Head of Health Economics and Financing (AfCDC) at the African Union (AU)

The African Union (AU) is a continental body consisting of the 55 member states that make up the countries of the African Continent. It was officially launched in 2002 as a successor to the Organization of African Unity (OAU, 1963-1999). We are an Integrated, Prosperous and Peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Head of Health Economics and Financing (AfCDC)

Requisition ID: 2156
Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Contract Type: Regular
Job Grade: P5
Reports to: Deputy Director General
Directorate / Department / Organ: Deputy Director General
Number of Direct Reports: 8
Number of Indirect Reports: 1

Purpose of Job

• The Head of Health Economics and Financing, Africa CDC shall direct and manage the daily operations of the Health Economics and Financing in order to achieve the strategic objectives of the Division and the Africa CDC’s overall goals

Main Functions

• Supervises staff and manages the work of the Division to ensure their effectiveness in addressing Africa CDC and Member State health economics and financing evidence, capacity and policy needs.
• Designs strategies and policies to address health economics and financing technical issues relating to the overall work of Africa CDC.
• Contributes to the development of the business continuity plan and ensures its implementation at division level.
• Ensures risk management and mitigation.
• Oversees the expansion and development of new and existing activities of the Division.
• Addresses challenges relating to current practices in related field or relevant area.
• Engages stakeholders within Members States and RECs in designing and implementing health economics and financing strategies to support decision-making at Member State and regional levels.
• Represents the organisation and explains its position at conferences.
• Mobilises funds from donors and allocates them towards the implementation of strategies and activities of the Division.
• Oversees the preparation of periodic financial and budget execution reports and monitors budget execution at division level.

Specific Responsibilities

• Lead the implementation of the Division’s strategy and priority areas of work in alignment with the overall organizational strategy and health economics and financing needs of Member States.
• Lead and coordinate efforts to support evidence-informed policies by Africa CDC and Member States through evidence generation tailored to the health economics needs of Africa CDC and Member States.
• Initiate, lead and coordinate relevant activities to establish and promote health economics capacity at all units of Africa CDC and Member States.
• Initiate, lead and facilitate the use of health economics tools and methods to deliver technical analyses that support priority setting at Africa CDC and Member States.
• Coordinate delivery of technical assistance to Member States in leveraging health economics evidence for prioritization decisions.  
• Lead and coordinate engagements with stakeholders (such as academic and research institutions and professional networks) to strengthen capacity for health economics in Member States and across regional levels.
• Lead and facilitate the identification of health economics needs of Member States and provision of technical assistance for institutionalization of priority setting in Member States.
• Lead the development of appropriate materials to promote evidence use in policies by Africa CDC and Member States.
• Identify synergies with other units within the African Union with a focus on health economics and financing and provide technical support where needed.
• Oversee engagement with partners to mobilize resources to support implementation of strategic roadmap of the Division.
• Lead and coordinate dissemination of outputs from technical analyses through scientific and policy avenues.
• Performs other related duties as assigned by the supervisor.

Academic Requirements and Relevant Experience

• Master’s degree in Health Economics, Health Financing, Public Health, Public Policy, or other closely related fields, with twelve (12) years of work experience of which a minimum of seven (7) and five (5) years of managerial and supervisory exposure.
• A doctoral degree in the relevant area would be an advantage.
• Experience working at national or international public health institution is required.
• Experience in engaging stakeholders and influencing policies, brokering informed consensus, and managing complex bargains among institutions or stakeholders with divergent interests.
• Experience in conceptualizing and conducting health economics research, evidenced by policy-relevant publications in health economics and financing.
• Experience in mobilizing resources to support defined evidence generation, capacity strengthening and policy activities

Required Skills:

• Managerial skills, political tactfulness and supervisory skills to achieve documented objectives.
• Ability to initiate and promote collaborative approaches between geographically and culturally disparate partners.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and working relations both internally and externally.
• Ability to identify key strategic opportunities and risks.
• Ability to effectively lead, supervise, mentor, develop and evaluate staff.
• Proficiency in one of the AU working languages (Arabic, English, French, Kiswahili, Portuguese and Spanish); fluency in another AU language is an added advantage.

Leadership Competencies:

• Strategic Perspective
• Developing Others ....
• Change Management....
• Managing Risk..

Core Competencies:

• Building Relationships ....
• Communicating with impact ....
• Foster Accountability Culture
• Learning Orientation.

Functional Competencies:

• Conceptual Thinking
• Job Knowledge and information sharing
• Fosters Innovation
• Drive for Results.

Tenure of Appointment

• The Appointment will be made on a fixed term contract for a period of one (1) year, of which the first three (3) months will be considered as a probationary period.
• Thereafter, the contract may be renewed for a similar period subject to funding availability, satisfactory performance and agreed deliverables.

Remuneration
The salary attached to the position is an annual lump-sum of USD126,440.93  (P5 Step 5) inclusive of all allowances for internationally recruited staff, and US$ 108,357.41 inclusive of all allowances for locally recruited staff of the African Union Commission.

Application Closing Date
15th March, 2024 (11h59 p.m. EAT).