TITLE: Technical Lead- Reproductive Maternal Neonatal and Child Health (TL-MNH), Community Partnerships for Respectful Care (CPRC) Project

DEPARTMENT:  International Partnerships & Programs

REPORTS TO: Tanzania Project Director, Community Partnerships for Respectful Care (CPRC) project

ASSIGNMENT TYPE: Full-time

LOCATION:  Mwanza, Tanzania

LENGTH: 24-months with possibility to extend based on performance and budget

ABOUT AMERICARES: 

Americares is a health-focused relief and development organization that saves lives and improves health for people affected by poverty or disaster. Each year, Americares reaches more than 90 countries, including the United States, with life-changing health programs, medicine and medical supplies. Americares is the world’s leading nonprofit provider of donated medicine and medical supplies. For more information, visit americares.org.

About Community Partnerships for Respectful Care (CPRC) Project:
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under the New Partnerships Initiative (NPI) has awarded CPRC to the Americares Foundation Inc.. NPI is shifting the focus of USAID's traditional partners to mentoring, capacity-building, and technical oversight, by using umbrella mechanisms and sub-awards strategically to enable new and underutilized local partners to lead development in their own communities and advance the Journey to Self-Reliance. USAID seeks to expand its network of partnerships with local organizations because they can mobilize quickly and take advantage of long-standing grassroots relationships to bring needed interventions directly to people at risk.

The Americares Community Partnerships for Respectful Care (CPRC) project is a five-year, $25 million effort under NPI to reduce mortality and morbidity among mothers and their children through improved community-based health care. Americares will work with Christian Connections for International Health (CCIH) and its local affiliates in the United Republic of Tanzania (Christian Social Services Commission-CSSC) and the Republic of Liberia to leverage the expertise and reach of local and locally established organizations, by building their institutional capacity. This new partnership will work closely with Tanzanian and Liberian communities and faith-based networks to improve access to, and demand for, high-quality, community-based health care for mothers, newborns, and children; voluntary family planning; nutrition; and respectful maternity care. 

POSITION SUMMARY:

The TL-MNH will provide technical and programmatic oversight and direction in the areas of reproductive health, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH), and nutrition of the CPRC project.

Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. 

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Training and Other Capacity Building Activities

• Oversee the tailored implementation of RMNCH interventions as an essential services package by working closely with the project’s team, CSSC staff to provide technical assistance and guidance for RMNCH clinical and community activities in project-supported facilities and communities
• Providing technical support on the integration of RMNCH services focusing on a variety of technical areas such as training; full and free informed choice; infection prevention; health promotion; operations research; and clinical quality improvement
• Work with various national level technical working group to provide inputs into strategic and technical RMNCH planning documents
• Support the rollout of in-service coaching, mentoring and supportive supervision for facility and community-based health care providers in all RMNCH interventions
• Strengthen RMNCH guidance, tools, and procedures for rigorous continuous implementation evaluation of training needs that ensures the inclusion of respectful maternity care in materials and training modules
• Coordinate RMNCH need-based refresher trainings for partners and facility-based staff where the CPRC project is implemented

Support capacity building activities for CSSC through training and mentorship program

• Champion RMNCH services across CSSC project covered health facilities
• Ensure capacity building activities, alongside with MOHCDGEC trainers and mentors to increase knowledge, attitude and positive attitude toward RMNCH, nutrition for children and pregnant and lactating women of healthcare providers
• Routinely monitor and strengthen RMNCH quality-of-service provision by health staff, including CSSC staff
• Conduct regular supervisory visits and meetings, in collaboration with RMNCH partners
• Conduct data quality audits to validate results prior to including them in the monthly reports
• Ensure that RMNCH data is reported from the health facilities, relayed to the respective CHMTs
• Reinforce the management system of health facilities and the CHMTs as a feedback mechanism to ensure high quality implementation of RMNCH activities to meet project objectives
• Champion and promote awareness-raising activities and understanding of relevant issues of RMNCH and nutrition in CPRC project covered regions and councils

Planning and coordination

• Coordinate integration of RMNCH in maternal health services at both community and facility-based interventions
• Support the rollout of RMNCH in-service coaching, mentoring and supportive supervision for facility and community-based health care providers
• Liaise with the team, develop, and promote partnerships and networking with relevant RMNCH stakeholders including and not limited to local authorities, MOHCDGEC, partners, and other stakeholders as appropriate
• Oversee RMNCH activities to ensure quality and timely service delivery including integrated outreach campaigns and activities
• Coordinate with other Technical Leads and CSSC staff to meet CPRC project needs for field visits activities
• Work closely with other Technical Leads, MEL Specialist, CSSC team to monitor referrals and continuum of care linkages between CHWs and facility-based services
• Facilitate, with CPRC project partners, the MOHCDGEC, and external partners as well, community mobilization and awareness raising on RMNCH services
• In collaboration with other Technical Leads, coordinate monthly CHWs activities and data review meetings
• Ensure and provide cross-facility learning, collection of good and best practices, documentation and experience sharing with outside and inside CPRC partners, on RMNCH, FP, and nutrition
• Actively engage in national, regional, council level RMNCH networks settings and groups.

Leadership

• Provide technical leadership to ensure integration of RMNCH in CPRC project
• Provide RMNCH technical support during the design, development, planning and implementation phases
• Provide in country technical support to develop/adapt and implement RMNCH innovative capacity building approaches to ensure high-quality performance of healthcare providers, CSSC, and CHWs
• Ensure that the RMNCH project strategy adheres to MOHCDGEC and global strategies and are technically sounds during design, planning and implementation phases

Reporting:

• Identify and disseminate best practices and new technical strategies and approaches in the RMNCH area of expertise
• Ensure the CHWs and community-facilities linkages data on RMNCH services are adequately established for timely reporting including the use reporting tools
• Ensure quality and timely submission of comprehensive reports are submitted accordingly

CORE AMERICARES RESPONSIBILITIES: 

• Foster Americares values of responsiveness, results orientation, collaboration, efficiency and integrity
• Coach, support and develop staff to increase individual and team effectiveness
• Develop and manage implementation of plans to increase team operating performance, including SOPs and other efficiency initiatives

MINIMUM Qualifications:

• BSc/BA in Public health disciplines (Medicine, Nursing, Midwifery) with more than 4 years’ work required, and a master’s degree (MPH or equivalent) with a focus on RMNCH is highly preferred
• At least 5 years demonstrated experience working on USAID-funded project and meeting USAID reporting requirements. Work experience in RMNCH in the private sector/NGOs is added advantage
• Be an excellent classroom and clinical trainer with at least two years’ experience in clinical training
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing capacity-building RMNCH programs for improving service delivery
• Ability to coach, mentor and develop technical capacity in service delivery programs and technical staff in the areas of maternal, newborn and child health, and performance and quality improvement
• Proven leadership and management skills with the ability to multi-task, and Experience managing quality assurance
• Excellent interpersonal skills and strong communications skills; ability to develop partnerships across sectors and cultures
• Strong organizational skills, capacity to think strategically and attention to detail
• Excellent English-language writing skills
• Proficiency in Office 365 including Word, Excel, Teams, PowerPoint and SharePoint
• Willingness and ability to travel
• Unrestricted authorization to work in Tanzania