GHFP Technical Advisor II: Quality Improvement and Human Resources for Health Technical Advisor

in Fellowships
September 18th, 2013

Global Health Fellows Program II

Technical Advisor II: Quality Improvement and Human Resources for Health Technical Advisor

Office of Health Systems, Bureau for Global Health, United States Agency for International Development

Location: Washington, DC

Assignment: Two year fellowship

GHFP-II-P2-093

The Global Health Fellows Program (GHFP-II) is a five year cooperative agreement implemented and managed by the Public Health Institute in partnership with CDC Development Solutions and Management Systems International. GHFP-II is supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

GHFP-II’s goal is to improve the effectiveness of USAID health programs by addressing the Agency’s immediate and emerging human capacity needs. The program seeks to accomplish this goal first through the recruitment, placement and support of diverse health professionals at the junior, mid and senior levels. These program participants include fellows, interns, corporate volunteers and Foreign Service National professionals. The program then provides substantial performance management and career development support to participants, including annual working planning assistance, and ensures that professional development opportunities are available.

Looking to the future, GHFP-II also seeks to establish a pool of highly-qualified global health professionals that will ensure the Agency’s ongoing technical leadership and effectiveness. This objective is supported by an extensive outreach program that brings global health opportunities and specialized career advice to a diverse range of interested individuals, with a particular focus on those underrepresented in the field of global health.

BACKGROUND:

Since 1990, USAID has supported a series of centrally-managed projects to adapt modern quality improvement (QI) approaches to the needs of USAID-assisted countries. The most recent of this series is the Applying Science to Strengthen and Improve Systems (ASSIST) project, a 5-year, $185 million cooperative agreement awarded in September 2012.

ASSIST draws on the experience of earlier projects in this series, as well as state-of-the-art approaches developed in high income countries. Like QI approaches used in the US, the focus of ASSIST is on helping health systems to measurably improve the processes used to implement health care. The overall goal of the project is to institutionalize improvement approaches as a permanent, integral part of the health system.

Improvement strategies focus on changes in processes, rather than the provision of resources, to bring about better health and development outcomes. A major type of process that often needs improvement is the degree to which providers follow national guidelines for basic services. A review of the results from recent USAID projects in this series specifically focused on provider compliance with such guidelines, and found that the application of modern QI approaches produced impressive levels of improvement across the sample studied.

Recently, QI approaches have also proved effective in improving other types of processes, such as the management of human resources. Similarly, QI approaches have produced encouraging improvements in programs for vulnerable children, community level services, preventive services, chronic care and records management.

Building on these results, the ASSIST project integrates a learning component into its implementation assistance for cooperating countries. The objective of this component is to develop the state-of-the-art for quality improvement in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The ASSIST learning agenda addresses: 1) monitoring results of QI through quantitative indicators; 2) documentation of how QI interventions were carried out; 3) development of evaluations of QI programs, including performance evaluations; 4) research studies focused on QI activities, including cost effectiveness studies and validation of provider-reported data; and 5) knowledge management to systematically organize information on QI interventions and make this information available to those that might benefit from it.

ASSIST also addresses specific issues in QI, including: 1) the process of scaling up tested improvements; 2) the institutionalization of QI within the health system; 3) analysis of policies and strategies in quality improvement; 4) the development of model case studies in QI; and 5) pre-service training in QI. ASSIST also carries out global technical leadership in QI, including participation in conferences, publications and support for global health organizations in QI.

In addition to using QI methods to improve human resources (HR) management, ASSIST has found that improved HR management approaches, in turn, can further improve quality of care. Based on these observations, the project is increasingly integrating HR management improvement into its QI approach.

ASSIST is currently working in over 20 LMICs, addressing all USAID priority health problems. More information on the project and previous projects in this series can be found at www.hciproject.org

INTRODUCTION:

The Office of Health Systems, Bureau for Global Health, seeks a Quality Improvement and Human Resources for Health Technical Advisor (Technical Advisor) to support its program in the areas of modern quality improvement, health service delivery and human resources for health. The Technical Advisor will also support the Office’s broader mandate to strengthen the health systems of USAID-assisted countries, with a focus on improving health outcomes in the Agency’s priority services. From the perspective of the WHO health systems model, the work of this Advisor will concentrate on the service and human resources building blocks.

The Technical Advisor will be a member of the Office of Health Systems team and will work collaboratively with other team members who have complementary areas of expertise. These areas include health governance, financing and information including eHealth, pharmaceutical management, prevention and private sector engagement. The Office provides advice and assistance in health systems issues to the Global Health Bureau Offices of HIV/AIDS, Health, Infectious Diseases and Nutrition, and Population and Reproductive Health, to USAID geographic bureaus and to USAID missions.  

The Technical Advisor will receive day to day guidance from the Medical Officer (Agreement Officer’s Representative (AOR) for the ASSIST cooperative agreement) under the overall guidance of the Director of the Office of Health Systems.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The primary responsibilities of the Technical Advisor include:

  • Serving as advisor to the ASSIST project AOR, which may include:
    • Liaising with clients of the ASSIST project such as USAID missions, international agencies and donors.
    • Reviewing and commenting on annual project work plans.
    • Assessing the performance of implementing partners by participating in: quarterly reviews; reviewing trip, technical and research reports; attending briefings and presentations; and field visits.
    • Providing technical direction and administrative advice to the ASSIST implementing partners based on report assessments.
    • Providing technical feedback on draft reports, presentation abstracts, research study designs and draft country program work plans.
    • Participating in implementing partner meetings, reviews, and correspondence.
    • Providing technical analysis and advice to the AOR regarding ASSIST activities.  
  • Supporting the administration of the ASSIST cooperative agreement. Such activities may include: analyzing budget proposals and tracking financial obligations and expenditures; designing internal management systems; and reviewing and analyzing regular and ad hoc project reports.
  • Providing technical and administrative support to the Health Care Improvement (HCI) Project (predecessor to ASSIST, with limited ongoing field activities expected to continue to September 2014).
  • Providing technical advice to the Office of Health Systems on issues related to the human resources for health, service delivery and quality improvement by: participating in internal and external meetings related to human resources for health issues; reviewing reports and studies in the field; and drafting technical reports on human resources for health issues; participating in the development of Office of Health Systems strategies, budget development and reporting of results.
  • Providing USAID missions and other operational units (such as regional offices) with technical assistance in human resources for health, health care quality improvement, and health systems strengthening, including participation in country health systems assessments. This may include participating on USAID mission project design teams, addressing issues related to quality improvement, human resources for health, or general health systems strengthening.
  • Participating in one or more of the Global Health Bureau country support teams as the health systems strengthening expert. The GH Bureau has created such liaison teams for each country with a substantial health program.
  • Supporting the GH Bureau and Office of Health Systems design teams by: participating in strategy development with program design teams in GH priority areas (e.g., reproductive health, maternal, neonatal and child health; HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, other public health threats) to help improve the appropriate health system content and approaches.
  • Providing technical advice to USAID colleagues and the global health community in QI and HR issues. These activities may include proactively developing opportunities to address these needs; identifying critical new advances in these fields; and developing approaches to share appropriately. This may entail consultations with USAID technical staff in Washington and in the field, presentations at conferences and academic institutions, and briefings for senior USAID staff.
  • Identifying constraints that keep developing country health systems and/or USAID-supported activities from having the desired health impact. Consequently, developing innovative approaches to address these constraints by conducting analytical work, writing papers, engaging with others, and promoting action agendas to develop innovative approaches to address these constraints.

Training and Professional Development

  • Keeping informed of QI approaches, health service delivery and the HR for health programs as well as sharing information as appropriate with various counterparts.
  • Identifying new trends and challenges regarding QI approaches, health service delivery and the HR for health programs
  • Deepening knowledge of QI approaches, health service strengthening and HR management.
  • Participating in professional meetings as appropriate to SOW.
  • Participate in professional continuing education and skills training within the purview of GHFP-II.

The Technical Advisor’s responsibilities are estimated to require travel of about 6 to 12 weeks per year, including international travel.

Other tasks or responsibilities may be assigned based on (a) organizational and programming need and/or (b) the Advisor’s own interests.

REQUIRED SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE:

  • Master’s degree in public health, medicine, nursing, health policy, health economics, health management or a related field.
  • Minimum five years’ experience with modern quality improvement, health service delivery and human resources for health with at least two years’ experience in an international or resource challenged setting.
  • Hands-on work experience strengthening developing country health systems, preferably focusing on quality improvement, human resources for health and/or health service delivery.
  • Demonstrated knowledge and experience in one or more of the global health technical areas such as TB, malaria, HIV/AIDS, and infectious diseases.
  • Strong written and oral communications skills.
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving orientation.
  • Excellent team and networking skills.
  • Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a large bureaucracy, in a collegial environment, and on a large number of tasks simultaneously.
  • A high degree of initiative, a commitment to quality, and a willingness to participate in a broad range of activities.
  • Ability to travel internationally.
  • Mastery of a language in addition to English is an asset.
  • US citizenship or US Permanent Residents required.

SALARY AND BENEFITS:

Salary based on commensurate experience and earnings history. The Public Health Institute offers a comprehensive benefits package including professional development programs. Please view the 2013 GHFP-II benefits Booklet.

TO APPLY:

All applicants are required to apply for this position through GHFP-II’s online recruitment system at https://www.ghfp.net/recruitment/, which allows you to store your CV, profile and bio data form in our database. A separate cover letter describing your qualifications and experience, interest and familiarity with issues relating to this position, and how this position relates to your career goals is required for each application. All applications must be submitted by 5:00 pm Eastern Time October 16, 2013.