Senior Reproductive Health Manager at the International Rescue Committee (IRC)

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Senior Reproductive Health Manager

Requisition ID: req9676
Location: Maiduguri, Borno, Nigeria
Sector: Health
Employment Category: Fixed Term
Employment Type: Full-Time
Open to Expatriates: No

Background

• The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.
• Since October 2012, the IRC has been responding to humanitarian needs of Nigerians. The IRC initially intervened in response to floods that affected over 7 million people across the country, destroying harvest and damaging homes. The IRC is currently implementing programs in Health, Protection, WASH, Nutrition, Food Security, and Women’s Protection and Empowerment (WPE) in Adamawa and Borno States in North-Eastern Nigeria.
• The IRC is dedicated to making women and adolescent girls healthier from the earliest phase of acute crises (a target group most vulnerable during crisis) and implements evidence-based reproductive health interventions in line with the SPHERE-standard Minimum Initial Service Package for Reproductive Health in Crises (MISP). The goal is to ensure that the IRC’s health responses in emergencies include the core package of Reproductive Health (RH) services in its interventions.
• The IRC is in the process of scaling up and integrating Reproductive Health program into all health service delivery points including health outreach sites in all supported LGAs in Magumeri, Konduga, MMC/Jere, Gwoza, Askira Uba and Monguno in Borno state and in Damaturu, Gujiba and Gulani in Yobe state.  The focus of this program is to provide integrated quality comprehensive health services including RH services and while maintaining CWC where RH is integrated with WPE services to conflict-affected women and girls in a timely manner.

Scope of work

• The Senior Reproductive Health Manager is the focal point for both the IRC’s emergency and Non-emergency reproductive Health care services and in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States.
• The Senior RH Senior Manager ensures that the IRC’s RH interventions are guided by the Nigeria Country Program SAP Implementation Plan.
• He/she reports to the Health Coordinator and works closely with other sectors.

Key Roles and responsibilities
Program management:

• Oversee the implementation of quality RH program activities at all IRC supported health facilities in the targeted areas
• Provide leadership, training, and guidance to staff and local partners to ensure programming meets best practice standards and prioritizes the security of beneficiaries and staff;
• Design and lead assessments to ensure the voices of women and girls inform RH program design
• Support proper RH data collection and recording in the IRC supported RH units and women centers, support the compilation of data and generation of quality RH reports on a regular and timely manner;
• Develop protocols on information management in insecure environments
• Support the RH teams to develop awareness raising messages to promote uptake of emergency RH response services in a timely manner
• Promote coordination with the WPE team and ensure RH is incorporated into all the IRC supported facilities
• Prepare the RH mobile team members to respond quickly to emerging crises and newly accessible areas.
• Promote a culture of learning whereby lessons-learned and good practices are documented and shared for institutional memory.

Business development and grant management:

• Lead the development of proposals as needed;
• Review monthly BvAs and submit monthly BvA corrections;
• Prepare and keep updated budget spent out plans in order to maintain program expenditure within budget;
• Participate in Grants Opening, Mid-Term and Closing meetings;
• Prepare internal and external reports within agreed deadlines using IRC and donor formats, as required;
• Assure appropriate and timely spending of grants to achieve program goals, grant reporting contributions, use and distribution of supplies and resources.

Staff management:

• Recruit program staff to positions as per the program demand;
• Maintain updated job descriptions, conduct interviews, orient new staff to the IRC and the program;
• Undertake RH capacity-development activities/training for RH and clinical health staff.  

Coordination and representation:

• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with all stakeholders - including community leaders, NGOs, UN agencies, community based organizations and other IRC sectors to enhance cooperation and coordination;
• Ensure that information from coordination meetings is shared internally and with other sectors, as appropriate;
• Represent the IRC in coordination mechanisms and meetings with other agencies, including the Ministry of Health, WHO, UNFPA and other UN agencies, non-governmental organizations, or donors.

Reporting, monitoring and evaluation:

• Lead the development and oversee implementation of strong monitoring and evaluation systems. Lead the preparation of reports to the Supervisor and donors;
• Provide trend analysis on areas where there is programming in order to improve services and advocacy for Target group/women and girls

Working Relationships:

• Position Reports to:  Health Coordinator
• Position directly supervises:  Roving Reproductive Health  Managers, and work closely with Sr. Health Managers
• Indirect Reporting: SPC
• Other Internal and/or external contacts: describe the nature of departments or groups the position influences or requires support from to accomplish objectives.
• Internal: All other IRC sectors offering integrated services at all intervention areas.
• External:  SPHCDA, UNFPA, WHO, HMB, Federal Ministry of Health, other INGOs.

Qualifications

• Health professional (MD, RN, PA or CO) with strong public health background, MPH preferred;
• 3 years RH program management experience, preferably in insecure locations,
• Experience in technically supervising reproductive health staff in a complex setting;
• Thorough understanding of gender-based violence response protocols and service provision;
• Ability to validate and interpret health data;
• Demonstrated ability to support and build staff capacity;
• Ability to work independently and as a collaborative team member;
• Ability to live and work under pressure in an unstable security environment.
• Knowledge and experience of participatory planning methods
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Experience in grant management and proposal writing is preferred.
• Excellent computer skills: MS Word, Excel, Power point, use e-mail and internet.
• Fluency in English

Additional qualities:

• Ability to multitask, ability to handle pressure well, ability to improvise, flexibility.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.