Senior Quality Improvement Advisor Sustaining Technical and Analytic Resources (STAR)

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FELLOWSHIP TITLE: Senior Quality Improvement Advisor
HOST ORGANIZATION: Health Office, South Africa, United States Agency for International Development
LOCATION: Pretoria, South Africa
POSITION LEVEL: Senior Technical Advisor
STAR-P2-096

TRAVEL: 35% estimated travel

STAR PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Sustaining Technical and Analytic Resources (STAR) is a project of the Public Health Institute (PHI) supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Global Health (GH) Bureau. Its purpose is twofold: (1) Through individual fellowships, STAR will help strengthen the capacity of diverse American and low-and-middle-income country (LMIC) health professionals at all levels to make innovative contributions to global health (GH); and (2) STAR will create ground-breaking opportunities for both US and LMIC GH academic institutions and other groups, including professional associations, to create systems for open-access knowledge sharing, resulting in effective partnerships. STAR’s individual and institutional participants are contributing to the development of self-sustaining systems and tools that will produce global citizens with the full spectrum of relevant health competencies. STAR is managed by the Public Health Institute and implemented in partnership with Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH).

ABOUT THE FELLOWSHIP

The STAR Fellowship is a two-year global health and learning opportunity with:

• Individualized, tailored support to enhance the fellow’s achievement personal and professional goals
• Personalized learning plans and access to learning resources (courses, conferences, mentoring) based on fellow’s learning style and preferences.
• Access to broad professional networks to enhance peer learning and knowledge sharing.

FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

Background:

The USAID/South Africa (SA) Health Office (HO) manages one of the largest President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) programs in the world. The Health and HIV/AIDS portfolio covers a broad range of health topics, including HIV Treatment, Care, Voluntary Counseling and Testing, Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT), Tuberculosis/HIV, HIV Prevention, and Orphans and Vulnerable Children programs. An estimated 80% of the USAID/South Africa portfolio is implemented through local organizations. These partners are tasked with reaching ambitious targets so that South Africa can reach HIV epidemic control by 2020. This requires USAID and its implementing partners to advocate for strong national health policies, quickly adapt to changing data trends, and adopt reflexive technical and organizational reforms.

Introduction:

The Senior Quality Improvement Advisor (Senior Advisor) will provide technical leadership to drive USAID/South Africa’s Quality Improvement Agenda. This will require significant stakeholder engagement and project management, including an emphasis on delivering technical assistance to build the capacity of individuals, local organizations and the Government of South Africa. The Senior Advisor, working with the Senior HIV Treatment Advisor, will provide leadership and serve as the subject matter expert for USAID/South Africa’s HIV clinical care and treatment portfolio’s Quality Assurance/Quality Improvement agenda. The individual will support the Care and Treatment Team with setting strategic technical and programmatic direction for the HIV care and treatment portfolio, including Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), Prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT), pediatric ART, TB/HIV care and treatment, and clinical lab services. The Senior Advisor interacts with the USAID team as well as technical representatives of other USG agencies, Government of South Africa (GoSA) counterparts, Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC), international donors, and other key development partners.

Reporting structure:

The Senior Advisor will be based in Southern Africa Health Office. They will work closely with the Care and Treatment Team and receive technical guidance from the Care and Treatment Team Lead in the Health Office at USAID/South Africa, who will serve as their onsite manager.

Essential Duties and Outcomes:

Strengthen project management and oversight of the implementation of HIV/AIDS programs:

• Provide technical leadership to HIV care and treatment activities.
• Provide technical leadership in the utilization of routine (weekly, monthly, and quarterly) monitoring data for quality improvement activities.
• Provide technical guidance to care and treatment partners through regular service and data quality assessments, site visits, review of program reports, and frequent interaction with partners and stakeholders.
• Regularly review and disseminate research, evidence, and best practices that directly contribute to improved quality of the HIV response in South Africa.

Improve quality of USAID/Southern Africa’s HIV/AIDS care and treatment programs:

• Provide technical expertise to USAID on the implementation of high-quality clinical care services and programs for PMTCT, pediatric and adult ART, TB/HIV, and laboratory services within health facilities.
• Advise care and treatment partners in the development of QI plans that utilize routine program data for implementation decisions that yield improved results.
• Lead to the development of recommendations for implementing partners and Ministry of Health counterparts to improve quality within HIV care and treatment at home, community, and facility levels.
• Provide technical advice to the host country government and USAID implementing partners on issues within the continuum of clinical and support services, particularly those addressing quality of HIV treatment.
• Conduct data and trend analysis to provide technical recommendations that improve the performance of HIV care and treatment programs at the national, district, and site levels.
• Contribute to timely and accurate documents for Mission reporting, administration and planning needs, including the Country Operational Plan (COP), Congressional Budget Justifications, Technical Notifications, and Semi-Annual and Annual Progress Reports and Portfolio Implementation Reviews.

Improve leadership and contributions to the strategic direction in the interagency PEPFAR space:

• Provide technical leadership on care and treatment quality-related issues, including participating in the PEPFAR care and treatment Technical Working Group (TWG) to improve data use for decision making in HIV programming.
• Develop collaborative relationships with a wide range of partners and stakeholders (the Ministry of Health, the National AIDS Commission, UN Agencies, other donors, USG interagency team, Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC), NGOs and FBOs) dealing with HIV care and treatment and quality improvement. A particular emphasis will be to develop relationships with provincial and district health officials.
• Frequently engage with various stakeholders, delivering technical assistance to build the capacity of individuals, local organizations, and the Government of South Africa to use real-time program monitoring data for improved management of HIV programs.

Anticipated learning outcomes: * Required 10% time

• Enhanced technical expertise in setting strategic technical and programmatic direction for HIV care and treatment portfolios, including for Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), Prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT), pediatric ART, TB/HIV care and treatment, and clinical lab services.
• Increased project management experience and expertise in developing, monitoring, and analyzing budgets and pipelines of HIV care and treatment programs.
• Enhanced leadership skills and ability to provide mentoring, including technical and leadership training, to other team members.
• Enhanced knowledge of the South African HIV/AIDS context, including of the South African public sector health system and its affiliated agencies, donors, and related private sector program.
• Enhanced knowledge of PEPFAR and USAID reporting requirements and planning processes, including the Country Operational Plan (COP), Congressional Budget Justifications, Technical Notifications, and Semi-Annual and Annual Progress Reports and Portfolio Implementation Reviews.

FELLOWSHIP REQUIREMENTS

Required:

• Minimum 13 years of relevant technical experience with master’s degree in public health, international development, clinical medicine, social science or a closely related.
• Demonstrated experience in technical oversight, development, implementation, and evaluation of HIV/AIDS programs that involve coordination between international agencies, donors, and implementing partners
• Demonstrated experience in establishing and maintaining relationships and contacts with counterparts in host governments, Ministry of Health (MOH), UN Agencies, other bilateral donor partners, and NGO/local partners working in HIV treatment and care.
• Knowledge of HIV/AIDS clinical care and treatment program design, implementation, and evaluation, particularly in resource-limited environments.
• Knowledge of HIV/AIDS epidemiology, especially of the South African HIV/AIDS context, and current strategies for care and treatment.
• Excellent management, facilitation, coordination, and interpersonal skills.
• Strong verbal skills and ability to communicate and present technical information clearly to both technical and non-technical colleagues through precise reports and briefings
• The ability to obtain, analyze, synthesize, and disseminate data, and present findings in both oral and written form.
• Level IV (fluent) English (written and verbal) is required.
• Management skills to develop, implement, and oversee HIV programs, including internal financial and administrative management and interaction with partners.
• Must have the ability to work effectively in a team environment, and proactively work to achieve consensus on policy, project, and administrative matters and meet deadlines.
• Strong computer skills (including Excel, PowerPoint, and Word).

Additional skills (preferred)

• Thorough knowledge of U.S. Government legislation related to development assistance and USAID programming policies, regulations procedures and documentation.
• General knowledge of South African public sector health system and its affiliated agencies, donors, and related private sector programs.
• Experience working with PEPFAR and U.S. Government operations, rules, regulations, procedures, policies, and programs.

TO APPLY:

All applicants are required to apply for this position through STAR’s online recruitment system at https://www.ghstar.org/, which allows you to store your CV/resume and separate cover letter describing your qualifications and experience, interest and familiarity with issues relating to this position, and how this position relates to your career goals is required for each application. All online applications must be submitted by 17 May, 2020 by 5:00 pm Eastern time.

Deadline May 18, 2020

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