Job Description
BACKGROUND
The IRC has been responding to the needs of refugees from the Great lakes Region in Western Tanzania since the early 90's when the genocide against the Tutsi and civil conflicts in the neighbouring nations resulted in a protracted refugee situation that persists to date. The IRC had been providing assistance to the protracted refugee population in refugee camps in the areas of Health, Education, Community Based Rehabilitation, Women and Child Protection. With the resolution of these conflicts, many refugees returned home with closure of camps to leave only Nyarugusu camp (one of the oldest refugee camps in the world having been set up in 1996). In late April 2015, political tension around the presidential elections in neighboring Burundi sparked months of deadly protests and violence. As at the end of February 2016, more than 130,000 Burundian asylum seekers have fled into Tanzania. The IRC has been on the ground rapidly responding to the needs of asylum seekers in all pre-existent program areas. The health sector has thus undergone a rapid scale up of activities including emergency primary and reproductive health units, hygiene and sanitation as well as the establishment of health posts at Manyovu and Kagunga border entry points to provide health consultations for both refugees and host community members. IRC also manages the Kigoma Refugee Transit Center (RTC-Kigoma), including medical referral support for all the health partners operating in the old camp as well as the two new refugee camps of Nduta and Mtendeli reopened in October 2015 and January 2016 respectively.
A multi-sectoral approach is being employed through an outcome based implementation of programs in Health, Child Protection; Education; Women's Protection; Community Based Rehabilitation and Host Community Projects on education, livelihoods and child labour. Most of these programs are directly implemented by the IRC in coordination with INGOs, local NGOs, UNHCR and other UN partners and the Government of Tanzania.
In Health, the IRC is working closely with the health agency in Nyarugusu Refugee camp to support the delivery of reproductive health services to the new arrivals, with UNHCR and health partners in all three camps to ensure access to external medical care through the implementation of an interagency referrals program, running of a primary health clinic at the Refugee Transit Centre in Kigoma (RTC-Kigoma) and conducting medical screening and assistance to refugees arriving through 11 border entry points along the international border between Burundi and Tanzania.
SCOPE OF WORK:
Reporting to the Deputy Director of Programs (DDP) the Senior Health Coordinator will be responsible for the immediate implementation and management of IRC's health program in Tanzania, working in collaboration with the senior management team both in Dar es Salaam and in the field. As the focal point for health programs in Tanzania, the Senior Health Coordinator will also ensure the continued implementation of quality primary and reproductive health care programing in IRC's operational areas in Western Tanzania and other parts of the country.
S/he will provide technical support to the health program to ensure that IRC programs are of high quality and that programs are driven by data and learning, working in conjunction with other colleagues in the IRC Tanzania program. The Senior Health Coordinator will be responsible for maintaining regular contact with all partners and donors as new opportunities for coordination and funding arise. S/he will also play a strong role in mentoring and training the health team with a particular focus on M&E.
Key Responsibilities:
Program management,
Technical monitoring and Program Quality:
Provide technical supervision and guidance to all IRC health programming and extend technical support and assistance to other relevant stakeholders within the Tanzania refugee operation as the need arises.
Ensure that the health projects in Tanzania utilize standardized protocols, policies and guidelines, as outlined by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW), UNHCR, SPHERE, and WHO health standards in emergencies. Ensure that all activities are consistent with established best practices.
Promote the quality of the IRC's health programs by setting up quality assurance mechanisms
Oversee the collection and timely reporting of data and statistics for all health programs in line with IRC's REL (Research, Evaluation & Learning) guidelines and according to internal and donor requirements;
Ensure that the stated goals and objectives of all health projects are met with strong monitoring and evaluation (M&E) follow up, including any required operational research, with technical support from the Health Information Management team in New York Health Unit and the Country Technical Advisors for health and nutrition as needed.
Participate in the design of robust M&E plans and design/adapt health information systems including surveillance systems for the IRC health programs in Tanzania.
Ensure sound data collection and information management systems are in place for ongoing performance analysis and programmatic action based on data and identified needs.
Lead technical assessments as a basis for primary health care program development.
Monitor evolving needs of the target communities and adjust the programmatic priorities as necessary;
Grants Management and Program Development:
Participate in the development of annual program budgets; ensure implementation of Health related activities in line with approved budgets and spending plans.
Ensure that programmatic and financial reports for donors and IRC country program are prepared as required, ensuring these are of the highest quality and submitted in a timely manner to the donor;
Ensure and review that program managers prepare all necessary documentation for Grant Opening, Review and Closing meetings.
Assist with the preparation of a realistic budget, authorizing and monitoring expenditure in line with the budget, donor guidelines and IRC's grant management and financial regulations; Where necessary, in collaboration with program managers, revise plans and budgets to maintain program quality and progress; work with the Grants Team and DDP to ensure that all program activities are implemented in compliance with donor requirements.
Identify opportunities for program development;
Collaborate with other in-country program teams to ensure an integrated strategy to achieve health outcomes as in the country's SAP;
Develop program and project proposals, including theories of change, logical frameworks, program design and implementation plans and SMART indicators for the IRC Tanzania health program under the supervision of the DDP and in consultation and collaboration with field-based technical and management staff.
Identify and develop jointly with DDP and other sector team leaders areas of enhanced linkages with other programs so as to ensure that the health team contributes to the success of all outcomes in the country program portfolio.
Health Systems Strengthening
Ensure that IRC programs are working with MoHSW structures at district and regional levels to support health system reforms and strengthening.
Apply knowledge and expertise in health policy and programs to design and develop activities that promote health policy reforms/development
Support current health programs to transition their approach to ensure that health system strengthening is a key component of their approach.
Work at the policy level with key decision makers from various district and regional government levels and with donors and strategic technical partners, participating in strategy development and technical discussions relating to future direction of the health program.
Emergency Preparedness and Response
Ensure that the IRC Emergency Preparedness and Response Plans are prepared in consultation with MOHSW/UNHCR/UNICEF/WHO and other health partners. Where these exist, ensure that they are revised annually to conform to the needs of the refugees and the host population.
Together with the Senior Management Team (SMT), oversee the establishment and operationalization of the Emergency Response Teams (ERTs) and train the teams.
Monitor data from the camps on disease trends (IDSR, UNHCR HIS and MOHSW MTUHA) and take the necessary steps to prevent disease outbreaks in the target populations.
In the event of an outbreak, work with the SMT to ensure that the ERTs are deployed, medical supplies and drugs are available to manage the outbreaks.
Staff Development:
Participate in the development of staff development plans based on performance reviews in collaboration with the human resources department and contribute to the training of health staff (mentoring, as well as formal trainings).
Develop/organize training opportunities to build the capacity of the health staff and local partners in order to transfer skills. This includes staff training in program management areas such as reporting, budgeting, monitoring, evaluation, and supervision.
Provide technical support and participate in reviewing health program staff performance reviews
Develop and implement continuous staff capacity building plan to ensure quality gender-sensitive programming;
Ensure respect for IRC HR policies within the health staff team; Promote the IRC Way with all supervisees;
Provide timely and quality performance evaluations;
Identify and execute modalities for teamwork within the health team as well as with other program and operations teams.
Business development and Fundraising:
Proactively look for funding opportunities for Health programming in Tanzania.
Write timely and quality proposals and review donor reports in collaboration with Program Managers, other Technical Coordinators and the Health Technical Advisors.
Develop strategic partnerships with local and international organizations, where possible.
Coordination, representation and advocacy:
Represent IRC Tanzania in external Health related forums; actively develop and maintain effective working relationships with key stakeholders in Tanzania including donors, government actors, UN agencies (especially UNHCR), international and local NGOs, and other relevant actors; identify health related advocacy issues in consultation with the country management.
Others - Provide leadership and direction on integration of health activities with other sectors including, but not limited to livelihoods, community based rehabilitation, child and women protection; work with relevant stakeholders to conduct operational research and document and disseminate lessons learnt.
Required Qualifications, Experience & Competencies:
Medical Degree in Health or Public Health is recommended
Advanced degree or relevant experience an added value
Minimum 5 years' experience in primary health programs in resource poor settings with at least 3 years in project management position. Previous INGO experience in humanitarian or development contexts; previous emergency response, conflict/post-conflict experience preferred
Must be knowledgeable of ECHO, UNICEF, SIDA, WHO procedures and familiar with their approach and strategies.
Demonstrated skills in quantitative and qualitative research methodologies.
Experience and competency in proposal development, report writing and grant management.
Competent in Windows, MS office programs, email and database (HIS, EPI-Info etc) experience.
Strong communication, people management, organizational and analytical skills.
Fluency in English and Swahili, spoken and written- a must
Ability to work in complex emergency environment, multitask, manage pressure and flexibility
Training and competency in LQAS, SPSS, SQUEAC and SMART methodology for conducting surveys is an added advantage.
Good project Management skills, including financial planning and documentation;
Good interpersonal skills to work effectively with different stakeholders including different communities in the target areas, humanitarian actors, service providers, local and national authorities;
Previous experience working in Tanzania is an added advantage