Consultant - Technical Assistance at the Management Sciences for Health (MSH) - 2 Openings

The Management Sciences for Health (MSH), a global health nonprofit organization, uses proven approaches developed over 40 years to help leaders, health managers, and communities in developing nations build stronger health systems for greater health impact. We work to save lives by closing the gap between knowledge and action in public health.

We are recruiting to fill the position of:

Job Title: Consultant - Technical Assistance for the development of the 2022 Malaria Annual Operational Plans (AOP)

Ref No: R1320
Locations: Delta & Adamawa
Job Type: Part-time

Overview

• Management Sciences for Health (MSH), an international non-governmental organization with head office in the United States of America, is a sub-recipient to Catholic Relief Services (CRS) on the Global Fund Malaria Grant NFM3 (2021-2023) in Nigeria to implement and to support malaria control activities in 11 states.
• The scope of the grant includes: vector control, case management, monitoring and evaluation, procurement and supply chain management, and health systems strengthening.
• As part of the health systems strengthening component of the grant, MSH will be supporting the development of the 2022 Malaria Annual Operational Plans (AOP) in two states; Adamawa and Delta.

Rationale

• In order to ensure efficient program outcomes, AOP remains an essential planning tool for budgeting and tracking malaria activities in the states.
• A standard AOP incorporates periodic and systematic evaluation of program interventions to ensure progress towards the achievement of set targets.
• This helps to reduce wastages associated with poor or inadequate planning and would facilitate the creation of enabling environment to promote sustainability and ownership as the state is empowered to carry on with program interventions with minimal partners’ support after the end of the project.

Purpose of Assignment

• The purpose of the assignment is to provide Technical Assistance (TA) to the State Malaria Elimination Program (SMEP) in the State Ministry of Health (SMOH) and other relevant ministries and agencies such as the ministries of local government and chieftaincy affairs, Hospital Management Boards, etc. and partners working in malaria program in the state to strengthen mechanisms for evidence-based planning and development of the 2022 AOP for the two states (Adamawa and Delta).

Specific Tasks for Consultants

• The consultants will lead the development of the 2022 AOP for Malaria activities in assigned state(s). S/he will familiarize her/himself with the previous state AOP and other relevant documents to be made available by the SMEP and SMoH DPRS. S/he will work with the state Malaria Technical Working Group
• (TWG) comprising of stakeholders drawn from the SMEP, SMoH, and other relevant Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), as well as partners and implementing agencies to undertake various aspects of the technical support.

Deliverables / Outputs

• A draft copy of the costed 2022 AOP
• A report on the technical support process using an acceptable reporting template, to be provided by MSH, submitted on time to the SMoH.

Timing of Consultancy

• The consultancy is for seven days including process report writing, four days development workshop in October 2021 for Adamawa and Delta States: one-day planning meeting and one-day validation meeting.
• The final report is expected 1 week after the completion of the AOP development workshop.

Description of Activities

• State briefing and preparatory meeting - 1 day
• Implementation review of most recent AOP, situation analysis, and updating of the state profile - 1 day
• Priority setting, targets, and objectives - 1 day
• Activity generation and costing - 1 day
• Preparation of final draft of the AOP - 1 day
• State debrief and exit meeting - 1 day
• Consultant’s clean up and draft report writing for the costed 2022 AOP - 1 day

Criteria for Selection of Consultants
The selection of the consultants will be in accordance with MSH’s procedures and policies as stated in the eligibility criteria/instructions below:

Consultant Required:

• A team of two consultants will be assigned the responsibilities per state (Adamawa and Delta). One health systems expert and one finance/costing management Consultant.
• Please indicate your state of choice on your CV
• The health systems expert will be the team leader at the assigned state. MSH field team will ensure logistic support for the entire process and ensure that the process is concluded appropriately.

The Consultants Should:

• Be available to undertake the assignment in the 1st week of October 2021 when the AOP would be developed. (Subject to date change)
• Provide evidence of previous experience in supporting processes of building individual & team capabilities, institutional and systems strengthening
• Be a team player with strong participatory, facilitative, and organizational skills
• Be able to combine excellent analytical and succinct technical report writing skills
• Have previous experience of working in/with Federal, State, LGA and health facility levels and sufficient knowledge of the structure and organizational set up of Nigeria’s health system (public, private, for-profit, not-for-profit) and familiarity with the issues around linkages between the tiers
• Be familiar with the dynamics and power relations among key players, ‘gatekeepers’ and ‘spoilers’ in the health sector including parastatals and related agencies
• Be computer literate; own a laptop with compatibility features (MS Word, USB, antivirus, etc.) and associated tools of the trade.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.