Short term Community Health and RH Manager (Maternity Cover)-6 months

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**.**

The International Rescue Committee has been working in Somalia since 2006, providing essential services to conflict and disaster-affected communities. The IRC has been operational in Central Somalia (Galmudug, Puntland and Southwest regions) and Banadir implementing interventions in the areas of livelihood, WASH, Governance, and peacebuilding, GBV, Nutrition, education and health, reaching out to more than 200,000 conflicts and drought affected people.

EQUAL

The IRC is the prime organization on Ensuring Quality Access and Learning (EQUAL) for Mothers and Newborns in Conflict-Affected Contexts Consortium, a research consortium funded through FCDO’s ‘Filling the Gaps in Evidence: Building Stronger And More Resilient Health Systems Research Programme Consortia (RPC)’ mechanism. The IRC-led RPC aims to produce high-quality evidence that improves the health of the poorest and most vulnerable people in developing countries. The IRC is partnering with the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria, Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health, Somali Research and Development Institute, and Université Catholique de Bukavu (DRC). The objective of this project is to produce rigorous, operationally relevant research and evidence to improve maternal and neonatal health in low-income, conflict-affected contexts. This project will produce evidence that is accessible to decision-makers influencing strategic investment, policy, and programming to improve MNH, at the national and global levels.

SCOPE OF WORK:

The Community health and RH Manager will play a central role in leading the community-based maternal and neonatal care (CBMNC) project implementation. She will also be the focal point for running quality community-based maternal and newborn health care services to mothers in Dhusamreeb.

The community-based maternal and newborn care program consists of multiple phases:

1. Formative phase: Using existing global evidence and innovative and localized mechanisms such as mathematical modeling, user-centered design, and behavioral insights, a preliminary model of a community-based program will be developed
2. Stakeholder inputs phase: The preliminary model will be discussed with key technical experts at national and global levels to arrive at a model that will be piloted.

Pilot/implementation phase: The program will be implemented, on which research, monitoring, and evaluation will be conducted.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Program design and implementation (50%)

• The Manager will work closely with the IRC HQ design and behavioral insights teams to support the execution of on-ground research, insight synthesis, and idea-generation work necessary for behavioral mapping and user-centered design processes to contribute to the development of a client- and provider-centered CBMNC service package.

• Oversee program staff(s) and will be responsible for the CBMNC program rollout.

• Take leadership role in establishing a monitoring, evaluation, and learning strategy that links with the research objectives.

• Support the implementation of quality community health and maternal and neonatal care programs in Dhusamreeb while liaising with the other health managers and program officers and identifying challenges that may hinder proper implementation.

• Lead the project staff capacity development by identifying training needs via developing robust training needs assessments, identifying competent consultants for the proposed training, and overseeing the training implementation and follow-up.

• Work with the Senior Community Engagement Manager to develop appropriate BCC strategies relevant to the program activities, and ensure comprehensive job aids and tools availability.

• Ensure that activities are implemented according to IRC and the government’s technical guidance.

• Ensure timely completion of activities against workplan deadlines.

• Ensure strong coordination with partners and government stakeholders in Dhusamreeb and Mogadishu.

• Represent the CBMNC project as required at relevant technical working groups, e.g., health clusters, technical working groups, etc.

• Ensure the effective use of the project resources and the compliance of the financial systems and controls with government and IRC standards.

• Monitor evolving needs of the target communities, conduct assessments on community health needs in new project areas, and adjust the programmatic priorities as necessary in collaboration with the Senior management teams.

Research implementation and support (20%)

• The Manager will support the research and evaluation component of the project as a core member of the research team, led by IRC HQ’s EQUAL staff and local partners. Responsibilities will include:
  • contribution to research protocol development
  • support in preparing and submitting IRB applications in South Sudan and to IRC
  • review of data collection methods and forms
  • The Manager will be responsible for executing and overseeing the process documentation component of the study.
  • The Manager will also conduct quality control activities of research executed by other members of the research team.

Research uptake (15%)

• In consultation with the EQUAL research uptake advisor and the research team, The Manager will:
  • produce relevant materials (e.g. briefs, presentations, etc.) for relevant stakeholders of the project
  • represent the IRC in key national-level meetings
  • organize stakeholder consultations and ongoing engagement, as needed/agreed upon within the research uptake strategy
  • Support and potentially lead national and sub-national dissemination activities

Administrative tasks (15%)

• The Manager will be responsible for developing the project budget in consultation with the project PI and tracking budget spending. The funding source for this activity does not have any reporting requirements, so the responsibilities will mainly be for internal accountability.
• Any other needs as tasked by their manager.

REQUIREMENTS:

• Education: Public health, medical doctor, development studies, or statistics (Master’s/post-graduate degree in Public Health preferred)
• A minimum of 3 years of professional experience in public/community health, planning, and management with a focus on community engagement is required.
• Demonstrated experience in overseeing health research or programs, with a strong preference for those who have experience in maternal, newborn, and child health.
• Ability to establish strong working relationships with a range of stakeholders, including local authorities, communities, various government ministries, media, and donors.
• Ability to travel frequently and when needed for up to 2 weeks at a time to the Galgaduud region.
• Ability to communicate effectively via email, video calls, and Whatsapp through computers, tablets, and phones.
• Fluent in written and spoken English required

Preferred Experiences & Competencies

• Research data collection experience with experience collecting qualitative data through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions.
• Experience conducting training for data collectors
• Experience in data collection entry, including quality checks for both quantitative and qualitative data
• Experience of working in networks and building strong working relationships with a range of stakeholders
• Must be a strong team player and result-oriented with ability to work independently with minimal supervision
• Ability to facilitate meetings and workshops. Fluency in local languages

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