State Technical Malaria Lead

Project Overview

PMI-S is a five-year PMI/USAID flagship malaria project implemented through a consortium led by MSH. The project is supporting the Government of Nigeria through its agencies at the federal, state, LGA and community levels to reduce under-five and maternal mortality by delivering quality services for management of malaria, its complications, and prevention. PMI-S project focuses on strengthening the capacity of the National Malaria Elimination Program (NMEP) and State Malaria Elimination Programs (SMEPs) for the implementation of the National Malaria Strategic Plan 2014-2020

Main Purpose of Job

The State Technical Malaria Lead will be responsible for supporting the State Coordinator with technical leadership of the program by providing malaria technical expertise in the conceptualization and implementation of state systems and processes to support effective and efficient delivery of malaria services. S/he will serve as a resource for up-to-date technical information on malaria control and elimination to USAID PMI and key stakeholders including the State Malaria Elimination Program. The position will oversee malaria services quality assurance initiatives at the state level including improvements to diagnosis through RDTs and microscopy, and accurate treatment of both severe and uncomplicated cases of malaria using national treatment guidelines; IPTp, iCCM, and SMC implementation where applicable.

Specific Responsibilities:

• Provide technical leadership in the development and monitoring of the state malaria annual work plan (AOP) and work closely with the State Coordinator to implement and monitor departmental work plans.
• Engage the State Malaria Elimination Program, SPHCDA, HMB, and relevant SMOH entities and partners to share progress, accomplishments, and challenges and ensure common understanding of current as well as future malaria technical direction.
• Interacts with the key stakeholders in the malaria partnership at state level
• Collaborate with the State Coordinator and the Finance and Operations Manager to optimize and utilize project resources in the most efficient way to achieve project results.
• Lead and supervise the project’s malaria technical team at the state level
• Build capacity of SMEP and roll out a mentoring and supportive supervision program at all levels of the state health system
• Provide technical contributions to the state M&E/HSS officer in the development and implementation of a project surveillance monitoring and evaluation (SME) system including tracking the malaria cascade (persons with fever, tested with RDT/microscopy, positives treated with ACT, and outcome of treatment) and the related commodity data.
• Provide TA to the SMEP on effective engagement of private sector health service providers in planning and implementation of state malaria elimination programs
• Contribute to writing project reports, documentation of good practices, and technical publications
• Contribute to visibility of PMI for States Project work through innovative presentation of project approaches and results at state, federal and international levels

Required Minimum Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in health and postgraduate qualification in public health or related discipline
• 7+ years of related experience is required. Experience in international public health highly preferred.
• Extensive knowledge of a highly technical field; preferably Malaria. A highly qualified and recognized expert in the field.
• Ability to manage teams, initiate and organize work, establish priorities in a time-sensitive environment, and meet deadlines with attention to detail and quality.
• Should have good understanding of the Nigerian health system and the inter­relationships within the public and private health sector
• Knowledge and minimum of three years of progressively responsible experience working on malaria control in public and private in Nigeria
• In depth knowledge of malaria and public health principles with proven technical skills in malaria, including malaria case management, and integrated community case management of childhood illnesses
• Experience working with Ministry of Health and other Health Departments/Agencies on policy and strategy formulation at national and/or subnational levels.
• Experience with broader human resource capacity building
• Nigerian with good understanding of local context.
• Significant experience in project management, program coordination and sound negotiation skills with malaria partners.
• Excellent writing, communication, and presentation skills.