The goal of the CHAI Sustainable Health Financing program in Malawi is to support the government to progressively move towards universal health coverage through sustainably bringing more resources into the health sector and to ensure they are distributed and utilized equitably, efficiently and effectively for the delivery of high-quality health services. The CHAI Malawi Sustainable Health Financing team works closely with departments across the Ministry of Health (MoH), and in particular with the Department of Planning and Policy Development and District Health Management Teams, to provide technical assistance, develop analytical tools, and strengthen capacity to manage spending in Malawi’s health sector.

CHAI Malawi seeks a Senior Associate, Sustainable Health Financing based in Lilongwe, Malawi to work with the Government of Malawi address critical funding shortfalls and inefficiencies in financing the health sector. The Senior Associate will report to the Senior Program Manager, Sustainable Health Financing and Health Workforce, within the office’s Health Systems Strengthening Cluster.

This is a challenging but rewarding position which will directly impact the government’s capacity to deliver improved health services for the population of Malawi. It presents an opportunity to work closely with a government that is committed to finding opportunities for sustainable financing of the health sector and delivering a stronger health system for the people of Malawi.

• Provide technical partnership and support to the MoH on a broad range of health financing and health systems issues. Examples of the range of potential projects may include: supporting aid alignment towards the Health Sector Strategic Plan III for 2023-2030 as part of the “One Plan, One Budget, One Report” approach; evidence-based modelling for health workforce recruitment and pre-service education; supporting District Health Offices in developing planning, budgeting, and management tools; scaling up direct facility financing across Malawi; strengthening strategic purchasing of health services to drive efficiencies; development of a costed and prioritized plan to coordinate health facility solar electrification investments in the country; and supporting long-term capacity-building of Malawi’s health financing ecosystem.
• Support the MoH to operationalize the recently developed Health Sector Strategic Plan III, with a particular focus on health financing, governance, and health workforce reforms
• Facilitate the development and implementation of government planning, budgeting, and donor coordination processes and tools, with the aim of improving efficiency and joint accountability at the national and district levels
• Build strategic relationships and facilitate meetings with government, donors and external stakeholders to drive operational and policy changes
• Build government health financing capacity by delivering targeted training and skills development
• Backstop fundraising and resource mobilization efforts for the team, including through targeted technical and coordination support
• Contribute to the development of program workplans, budgets, and reporting for internal and external audiences
• Lead preparation of activity budgets and ensure timely liquidation of all activities once completed, in line with CHAI and donor best practices and policies for sound financial management
• Lead activity logistics in collaboration with the CHAI Finance and Operations teams, including disbursing allowances to meeting participants and ensuring that services such as venue hire, conferencing, printing, etc. are available for activities as relevant
• Perform any other relevant duties and lead day-to-day implementation of activities as assigned

• Master’s degree in economics, health economics, health systems, public health, health sciences, public policy, or similar subject preferred; bachelor’s degree with relevant experience will also be considered
• Minimum of three years of professional experience, preferably in health systems strengthening, health economics, health financing, health workforce, public health, public policy, public sector finance, consulting, or other relevant experience
• Knowledge and experience in health systems and health financing, particularly in low- and middle-income countries
• Outstanding analytical skills and advanced proficiency with Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint
• Strategically minded and able to think creatively about long-term program goals and objectives, and the detailed steps necessary to achieve these goals
• Structured thinker with experience analyzing and interpreting complex datasets to identify key trends and to translate them into actionable options for decision-makers
• Strong diplomatic and interpersonal skills and ability to build strategic relationships with government partners, donors and other stakeholders
• Demonstrated ability to deliver excellence in high-pressure situations, set priorities, and adapt to rapidly changing environments
• Excellent organizational and problem-solving skills without need for extensive structural or operational support
• Strong writer, facilitator, and oral communicator, able to distill and explain complex concepts to varied audiences
• Self-motivated and able to lead workstreams with a high degree of independence and autonomy
• Team player with the desire and capacity to effectively coach others, based on the team’s professional development needs and as assigned by the supervisor

Advantages:

• Experience supporting governments and donors to make health policy and health financing decisions
• Experience with programming/coding, including VBA coding and/or Stata
• Experience working in resource-limited settings and a multicultural office environment, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa