Program Officer, Health Financing, Harare, Zimbabwe 2015
Overview: Founded in 2002 by President William J. Clinton, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to strengthening integrated health systems in the developing countries and expanding access to care and treatment for HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. CHAI teams work in partnership with the government, partners, and other major stakeholders to identify the key obstacles to access and scale-up of essential health services, and to develop sustainable strategies to overcome challenges impacting the health sector. CHAI also supports planning around the sustainability of health financing in several countries through advocating for an increase in domestic financing from the government and designing innovative financing mechanisms, as well as identifying efficiency opportunities in the health sector.
Summary of Position: The Clinton Health Access Initiative is looking for a Health Financing Analyst to assist the Ministry of Health and Child Care in addressing significant funding shortfalls in its health-related programming, and to provide assistance in optimizing use of financial resources available in the health sector by identifying program inefficiencies and improving allocation of resources in the health sector.
The Health Financing Analyst will provide critical support in the quantification and mapping of funding needs and available resources, understanding current costs of health interventions, helping the governments to identify funding gaps and access additional resources, and assessing the feasibility of a menu of financing options to expand the fiscal space within the health sector. The Analyst will also provide support around the development of a health financing policy and strategy for Zimbabwe. The Analyst will be a part of a team that works very closely with the Ministry of Health, interacting on a regular basis with donors, NGOs and civil society.
This is a challenging but very rewarding position which will have direct and near-term impact on thousands of patients in need of life-saving treatment. It is an opportunity to work closely with a government that is committed to universal health coverage and building critical skills, tools and capacity that will enable access to and better management of funds in the health sector.
Responsibilities: Provide robust data management and analytical support to the in-country team, and actively participate in structuring the analytical approach and problem solving in areas such as:
- Review specific funding channels to understand funding flows and potential areas of inefficiencies
- Actively lead support for the resource mapping exercise to track funding flows from both the government and health sector stakeholders
- Build and use tools to assess potential for improved efficiency and effectiveness of health sector interventions
- Model current costs of providing key health interventions at the national and facility levels
- Develop revenue projection models to assess potential for innovative financing mechanisms in the health sector including some work on health insurance schemes
- Support health financing policy analysis and drafting in collaboration with CHAI team, government, and partners
- Support management of processes to develop policy recommendations, conduct analyses, and seek stakeholder input
- Working with the government throughout planning and implementation phases of the budget to ensure skills transfer and government ownership, and provide technical support as needed
- Collaborate with other CHAI teams and provide strategic and analytical support on cross-cutting projects
- Develop and maintain cordial and productive work relationships with senior government and partner officials
- Effectively represent CHAI in various TWG, and partner fora
- Maintain a current understanding of the program environment including goals and partner landscape
- Support program budgeting and reporting
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in an area related to finance and economics, health economics or related degree in public health with a minimum of two years of professional experience
- Very strong quantitative skills, including significant experience working in excel on budgeting, costing and modeling
- Strong interpersonal skills and ability to build strong professional relationships with a range of stakeholders
- Exceptional diplomatic and interpersonal skills
- Excellent organizational, entrepreneurial and problem solving skills
- Strong communication skills, including the ability to prepare compelling presentations
- Ability to think strategically, handle ambiguity, and problem solve in a fast-paced, limited-structure, multicultural environment
- Ability to multi-task and take on ad-hoc requests while managing existing workload
- Ability to work independently on complex projects and deliver results under high-pressure situations
Advantages:
- Applicants with experience in management consulting or other relevant private and public sector organizations are strongly encouraged to apply
- Technical experience in health insurance, public financing and excel macros
- Knowledge of/experience with the Global Fund proposal development process as well as knowledge of other donor funding mechanisms and processes in Zimbabwe
- Experience with working in developing countries, particularly in health, HIV/AIDS-related, or malaria issues
- Experience working with governments and international partners in country