BHCPF Advocacy and Accountability Officer (Yobe) at Options Consultancy Services Limited

Options Consultancy Services Limited was established in 1992 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marie Stopes International. We are a consultancy organisation providing technical and management expertise in the health and social sectors to governments and international development partners to transform the health of women and children.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: BHCPF Advocacy and Accountability Officer

Reference: LAFIYA
Location: Yobe
Contract type: Full time, fixed term contract

Details

• Options Consultancy seeks an Advocacy and Accountability Officer to lead on activities within the Lafiya Yobe state team in support of Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) utilisation and implementation.
• This will involve providing support and guidance at the state and at LGA levels.

Responsibilities
The summary purpose and objective of this role is to:

• Provide strategic guidance to Ward Development Committees on their role in facilitating BHCPF implementation and accountability, including sensitising them on health entitlements relating to BHCPF.
• Facilitate capacity building of Ward Development Committees on BHCPF, their roles and responsibilities in facilitating implementation, tracking and reporting
• Provide guidance to the state led accountability mechanisms for effective and efficient performance as an accountability platform on BHCPF.
• Support identification of key advocacy and accountability priorities to strengthen accountability for BHCPF implementation at State, LGA and community level.

Main duties
Provide coordination and guidance on advocacy and accountability initiatives on BHCPF:

• Facilitate the implementation of prioritised activities around advocacy and accountability for BHCPF as agreed with stakeholders and in line with the Lafiya implementation strategy and year one workplan
• In collaboration with the communication advisor, facilitate effective communication of health entitlements and rights to the community relating to BHCPF.

Support the design and implementation of communication strategies to increase awareness of health entitlements at the community level to increase demand for a basic package of health services:

• In collaboration with SMOH, SPHCDA, SHIA and LGAs, support the design and implementation of strategies to sensitise citizens on their health entitlements relating to BHCPF

Provide technical support to the WDC capacity building advisors to ensure clear and consistent messaging relating to BHCPF implementation:

• Develop training resources on the role of WDCs in BHCPF implementation to be rolled out by WDC capacity building advisors
• Support the development of communication resources to be used by WDCs to support community sensitisation on health entitlements in line with the health entitlement communications strategy

Drawing on the findings of the health investment PEA, support SLAMs and civil society coalitions to design and implement effective advocacy strategies in support of BHCPF implementation at the state level:

• Support CSOs and SLAMs to track progress and hold the state government accountable for BHCPF implementation

Qualifications

• An MSc or relevant qualification or related comparable experience in Health Economics, Public Health, Health Financing, Social Sciences or in a relevant field.  (Essential)

Experience:

• At least 5 years of relevant experience of working on health systems strengthening/health care financing, in Nigeria including practical/demonstrable experience in advocacy and accountability interventions/strategies. (Essential)
• Experience and understanding of the PHC system, and the BHCPF including workshop facilitation, data collection, analysis, and report writing (Essential)
• Previous working experience with DFID and/or other international agencies. (Essential)
• Experience of developing strong relationships with government officials within health and finance authorities at national, State and LGA level and with civil society organisations in Nigeria (Essential)
• Experience of developing the capacity of counterparts/institutions including government officials, community structures and civil society organisations (Essential)

To succeed in this role, you will have a:

• Technical background in health financing, community health systems and accountability of health results
• Strong understanding of the Nigerian health system
• Good connections with state and non-state actors in the health sector in the state
• Experience of working with the media to communicate advocacy messages.
• Proven skills in capacity building and analysing data and packaging it for targeted advocacy

Skills and attributes:

• Excellent interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills in English required, working knowledge of Hausa and other local languages preferred (Essential)
• Technical specialism in advocacy and accountability or other related area (Essential)
• Knowledge about the Nigerian health system at the local, state and federal level (Essential)
• Ability to design training materials for a diverse range of audiences (Essential)
• Proven ability to network and manage relationships with clients, consultants and technical resource persons (Essential)
• Self-starter as well as good team-worker (Essential)
• Demonstrated ability to contribute to technical delivery of programmes. (Essential)
• Demonstrated interpersonal skills that enables effective team building and problem solving. (Essential)
• Demonstrated ability to contribute to technical reporting and strategic development (Desirable)

Other Requirements:

• Commitment to Equal Opportunities (Essential)
• First-hand experience of FCDO policies and programming. (Desirable)
• Right to live and work in Nigeria (Essential)

Salary
Commensurate with experience

Application Closing Date
16th October, 2020.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Click Here for more information (PDF)

Note

• Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for interview.
• Interviews will be held on a rolling basis as applications are received
• Please note that this role will be subject to full pre-employment background checks including criminal record check, identification check, employment references and right to work verification (where appropriate).
• Options is an equal opportunities employer
• Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and post holders to share this commitment.
• We seek people who are pro-choice, energetic and enthusiastic about Options’ vision