Maternal Newborn and Child Health Technical Advisor - REACH Malaria

PATH seeks a Maternal Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) Technical Advisor to support the U.S. Government (USG)-funded Reaching Every At-risk Community and Household with malaria services (REACH Malaria) global project. The purpose of the REACH Malaria project is to provide implementation support services and technical assistance to countries to accelerate progress in comprehensive delivery of facility and community-based malaria services, including malaria case management, prevention of malaria in pregnancy (MiP), seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC), data collection and use for service delivery, and other malaria prevention interventions. The REACH Malaria project scope includes integrated maternal newborn and child health services (MNCH) and nutrition.

The MNCH Technical Advisor will support the development and execution of technical assistance strategies for country buy-ins that advance the quality of services during antenatal care, labour and delivery and the postnatal period, newborn care, and facility and community case management of childhood illnesses including malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhoea. The technical advisor will contribute to activities to strengthen referral systems, integration of community service delivery, and capacity through pre- and in-service training and support in MNCH including scale up of basic and comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care.

PATH is seeking a highly motivated individual with strong MNCH technical skills and public health implementation experience, significant experience in directly supporting the ministries of health, MNCH departments, and country-level stakeholders, robust analytical and writing skills, and strong communication skills, including high-level proficiency in both English and French. Experience and technical skills in nutrition are an advantage.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the design, development, and planning of high impact MNCH interventions in the REACH buy-ins, including direct engagement with country stakeholders.

• Provide technical input in recruitment and on-boarding of MNCH technical staff in REACH buy-in countries who will be responsible for implementing technical assistance, and capacity building interventions.

• Participate in global and regional working groups and support country teams on updates or changes in policies in MNCH. Provide technical guidance to countries on MNCH.

• Provide technical support for implementing REACH activities in buy-in countries, focusing on improving the quality of MNCH programs, integrating malaria services into ANC services at facility and community level. building resilient referral systems, and pre- and in-service capacity building.

• Support the development of and review of annual reports, tools and guidance, and other relevant deliverables, ensuring high-quality documents and deliverables.

• Develop and maintain collaborative relationships with internal and external partners to advance project objectives and to assist REACH country teams to engage partners and technical expertise for discrete work plan tasks.

• Assist in monitoring, tracking, and communicating overall progress of plans and activities.

Required Skills and Experience:

• Clinical degree qualification (MD, clinical officer, nursing, midwife) is strongly preferred.

• Master's degree or PHD in public health, reproductive health, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, epidemiology, or medical field.

• At least six years of experience providing technical assistance and/or direct implementation experience of public health programs in African countries.

• Experience designing and/or implementing integrated health programs with a focus on MNCH.

• Experience on service integration across PHC, ANC/PNC, and/or CHW program

• Excellent technical skills in the areas of maternal and child health, an added advantage of skills in other public health programs including nutrition, malaria, surveillance, monitoring, and evaluation with the ability to deliver quality, high impact projects while providing value to donors.

• Expertise in working with Ministries of Health and other stakeholders, donors, and partners to develop and build consensus on implementation plans and manage them to success.

• Experience working with USG funding mechanisms.

• Demonstrated experience working in coordination with international, regional, and national NGOs.

• Excellent interpersonal skills with ability to interact in a culturally sensitive manner with diverse internal and external individuals.

• Critical thinker, creative problem-solver, and innovator.

• Fluency in English required, French proficiency required. Strong writing skills are an advantage.

• Ability to travel internationally for an estimated 20-30% of the time.

This job is opened to any existing PATH Africa offices, Washington, DC, or US remote.