Senior Program Officer – Nigeria Healthcare Financing & Market Shaping At Results for Development Institute


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.

Project Summary:

1. Nigeria Health Care Financing Technical Assistance

In 2014, the Government of Nigeria (GoN) committed to reforming health care financing and service delivery in a Presidential Summit on Universal Health Coverage and enacted the Nigeria National Health Act. The Act officially recognized Nigerians’ right to health and established a Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) to make financial resources available for primary health care (PHC) services. These reforms have the potential to greatly strengthen Nigeria’s PHC system and improve population health. Federal and state governments in Nigeria are currently working with local and international partners to implement systems for channeling these new health care funds for service delivery and financing, and setting up state-level health insurance mechanisms.

To support these reforms, the Results for Development Institute, in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will work with public actors and a consortium of development partners in Nigeria to erect a federal level technical assistance program for health care financing policy development and implementation. Overall, the work will engage key national and state-level stakeholders in joint policy dialogue, generate evidence to inform health financing design options, and help to develop

implementation “know how” to support the roll-out of health financing reform at the state level. Doing so will provide an enabling environment for creating health impact via financing and programmatic interventions by the public sector, BMGF, and other development partners in Nigeria.

2. Market Shaping Practice

The Market Shaping practice (MSP) is dedicated to transforming access to, and improving appropriate use of, essential and life-saving products in a holistic and sustainable manner. We develop, iterate on, and support catalytic implementation of long-lasting solutions at the global and country levels to address challenges identified by country partners and backed by rigorous analyses. Using practical and business-driven approaches — from increasing market transparency around the number of potential users, to improving demand forecasting, to developing purchasing and value chain strategies, to crafting cost-effectiveness and financing gap analyses — our work ensures that the markets for life-improving goods operate with improved efficiency, and that utilization of those goods increases. We’ve applied our expertise to achieve more than a billion dollars in savings in countries and supported improved access to high-quality products in health, nutrition, and education markets.

Some of our projects include increasing access to childhood pneumonia treatments through iterative market shaping approaches in support of government leadership and in close collaboration with partners and other key market actors in several high-burden countries, including Ethiopia and Tanzania; transforming markets for maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) medicines and devices across five Sub-Saharan African countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda); and, identifying underlying market challenges and opportunities to address severe acute malnutrition. You can explore more of our current and previous projects here.

Opportunity:

R4D is seeking a Senior Program Officer (SPO), based in Abuja, Nigeria, to provide technical leadership and project management in R4D’s policy engagement on the ground, manage relationships with government and other partners in-country, and drive day-to-day activities to deliver on the aims of the health financing and market shaping projects.

The Nigeria Health Care Financing Technical Assistance Project will involve deep engagement with the history, challenges, and opportunities of Nigeria’s health care financing, service delivery, and governance landscape. The project is also launched in the context of other ongoing initiatives between Nigeria’s government and several local and international actors in directly and broadly health system reform-related areas. Finally, it will be implemented with contributions from R4D’s Nigeria and DC-based teams, as well as local and global partners and consultants.

The SPO will also play a key role in supporting a number of market shaping activities, likely including contributing to the integration of a Reference Price List and Quality Assured Manufacturer List into government procurement processes for MNCH commodities in Nigeria; and conducting market analysis and strategy development for nutrition commodities in Nigeria (working closely with the DC-based team).

Given this background, the SPO will seek to proactively define and execute R4D’s strategy for effectively delivering against the project goals during the inception and implementation phases. S/he will also develop and nurture relationships with key Nigerian government agencies at the federal and state levels and manage/incorporate contributions by local and international partners. Acting as a team leader and representative of the market shaping practice for R4D locally, the SPO is expected to be a self-starter and thought-leader with a wide range of experience and talent, who exercises good judgment, delivers results within tight timeframes, and manages work across team members.

Please note, this position is based in Nigeria. Local applicants encouraged to apply.

Responsibilities will include:

Technical

  • Serving as a technical resource in R4D’s health financing and market shaping engagements in Nigeria, in conjunction with R4D’s DC-based team – Generating ideas for, and leading the development of, analytic products (improvement tools, case studies, reports, project deliverables, product market analysis and strategic options to scale up, policy briefs) and effectively managing the inputs of project team members and partners – Drawing new and insightful conclusions from analysis and translating these into products that gain internal and external recognition – For market shaping projects, support the design of solutions via hypothesis-driven approach to develop recommendations for stakeholders – Liaising with partners and actors active in the health financing and market shaping space to enhance broader knowledge of ongoing work and discuss and develop tailored scopes of work forR4D – Managing local team and consultants, and providing guidance to team members on all aspects of project work including leading development, implementation, and monitoring of project work plans and related planning documents – Evaluating progress and redesigning or redirecting areas of work that aren’t moving forward as planned – Managing the production of high-quality qualitative and quantitative analytics

Managerial

  • Mentoring and coaching local team members to set personal and project goals – Independently engaging and managing relationships with key external partners and stakeholders (clients, funders, sub-contractors, sub-grantees, consultants, partners, national and sub-national/state government stakeholders, procurement agencies, implementing partners, manufacturers, and others) – Support in the development of knowledge management and communication strategies to promote the dissemination and uptake of our work – Provide oversight for the implementation of the NHIS Leadership Development Program (NLDP) – Participating in public forums and effectively engaging audiences, influencing their thinking, behavior, and positive opinion of R4D and the project – Managing the organization and implementation of workshops and other meetings planned under the project – Execute project workplans and activities in a high-quality and timely manner – Preparing and managing budgets and ensuring sound fiscal management across project work – Proposing system and process improvements for operations of work, facilitate leadership decision- making, and implement agreed changes

Qualifications/ Requirements

  • The incumbent must be self-motivated with strong people and project management experience, and the ability to handle pressure and deliver quality results. S/he will have demonstrated grace and effectiveness in a highly collaborative environment—balancing strong leadership with the ability to build-relationships, understand the perspectives of all stakeholders, solve problems, and forge compromises. Additional qualifications include:
    • MA with 7+ years of work experience in relevant field (public health, health economics, public/social policy, public administration, market dynamics, business or similar)
    • Expertise and experience in one or more of the following: health financing functions and arrangements, health systems design and evaluation, healthcare service delivery/primary health care, market shaping, nutrition, knowledge management and translation
    • Knowledge of Nigeria health care system and key health financing policies and actors
    • Experience engaging with and leading work with public and/or private sector health financing organizations
    • Excellent analytic skills required. Demonstrated experience leading the development of high-quality qualitative and quantitative analysis from conceptualization to completion and leveraging that analysis to drive action by decision-makers for ultimate impact
    • Experience conducting market analysis, developing product introduction/scale-up strategies, and/or expanding access to healthcare is preferred
    • Public, non-profit, or private sector experience in health commodity supply, quantification, procurement, distribution, financing, or regulation highly desirable
    • Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to develop highly professional work products and present complicated analysis in accessible and compelling manners
    • Ability to think strategically, handle ambiguity and work in a fast-paced, open-structure, multicultural environment
    • Collaborative, excellent interpersonal skills, and ability to engage with a wide variety of stakeholders and managing relationships/partnerships
    • Approachable management style, eager to support and mentor junior staff and peers. Able to effectively set priorities and handle competing time and resource demands for self and others
    • Familiarity with implementing program operations
    • Willingness to travel internationally, maximum of 2-3weeks/year

Preferred Skills

  • Knowledge of Nigeria’s major languages, institutional culture, and politics – Knowledge of global health and development architecture and experience working with global institutions on global initiatives – Relevant work experience in a government agency, management consulting firm, bilateral or multilateral development agency, and/or global development NGO – Experience working at both Federal and State level in one or more states in Nigeria

How to apply

Please click here to apply.

March 2024
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