UNDP Jobs - 64195- Project Officer - Capacity Building & Monitoring,

Project Officer - Capacity Building & Monitoring, GAVI Health System Strengthening Project - 3 Positions in 3 States (Open to Indian Nationals Only)

Location :

State Capitals of Bihar, Gujarat and Jharkhand, INDIA

Type of Contract :

Service Contract

Starting Date :

01-May-2016

Application Deadline :

20-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. 12,75,494/ 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 Project Officers (Capacity Building & Monitoring) will be based in each of the following 3 states – Bihar, Gujarat and Jharkhand. The position will require extensive travel to the designated districts. The Project Officer will work under the direct supervision of Senior Project Officer of the respective state.

Duties and Responsibilities

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

Capacity Building Planning:

Assists the Senior Project Officer to identify capacity-building needs on eVIN for all Government staff and project staff;
Work closely with the State Immunization Officer (SIO) and support with State NRHM on developing training plans and implementation of trainings at the state and district level;
Provide technical support in reviewing and designing training schedules;
Input into developing training modules based on assessed needs;
Manage a monitoring mechanism to maintain a database of trainers and trainees;
Track trainees and a system for nomination of participants for various state training programmes - to achieve universal coverage of eVIN trainings including refresher.

Coordinating Trainings:

Organize Training of Trainers (TOT) and workshops at the state level, as appropriate;
Oversee trainings on on eVIN undertaken by contracted HR agency for all stakeholders’ upto district level;
Plan and organize refresher training at regular interval. Ensure training of any newly positioned staff by the respective district VCCM.

Building Partnerships:

Partners with the state and district level immunization officials to assess and understand the capacity needs and support required for the effective and timely implementation of the eVIN in select states.

Project Monitoring:

Assist the Senior Project Officer to

Monitor the implementation of the eVIN system and providing technical inputs to address gaps and bottlenecks;
Facilitate the monthly review of activities undertaken by UNDP POs;
Facilitate the review of the system and capacities relating to the delivery of eVIN;
Document the routine progress and success;
Document the implementation process and analytical learnings from the implementation to feedback into the effective scale up in other the districts.

Report Writing:

Prepares periodic status reports, annual reports, case studies, etc. in a qualitative and timely manner;
Perform any other tasks assigned from time to time by the Senior Project Officer.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Innovation:

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.

Results Focus:

Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Contributes to work planning, manages time and resources efficiently;
Takes accountability for delivery of agreed targets;
Ability to prioritize assignments and requirements, and multitask as needed.

Knowledge sharing and continuous improvement:

Maintains awareness of new developments in own area of expertise and promotes this knowledge with others who may benefit;
Develops an understanding of own strengths and development needs;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.

Building and managing partnerships:

Ability to manage stakeholder relationships, builds positive work relationships of mutual trust and empathy.

Team Working:

Contributes to a sense of team spirit and works collaboratively with others by seeking to understand and make best of team members’ diverse ideas, working styles, skills and backgrounds;
Demonstrates care and concern for other team members, proactively offering support;
Ability to work independently with limited instruction;
Aptitude for technical innovations and data analytics.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

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

Experience:

Minimum of 5-7 Years of professional work experience at the State level in policy-cum-programme development, training, 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 is mandatory;
Demonstrated experience in managing and scaling large technology driven projects preferably in health sector;
Experience of working in the State Government or other international development organization will be an asset;
Excellent knowledge of written and spoken English is required. A good working knowledge of local language of the duty station 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.