UNDP Jobs - 64173- Senior Project Officer, GAVI Health System Strengt

Senior Project Officer, GAVI Health System Strengthening Project - 9 Positions in 9 States (Open to Indian Nationals Only)

Location :

State Capitals of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Manipur, Nagaland, Odisha and Rajasthan, INDIA, INDIA

Type of Contract :

Service Contract

Starting Date :

01-May-2016

Application Deadline :

27-Mar-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

SB-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

One year

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Remuneration package is Rs. 18,92,992/ per annum (taxable). UNDP also offers additional benefits which include medical insurance coverage and limited pension reimbursement for contract holder and encourages work life balance to its employees.

Routine immunization (RI) against vaccine preventable diseases (e.g. measles, polio, TB, tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough) is one of the most cost effective interventions for reducing childhood illness and mortality. Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) is an ambitious programme of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) that aims to reduce morbidity and mortality due to vaccine preventable diseases (VPD). Joint Review Missions and Common Review Missions organized by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on a regular basis) have noted that whilst UIP performance in India has improved overtime, there still remain a number of key constraints impacting immunization coverage in the country. Further, there are significant inequities in vaccination coverage in different states based on various factors related to individual (gender, birth order), family area (area of residence, wealth, and parental education), demography (religion, caste) and the society (access to health care, community literacy level) characteristics.

The GAVI Alliance-funded Health System Strengthening (HSS) programme is one of the efforts of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) to improve the quality and level of immunization coverage in India.

Some of the main constraints currently preventing India from achieving a quality immunization programme with universally high coverage rates relate to Cold Chain and Vaccine Logistics Management. There is limited cold chain infrastructure and capacity in many states – even for routine UIP vaccines. Systematic efforts to identify gaps and address issues in cold chain and VLM have been conducted in recent years. Key constraints identified include: inadequate and poor infrastructure, HR issues including technical capacities; weak monitoring and MIS issues; and Vaccine management. These constraints have led to high breakdown rate of equipment, overstocking and stock outs, inadequate monitoring and supervision, poor management thus hampering improved vaccine coverage.

UNDP under the GAVI HSS grant 2014-2016 will address some of the above mentioned issues by the development of an integrated and innovative solution that aims to provide real time information of vaccines stocks at the various level of the Routine Immunization Programme as well as have real time information on the temperature at the various levels of storage in twelve states of the country namely Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Assam, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. Moreover, UNDP will strengthen the evidence base for improved policy-making on programmatic areas through a well developed and implemented national M&E plan and research framework.

For the specific purpose above UNDP intends to recruit the Senior Project Officers who will be based in each of the following 9 states - Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Manipur, Nagaland, Odisha and Rajasthan. The position will require extensive travel to the designated districts. The Project Officer will work under the direct supervision of the Senior National Project Manager.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Senior Project Officer will be responsible for the following tasks:

Programme Planning and Implementation:

Provides advice and support to the development and phased implementation of the Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN) that includes vaccine logistics and cold chain management on one single information system platform in the state. This activity will involve a systematic and phased scale up of a system for SMS-enabled real time Management Information system (MIS) for cold chain and vaccine logistics management (VLM) at the respective state level.

Building Partnerships:

Partners with the state and district level health vaccine structures to assess and understand the capacity needs and support required for the effective and timely implementation of the eVIN. This activity will involve working closely State Level Health officials, coordinating with the GAVI- HSS partners namely UNICEF and WHO and other development partners working on immunization.

Capacity Building and technical assistance for Government:

Assists state level government to identify capacity-building needs on eVIN and undertake capacity-building activities. This will include support to the development of training modules for different levels of health professionals and field-level functionaries, facilitate learning exchanges as well as policy influencing and providing technical expertise as required.

Providing Leadership:

Provides guidance and direction to the Project and to the Project team in the State. Ably deals with HR issues including problem solving and conflict management. Discharges administrative and other responsibilities associated with the position. Mentors and supports State and district based personnel supported by UNDP. The Senior Project Officers will be directly responsible to the mentoring and supervision of project officers, trainers and other project staff.

Monitoring and Evaluation:

Facilitates the review of the system and capacities relating to the delivery of eVIN in conjunction with State Health Mission. This will include undertaking field visits to monitor the implementation of the system and providing technical inputs to address gaps and bottlenecks. Documentation to the implementation process and analytical learnings from the implementation to feedback into the effective scale up in all the districts.

Report Writing:

Prepares periodic status reports, annual reports, case studies, etc. in a qualitative and timely manner

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Identifies problems and proposes solutions;
Generates new ideas and approaches, researches best practices and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things;
Makes the case for innovative ideas from the team with own supervisor;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Promotes a knowledge sharing and learning culture in the office;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
Demonstrates ability to conceptualize, innovate, plan and execute ideas, as well as to impart knowledge and teach skills;
Ability to manage stakeholder relationships, perform status reporting, and managing / resolving project issues;
Ability to prioritize assignments and requirements, and multitask as needed;
Ability to work independently with limited instruction;
Ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
Aptitude for technical innovations and data analytics.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Minimum Master’s Degree in Business Administration/Public Health/ Hospital Management/Social Sciences/Material Management/Supply Chain Management from a reputed University/Institute.

Experience:

A minimum of 7 Years of professional work experience at the State level in policy-cum-programme development, monitoring & implementation and of this period, 2-3 years should be in Routine Immunization programme including the vaccine logistics and cold chain mechanisms;
Experience in managing information technology driven projects;
Should have analytical, negotiating, communication and advocacy skills;
Should have computer knowledge in MS Office and other applications;
Demonstrated experience in Health Policy analysis and influencing;
Demonstrated experience in managing and scaling large projects preferably in health sector;
Experience of working in the State Government or other international development organization will be an asset.

Language:

Excellent knowledge of written and spoken English is required;
A good working knowledge of local language of the duty station will be an asset.

Travel:

The position will require extensive travel to the designated districts.

Note:

This Vacancy is open to Indian Nationals only. Interested applicants are required to apply online and attach a completed UNDP Personal History (P11) form available at: UNDP P11. Kindly note that only completed P.11 forms will be reviewed. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

UNDP strives to have a workforce which reflects diversity and gender balance, and applies an equal opportunities approach. All selections are on merit.