Senior Health Advisor at Field Support Services Project (FSSP)

The Nigeria Field Support Services Project (FSSP) is a project designed by Canada to assist in ensuring quality and relevance of Canada development program in responding to Nigeria’s development challenges by providing access to technical expertise with local knowledge and experience, sector studies and strategies, program-level monitoring, and support to Canada’s donor coordination and aid effectiveness activities. In Nigeria FSSP provides, among others, access to specific local knowledge and expertise that broadens Canada’s understanding of local development issues and informs the design of sound development strategies.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Senior Health Advisor

Location: Nigeria

Job Description

• Canada’s Field Support Services Project (FSSP) seeks to hire a Senior Health Advisor to provide expert analysis and advice to Global Affairs Canada (GAC) on a broad range of health issues, trends, and practices in support of GAC’s Development Program in Nigeria.
• GAC’s international development mission is to lead Canada’s international effort in poverty alleviation and humanitarian assistance in line with Canada’s new Feminist International Assistance Policy.

Scope of Work
This consultancy involves delivery of services in the following areas:

• Health system strengthening at national and sub-national levels with a focus on primary health care/universal health coverage. –
• Reducing the burden of disease contributing to child illness and death.
• Addressing nutrition as a component of primary health care delivery.
• Sexual and reproductive health and rights.
• Other public health assignments, as required.

Description of Activities
The following provides a range of potential activities, whose identification, planning and timelines will be validated through a regularly updated work plan;

• Provide technical reviews of relevant project documents and provide recommendations to strengthen project delivery and results.
• Review, analyse and provide technical comments and recommendations on government policies, reports, strategies, as well as from other health stakeholders in Nigeria, such as Gavi, the Global Fund, Global Financing Facility, Global Polio Eradication initiative, and other Canadian multilateral health partnerships.
• Provide, as needed, analytical papers, think pieces, recommendations and/or technical briefs on a range of health issues, as well as related documents (e.g. policies, strategies, legislation, action plans, budgets and expenditure plans, performance frameworks, evaluations and assessments, etc.) from a wide range of stakeholders.
• Support GAC’s engagement with key stakeholders (including government officials; implementing partners, etc:) as well as donor coordination efforts including participation in technical working groups.
• Make periodic project site visits to gain a better understanding of objectives, challenges, and results.

This assignment is expected to start immediately with a level of work of approximately days over a period of one year.

Essential Qualifications/Experience
Candidates must demonstrate in their CV and cover letter how they meet the following requirements:

Education:

• Postgraduate Degree from an accredited, recognized institution in a relevant discipline such as Public Health, Global Health, Women’s health, Sociology, International Development, or another related field.

Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of relevant international development experience in the health sector.
• Demonstrated experience of 5 years or more, advising senior decision makers in donor agencies, government or civil society organizations or the private sector, including drafting briefing notes, analyzing policies, and preparing reports (Samples of work to be supplied upon request).
• Experience with donor funding and donor approaches in the health sector, preferably for the Government of Canada.
• Experience in the following thematic/sectoral subject matters: Health policy development/analysis, health systems strengthening (particularly health financing and human resources for health), and women’s health.

Knowledge:
Candidates must demonstrate the following knowledges:

• Nigeria’s health system at federal, state, and local government level.
• Approaches to achieving universal health coverage in Nigeria or in Africa more broadly.
• Social/gender norms and behavior change in the context of health interventions.
• Application of the wider determinants of health, particularly gender.
• Monitoring and evaluation techniques.
• Global health context/international health architecture.
• GAC policies, programs, and initiatives, particularly as they relate to gender equality and RMNCAH/SRH.

Skills and Abilities:

• Excellent skills in written and verbal communication, presentation and facilitation, and time management and delivery of finalized reports/deliverables by deadline.
• Working knowledge of Hausa and other local language skills is an asset.

Application Closing Date
31st May, 2021.