PIH-Sierra Leone has a strong track record of service delivery in Sierra Leone’s Kono district, where we have seen drastic improvements in health outcome, including in maternal/child health, HIV/TB care, and in overall quality of care and service utilization. PIH-Sierra Leone works in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS), and in the coming years will be supporting District Health Management Teams (DHMTs) in multiple districts in Sierra Leone as part of the implementation of a large donor-funded program to catalyze health service delivery and improve health outcomes in these districts and replicate the Kono model.

Strong all-rounders that are diplomatic and technically skilled, District Advisors will act as partners to DHMTs in the day-to-day implementation of district-level health policy and health service delivery, working closely with DHMT staff and other district level advisors focused on M&E and clinical operations. In this role, they will apply the nuts and bolts of project management and public health to help DHMTs get things done and scale up successful models of health services. Reporting to the Senior Technical Advisor, District Advisors will spent 75% of their time in their home districts, and approximately 25% of their time travelling to Freetown or Kono district.

The District Advisor helps to facilitate all DHMT-level project activities, including trainings for DHMT counterparts, developing project plans, and establishing or reinforcing DHMT workflows centered on clinical care, quality improvement, facility management, supply chain, and other domains as needed. S/he will regularly convene PIH district staff and Ministry of Health and Sanitation counterparts regularly to review human resource needs, facility and quality improvement updates, and overall project plans.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Government accompaniment

• Support major project components undertaken by DHMT counterparts, including the hiring of key clinical and operational staff
• Along with the Senior Technical Advisor, facilitate management and quality improvement trainings for key DHMT counterparts
• Work closely with DHMT counterparts and the Senior Technical Advisor to prepare for district level in-charges meeting
• Pragmatically support government counterparts by identifying and resolving obstacles to program success, and paving the way for significant health projects and health improvements in the district
• Visiting district-level facilities to support the implementation of trainings and improvements to selected facilities based on PIH health system strengthening models
• Support district teams in creating full district project fora that regularly (semesterly) bring together all key DHMT, MoHS, and facility staff in order to develop a project identity and to address shared challenges beyond any one facility or program area

Planning and organizing

• Facilitate planning, drafting, and implementation of district-level project plans
• Facilitate rotation of DHMT and MoHS staff (especially Clinical lead and Clinical mentors) to Kono learning district work with their thematic cohort
• Provide regular updates to the Senior Technical Advisor on project progress at the district and facility levels
• Draft or assist in drafting of presentations, working documents and budgets, chair meetings and keep minutes. Track and monitor activities
• Support DHMTs through assessing DHMT capacity against project goals, and supporting professional development, HR development and policy and service delivery planning
• Lead on selected aspects on the development of PIH’s overall national approach to health systems strengthening, working closely with the Senior Technical Advisor

Leadership and relationships

• Build strong relationships with District Health Management Teams as key representative of PIH at district-level in a spirit of partnership
• Clarify responsibilities for district health plan outcomes; ensure that each major project component has an “owner” within the DHMT
• Deliver management training on topics such as goal setting, supportive supervision, project planning and management, data for decision-making, and standardized tools
• Promote and model tenets of PIH philosophy such as ‘the patients are our bosses’
• Act as coach and mentor to national district-based staff in M&E and operations
• Education and Work Experience Requirements:
• • Bachelor’s degree
  • Self-driven, with track record successfully managing complex projects with multiple stakeholders. ‘Gets things done’
  • Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, and ability to structure and recall information, and develop processes and systems for project and information management
  • Strong interpersonal skills, and ability to work effectively with a range of stakeholders including from public sector and across organisations, including through 1:1 coaching and hosting formal workshops and trainings
  • Solid technical writing skills, and able to produce meeting notes, SOPs, guidelines etc.
  • Numerate, comfortable with budgeting and Excel skills, and comfortable with analysing data in Excel
  • Ability to work effectively as part of a team
  • Ability to work with humility and achieve results, including in settings with resource limitations, through an entrepreneurial mindset, planning and persistence
  • Willingness to spend multiple weeks a month in field locations in rural Sierra Leone
  • Passion for PIH’s mission and commitment to social justice and developing a preferential option for the poor in healthcare

  Desirable

  • Relevant master’s degree, e.g., MBA, MPH, MPA or similar
  • Experience working in the public health sector (ideally, alongside DHMTs) in Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Prior experience in Sierra Leone
  • Experience with large scale projects/quality improvement/management consulting or similar
  • Experience with health systems strengthening, especially maternal/child health or primary care
  • Technical skills in one or more of quality improvement; medicine; lab strengthening; pharmacy strengthening; supply chain
  • Experience with donor-funded projects in public health or international development, especially high-compliance institutional donors (e.g., USAID, CDC, GAC, FCDO, World Bank, Global Fund etc.)
  • Familiarity with PIH’s 5S health systems strengthening model
  • Strong technical writing skills and advanced Excel skills