Clinton Health Access Initiative,Technical Advisor, Health Financing Jobs in Malawi

Closing date: 09 Feb 2017

Founded in 2002 by
President William J. Clinton, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) is a
global health organization committed to strengthening integrated health systems
around the world and expanding access to care and treatment for HIV/AIDS,
malaria and other illnesses. Based on t
he premise that business oriented
strategy can facilitate solutions to global health challenges, CHAI acts as a
catalyst to mobilize new resources and optimize the impact of these resources
to save lives, via improved organization of commodity markets and more
effective local management. By working in association with governments and
other NGO partners, CHAI is focused on large scale impact and, to date, CHAI
has secured lower pricing agreements for treatment options in more than 70
countries. In addition, CHAI’s teams are working side-by-side with over 30
governments to tackle many of the largest barriers to effective treatment and
care.

CHAI’s health
financing program is working with 10 of these countries to support Ministries
of Health to substantially and sustainably improve access to essential health
services for their populations. Health financing is often insufficient and
overly reliant on donors and individuals paying out of pocket at facilities.
Low income countries in Africa and South East Asia see over half of the global
disease burden, are home to 40% of the global population and account for only
3% of health spending. Donor contributions for health have plateaued, and in
many countries are likely to decline in the coming years. Domestic resources for
health are increasing, but the rate of growth in government spending dedicated
to health fluctuates and is often insufficient to meet population needs. In
addition, resources that are made available may not be spent efficiently.
Healthcare providers face stock-outs, ration services among patients and charge
informal or formal user fees, which can act as a deterrent for patients, and
particularly the poor, to seek care.

The Clinton Health
Access Initiative (CHAI) seeks an Technical Advisor, Health Financing to help
the Government of Malawi (GoM) address challenges of limited resources for the
health sector. The Technical Advisor will be based in Lilongwe, Malawi and will
report to the Program Manager, Health Financing within the Evidence for Impact
Cluster.

Malawi faces a
challenge of limited resources for the health system, and CHAI has partnered
with the government to seek new sources of financing and to realise maximum
impact from existing financing. Currently the MoH is undertaking the
development of the Health Sector Strategic Plan II (2016-2021) and revision of
the country’s Essential Health Package (EHP). Over the next few years, CHAI
will support the Department of Planning and Policy Development (DPPD) to
overcome the health systems constraints to deliver the revised EHP to the
entire population, including the quantification of key systems gaps and support
for evidence-based prioritization. In addition, CHAI will assist DPPD in the
development of systems and processes that will be improve coordination of
government and donor financing for health systems investments toward Universal
Health Coverage.

Through this work,
the Technical Advisor will work very closely with the MoH, particularly the
Department of Planning, in addition to liaising with donors, NGOs, and civil
society on a regular basis. This position will have direct and immediate impact
on the lives of thousands of patients. It presents an opportunity to work very
closely with a government that is committed to finding opportunities for
sustainable financing of the health sector, providing key evidence and
developing tools that will deliver improved healthcare for the people of
Malawi.

Responsibilities:

Working in close
collaboration with MoH, the Technical Advisor, Health Financing will:

Serve
as a trusted technical advisor to the MoH on a broad range of health
financing and systems issues, enabling MoH to mobilize more resources into
the health sector and distribute them equitably, effectively and
efficiently;
Provide
technical input on health financing policies and reforms, including but
not limited to: public financial management, health insurance, revenue
generation mechanisms, provider-payment mechanisms and general purchasing
reforms.
Manage
development of quantitative models to assess opportunities for improved
efficiency and effectiveness of health interventions;
Translate
complex and/or quantitative evidence into user-friendly policy briefs,
presentations, and materials to facilitate strategic health financing
decisions by policymakers;
Facilitate
high-level meetings with government and external stakeholders to drive
operational and policy changes on politically-charged agenda;
Research
frameworks and develop a protocol for assessing health systems constraints
at health facilities for essential service delivery;
Manage
data collection, cleaning, validation, and analysis of health systems
readiness gaps, including the harmonization with existing health systems
data systems in Malawi;
Support
government to develop a mechanism for coordinating and aligning donor and
government funding for health;
Support
the Aid Coordination Unit and other relevant entities in the MoH to
strengthen processes for donor coordination, increased transparency, and
alignment to government priorities;
Develop
and carry out proposals to build capacity of MoH and increase
sustainability of the aforementioned activities; and

·
Perform
any other duties assigned by the Program Manager.

·
Masters
or Doctorate in Economics or Health Economics, or MPH with
coursework/experience in health economics and finance strongly preferred; or
Bachelor’s degree minimum with exceptional experience

·
At
least 5 years of experience in public health, health economics, health finance,
and policy formulation related to developing countries, or experience in other
fields related to the duties described above;

·
Experience
working in developing countries, particularly in the health sector in
Sub-Saharan Africa

·
Strong
analytical skills and advanced technical proficiency with MS Excel and
PowerPoint (analytical skills and proficiency levels will be tested during
recruiting process);

·
Demonstrated
experience building and analysing quantitative models to inform
decision-making;

·
Demonstrated
experience conducting and managing research studies and teams, supervising data
collectors, working with large quantitative data sets;

·
Demonstrated
ability to deliver excellence in high-pressure situations and adapt to rapidly
changing environments;

·
Strategically
minded, able to think creatively around long-term programme objectives and the
detailed steps necessary to achieve these goals;

·
Excellent
project management and organization skills;

·
Attention
to detail

·
Excellent
verbal, visual and written communication skills;