Deputy Project Director – Health Financing

Results for Development (R4D) is a leading non-profit global development partner. We collaborate with change agents around the world — government officials, civil society leaders and social innovators — to create strong systems that support healthy, educated people. We help our partners move from knowing their goal to knowing how to reach it. We combine global expertise in health, education and nutrition with analytic rigor, practical support for decision-making and implementation and access to peer problem-solving networks. Together with our partners, we build self-sustaining systems that serve everyone and deliver lasting results. Then we share what we learn so others can achieve results for development, too.

We have a unique and vibrant culture at R4D. Diversity, equity and inclusion are at the heart of our work environment and help advance our mission. Diversity—of ideas, identities, perspectives and backgrounds—is vital to who we are and what we do. We seek people who embrace these values and will help reinforce them. Our work culture is collaborative, creative and entrepreneurial. We operate based on trust and respect. Teams across the organization frequently collaborate on programmatic work and support each other in continuously building a better R4D.

Opportunity:

Results for Development (R4D) seeks a health financing expert to serve as the Deputy Project Director for Health Financing on the upcoming 5-year USAID-funded PROPEL Health program. PROPEL Round 1 will focus on policy, advocacy, health financing and governance activities and technical assistance, and transition initiatives, for family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH), and FP/RH integration with maternal health, HIV/AIDs and other health areas. Gender, youth, FP/RH integration across health, health equity, capacity development, private sector engagement, and transition from development assistance towards self-reliance are all central to this program. The Deputy Project Director for Health Financing will provide overall strategic direction and technical leadership in health financing across all project activities. They will work collaboratively with USAID technical teams and relevant global, regional, and country actors to advance and inform health financing policy dialogue and facilitate the uptake of state-of-the-art health financing approaches within country programs.

The qualified individual will serve as a member of the PROPEL senior management team providing health financing leadership and management acumen and bringing an appropriate balance of technical, program management, and interpersonal skills and experience.

Specific responsibilities may include the following:

· Provide technical expertise on a wide range of health financing topics, such as

o Health financing strategy development and implementation

o Resource mobilization approaches, including use of analytics such as fiscal space analysis and tax policy assessments, with a focus on funding for FP/RH

o Methods for prioritizing resource allocation and designing benefit packages, including costing, cost-effectiveness analysis, and health technology assessments

o Approaches to improve strategic health purchasing, including analyses of purchasing incentives and institutional roles, and technical assistance on benefits specification, contracting, provider payment arrangements, and monitoring

o Effective stewardship of mixed health systems, including contracting private sector providers

o Approaches to increase sustainable private investment for health through improved policy and regulation, market development, and innovative approaches to foster scalability

o Integration of FP/RH, MCH and HIV/AIDS services into health financing systems, benefit packages, and provider payment arrangements

o Strengthening public financial management, including local capacity for and regulations around budget development, budget execution, and financial monitoring

o Tracking of health expenditures using globally accepted methodologies, such as the System of Health Accounts 2011, National AIDS Spending Assessments, and/or Public Expenditure Reviews; and strengthening country capacity to produce and use health expenditure data.

· Provide coaching and mentoring to local institutions and stakeholders in priority countries to strengthen health financing capacity and develop and implement health financing policy changes.

· Facilitate joint learning during implementation of health financing technical assistance, research, and production of reports and policy briefs. Support the development and adaptation of key findings for policy action.

· Provide thought leadership and technical support to the PROPEL technical partners consortium on health financing topics.

· Lead scoping discussions with the USAID Missions on specific requests for health financing technical assistance; organize and manage teams of consortium staff, consultants, and local partners as needed to respond to requests for assistance.

· Provide technical quality assurance for health financing analytic products published by project staff and consultants.

Qualifications

• Consideration for this role will be given to health policy and/or international development professionals with 1) experience and expertise in health financing; 2) experience providing project management and technical assistance to USAID- or other donor-funded initiatives; and 3) the ability to meet rigorous timelines, track results, effectively manage staff and multi-stakeholder relationships, and support decision-making at the national and sub-national level to create positive change.

Successful candidates must have the following required qualifications:

• At least ten (10) years’ experience working internationally on health financing or health financing-related topics
• Relevant graduate degree in economics, health economics, international development, public health, or other related field
• Proven senior expertise in developing and implementing effective partnerships with government entities, partners, and donors
• Knowledge and proven experience in health financing technical leadership, strategy development, and staff oversight
• Demonstrated strong leadership, management, coordination, teamwork and planning skills, with proven ability to liaise effectively with and collaborate with diverse stakeholders, including global, regional, national, local, public and private partners
• Strong interpersonal and capacity building skills including training, mentoring and coaching skills
• Full professional fluency in English, including excellent written and verbal communication skills, report writing and presentation skills. Additional language abilities also valuable.

Additional desired attributes include:

• Demonstrated leadership showing strategic thinking in designing and executing projects, including steering work planning, managing and mentoring junior colleagues, and overseeing compliant and cost-effective use of resources to deliver on objectives
• Ability to liaise confidently and effectively with donor agencies, host-country counterparts and government officials, and representatives from other key stakeholders such as NGOs
• Strong skills in process facilitation and stakeholder management across diverse groups, including government and development partners
• Ability to effectively lead and manage diverse teams, including remote management through virtual means
• Demonstrated experience designing and facilitating workshops, meetings, and trainings
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex technical analysis for policy and lay audiences
• Ability to set priorities and handle multiple competing time and resource demands; highly organized

Other information:

• Please note: This position is contingent upon project award and funding.
• Application deadline: April 1, 2022.
• Preferred location in the Washington, DC area, but other locations may be considered.
• Candidate must be willing to submit a signed letter of intent for the consortium’s Technical Application to USAID, stating that they are available within one month of project start-up (expected June 1, 2022) and will participate for at least two (2) years post-award. Candidate must also provide references to be included in the consortium’s technical application.