work closely with the Apolou Senior Nutritionist to support Nutrition Coordination Committee activities at district and Sub-county level.
MONITORING, EVALUATION AND LEARNING
· Together with Nutritionist, be the focal points for health and nutrition information sharing of program data between Apolou and the Ministry of Health or District Health Office
· Participate in program implementation and review by supporting workplan development, incorporating best practices and utilizing M&E information to improve MCHN activities.
· Comply with M&E procedures and policies to ensure program impacts and achieves desired results
· Analyze project implementation strategies to identify constraints to program success and provide timely recommendations.
· Contribute to the establishment of procedures and guidelines to monitor and evaluate the progress and impact of health facility support work including setting and measuring benchmarks along results chain.
· Lead on report writing for the HSS sector to include weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports that will be indicative of program progress during implementation.
· Where needed support external evaluations by research partner Feinstein International Center and other organizations.
INFLUENCE AND REPRESENTATION
· Collaborate with DHOs and MCHN team leads across the region to organize or participate in regular health and nutrition coordination events like; Karamoja Health Nutrition Partner forum, Technical Working Groups, health sector quarterly review meetings among others.
· Coordination of field activities with other NGO and local government partners to avoid duplication of services and support an enabling environment for health promotion.
· When needed, support visits from district and sub-county government, regional and HQ based staff and external visitors, such as donors and media, in collaboration with MCHN Manager and
DCoP.
· Advise MC staff on standard operating procedures when engaging the district or municipality, mentor staff on letter writing, points of entry and protocol in the health sector.
· Conduct spot checks in collaboration with the team to ensure program files kept in district and Sub county offices are up-to-date.
· Represent Mercy Corps to external stakeholders including the District Local Government and the Municipality
· Assure that routine support supervision takes place in the field and that debrief meetings occur to allow the district and municipality to take ownership and have buy-in the HSS activities.
· Liaise with M&E manager, DCoP and COP to assure platforms exist for learning events to be conducted at least annually between programs and DLG.
· Promote team accountability, coordination, quality and a sense of urgency with responsiveness to the district and municipality needs.
· Keep Government informed of any changed to government and civil society allowances and assure zero tolerance to any form of fraud, corruption, abuse, harassment or exploitation. Validate with DI-G emerging events/issues like epidemic outbreaks, security situation and any threat posed within the district/region and coordinate with HOO for staff to be updated.
· Request for relevant programmatic documents, policy guidelines, SOPs, curriculum from DI-G officials as needed by MC.
SECURITY
· Ensure data protection policies are adhered to, establishing security controls for software, hardware and archive beneficiary databases.
ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING
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As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.
ACCOUNTABILITY TO BENEFICIARIES
• Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
Supervisory Responsibility
Four HSS officers one in each of the Apolou districts; Amudat, Kotido, Kaabong and Moroto
Accountability
Reports Directly To: MCHN Manager
Works Directly With: CBC Manager, MCG Manager, Save the Children team, Purpose I , 3 and 4 sector leads, MEL Manager, Advisor and officers, CBCAs, Gender Manager and Officers, DCoP, CoP, staff within P1 and P4. Whave staff other Mercy Corps program, Human Resource and Operations staff
Ethics and Integrity
All Mercy Corps staff member are expected to behave ethically and demonstrate highest integrity in their professional and personal life. Mercy Corps has zero tolerance to any form of fraud, corruption, abuse, harassment or exploitation. Any breach of our policies or misconduct will lead to disciplinary action or may lead to termination.
Knowledge and Experience
A Master degree in Public Health, nursing or related field with at least 3 years of professional experience working with the government health system.
OR a Bachelor’s degree in Public Health, Nursing or related field with at least 6 years of contextualized experience in managing and implementing health systems strengthening programs
· Experience working on health accountability and governance program especially conducting dialogues and delivering capacity building for HUMCs is the desirable candidate
· Demonstrated experience providing technical assistance at individual and district government levels and in-depth understanding of Uganda healthcare system
· Proven ability to establish and maintain strong interpersonal and professional relationships with local government officials, and other key stakeholders in the health and nutrition sector
· Demonstrate knowledge and experience in strengthening HMIS data collection, analysis & reporting is an added advantage
· Demonstrable writing and analytical and quantitative skills.
· Ability to ride a motorcycle and he/she should be in possession of a valid driving/riding license
· Proven skills in networking, collaboration, community consultations and organizational development
· Excellent reporting, communication and representation skills, Proven knowledge and capacity in using computer basic applications MS Word, power point, Excel and internet
Success Factors
The successful candidate is to innovatively and effectively further strengthen health governance structures especially the HUMCs and increase their sustainability of which district level advocacy will be the position's main success factors. The second success factor will be the degree to which the HSS Manager pushes forward accountability-driven, leadership and management-focused support to district and sub-county and health center staff. Lastly, success will be measured by the degree to which he/she drives results, making critical decisions and producing scheduled outputs at deadline and to expected quality.
How to apply:
How to apply: Submit your application through email to ug-mcjobs@mercycorps.org addressed to the Human Resource Director, Mercy Corps Uganda. Include a cover letter clearly stating your salary requirements, CV (with 3 referees), and copies of academic qualifications/certificates. Deadline for Submission: Close of business on Thursday**, 08th August, 2019**. Subject of email should include the position you are applying for. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted by Mercy Corps. Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer; qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.