Background:
The Malawi government through the Ministry of Health (MoH) is implementing the Health Sector Strategic Plan II with a goal to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC), providing quality, equitable and affordable health care with the aim of improving health status, financial risk protection and client satisfaction. In this context, various partners including the UN are supporting the MoH towards building a responsive and resilient health system that is essential for adapting and responding to the current COVID-19 pandemic and thereby ensuring lifesaving interventions reach those in need.
With funding from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and more specifically through the Umoyo Wathu (UW) programme, UNFPA is working to expand its work with the MoH to bring services to the last mile. The programme will be implemented by three UN Agencies, namely UNICEF, WHO and UNFPA. To effectively implement the UW project and ensure UNFPA’s quality technical support and strategic engagement in the area of Health System Strengthening (HSS) and UHC, UNFPA Malawi Country Office (CO) is recruiting the services of a Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) Specialist.
The Position:
As a senior staff of UNFPA CO Malawi, the HSS specialist is expected to engage with the political and technical arms of the governmental, district authorities, development partners and other UN agencies, academic and research institutions, relevant NGOs, professional associations and contribute to enhance UNFPA’s strategic positioning and visibility, particularly in the contexts HSS and UHC. The HSS specialist is also expected to facilitate better integration of maternal health and family planning, gender based violence (GBV), SRH services for youth and adolescents in terms of policy discussions and decisions as well as programming. This will contribute to maximizing the synergy and impact of UNFPA supported interventions.
How you can make a difference:
UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled. UNFPA Malawi is committed to deliver results outlined in the 8th Country Programme that starts from 2019 and lasts till 2023, with clear outcomes in the areas of: a) sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), b) adolescents and youth, c) gender equality and women’s empowerment, and d) population dynamics. UNFPA Malawi is also a part of the United Nations Country Team and operates under United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2019-2023, fully embracing the UN development system reforms and stepping up its system wide support for the Government of Malawi
Qualifications and Experience:
Education:
- Master’s degree in international public health is required. An advanced medical degree is highly desirable.
Knowledge and Experience:
- A minimum of seven years of relevant progressively responsible professional experience in health systems strengthening, including experience at the international level is required.
- Demonstrated expertise in the area of SRHR and substantive experience in Health Systems Strengthening are required.
- Knowledge of UNFPA’s mandate, core issues, policies, and guidelines, especially those related is SRHR, is required.
- Technical knowledge on the principles and operational aspects of integrated sexual and reproductive health care, including EmONC, HIV prevention, GBV response is desirable.
- Programme management experience in the health sector is required. Programme management experience in the sexual and reproductive health funded by international donors is desirable.
- Technical support, quality assurance, policy advice and strategic engagement experience in the area of sexual and reproductive health is desirable.
- Strong professional oral and writing skills is required.
- Ability to synthesize ideas and messages into digestible presentations/documents by non-technical readers is desirable.
Languages:
- Fluency in written and spoken English.
We are no longer accepting applications for this position.
