Options Consultancy Services Limited Vacancy for a State Coordinator (Bauchi)
Options Consultancy Services Limited (Options) was established in 1992
and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marie Stopes International. Options
is a leading provider of technical and management expertise in the
health and social sectors. We work in partnership with national and
state
governments, international development agencies, the private
sector and civil society to strengthen programmes and policies to
support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in health
and poverty reduction.
Our work focuses on providing expertise in sexual and reproductive
health, maternal newborn and child health, HIV and AIDS, citizen voice
and accountability, gender, social inclusion and equity to enhance
institutional effectiveness to support strengthening of health service
delivery.
We are recruiting to fill the position of:
Job Title: State Coordinator
Location: Bauchi
Job Description
MamaYe - E4A Nigeria State Coordinator Bauchi Terms of Reference
- We are looking for a State Coordinator to strategically drive
and manage the smooth implementation of MamaYe- Evidence for Action
(E4A) activities in Bauchi State.
- You are passionate about maternal and newborn health issues and
have a track record of mobilising, communicating and catalysing social
change in Nigeria.
- You have an astute understanding of and effectively employ
strategies within the political, social, cultural and economic landscape
in Nigeria when designing and implementing advocacy campaigns and
initiatives.
- You are a strong writer, communicator, team player and connector with the ability to make change happen.
- You have an understanding of the political, social, cultural and economic landscape in Nigeria
- You are a prominent leader in civil society or highly
experienced in working with Civil Society Organisations and an activist
for women and children in Nigeria
- You have experience leading and managing a team.
- You have strong relevant networks and experience in coalition building.
- You are skilled at developing health strategies and cultivating
partnerships with diverse stakeholders including government, private
sector, non-governmental and civil society.
The Programme
- Evidence for Action (E4A) is a programme managed by Options
Consultancy Services and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
until 2017 to improve maternal and newborn survival through a combined
focus on evidence, advocacy and accountability across three sub-Saharan
African countries: Ethiopia, Malawi and Nigeria.The E4A consortium
brings together experts from academic institutions, internationally
recognized advocacy and accountability coalitions and civil society
organizations. It works through local institutions in each of the three
selected countries which host a small E4A Country Team.
- In each country and at a regional level, E4A has launched a
locally driven programme under an umbrella E4A regional advocacy
campaign known as MamaYe! The campaign has a clear focus on survival and
positive stories rather than a resigned social acceptance of death in
pregnancy and childbirth which is common throughout Africa.
- The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through the advocacy work,
has committed resources to expand the reach of the E4A program and
enable existing and effective models of change to be scaled-up,
improving maternal and newborn survival in Nigeria, Malawi and Ethiopia.
Job Summary
- The State Coordinator for Bauchi will strategically drive and
manage the smooth implementation of MamaYe- Evidence for Action (E4A)
activities in this State in a way that is Value for Money and ensuring
that expected results, as laid out in the programme logframe and country
strategy, are achieved.
- You will be expected to work with the Country Director, National
Technical Advisor, Communication Specialist, Media Advisor, MamaYe
Campaign Lead, Budget Advocacy Advisor and other State Coordinators to
strategically use evidence for strengthening advocacy and accountability
for maternal and newborn health, targeting this evidence to relevant
audiences (e.g. non-governmental organisations, advocates,
accountability structures, district health planners, policy makers) with
the aim of accelerating progress on maternal and newborn survival in
Bauchi State.
- A key component of this role is to facilitate evidence based
planning and decision making to ensure efficient allocation of resources
to MNH in order to improve quality of care for mothers and babies.
- As the State Coordinator, you will be responsible for the
overall functioning of MamaYe-E4A in Bauchi, providing technical inputs
and support in the use of evidence to power advocacy and accountability
on maternal and newborn health. Working closely with the MamaYe Lead,
you will ensure a strong MamaYe movement grounded in evidence based
approaches and tactics.
- You will be expected to work closely with E4A colleagues based
in Nigeria and internationally, particularly on technical and work
planning issues, contribute inputs to the country operational plan and
strategies, and ensure that state level logframe indicators and targets
are met.
- You will be based in Bauchi State at an organisation selected by
Options, which will act as the host agency. It will be important to
work closely with staff from this host agency and make sure that
capacity at the agency is built where necessary.
- You will report to the National Technical Advisor, whilst maintaining regular technical communication with other E4A colleagues.
- Team reporting arrangements will be reviewed if any change in team staffing occurs.
- Technical support will be provided to you by Options,
specifically the Technical Support Unit and consortium partners, who
will help ensure you have the international and national technical
support necessary to deliver your objectives.
- You will proactively identify and exploit opportunities for
scaling up existing E4A approaches that have proven to be successful. In
addition, you will be expected to share areas of learning and come up
with new ideas, which will enable the programme to achieve results. You
will also be responsible for ensuring that state level work reinforces
national level work and responds to changes at the national level.
Responsibilities
- Lead Technical Inputs on MNH in Bauchi
- Support the implementation of the MamaYe-E4A strategy at state level
- Support MNH evidence-related strategies/activities in the State;
- Support relevant ministries and others in strengthening maternal death review processes;
- Contribute to the generation, analysis and packaging of evidence to support advocacy and accountability efforts;
- Establish state level accountability mechanisms bringing together a diverse array of partners to push for change on MNCH issues
- Collaborate with stakeholders (i.e. including media, advocates,
CSOs) committed to strengthening evidence, advocacy and accountability
in Nigeria;
- Track progress in Bauchi State against logframe indicators in collaboration with the Evidence Advisor;
- Contribute to keeping the MamaYe websites up to date with relevant evidence, new stories and blogs;
- Contribute to the development of workplans and country strategies and their implementation.
- Delivery of Operational Plan
- Develop country operational plan in Bauchi State, coordinating
activities of the programme team and consultants (and engaging in
trouble-shooting where necessary) to support the smooth implementation
of the programme;
- Work with MamaYe-E4A staff to regularly review and develop the
political strategy to overcome barriers and build on supportive factors
to ensure the successful implementation of the E4A workplan in Bauchi
State.
- Provide technical input to the overall E4A strategy, using best practice on what works to achieve change in health outcomes;
- Ensure sound technical implementation of the operational plan in Bauchi State;
- Quality assure evidence related outputs;
- Monitor progress of operational plan to ensure activities in
Bauchi State are on track and regularly report on progress to the
National Technical Advisor;
- Proactively anticipate and participate in identifying technical
assistance (TA)/subcontracting needs relating to evidence, advocacy and
accountability areas or wider work in focus states, in conjunction with
Options, and management of TA including development of TORs, contracting
of TA and monitoring of TA outputs;
- Oversee financial management and reporting in Bauchi State and submission of timely and accurate financial reports to Options;
- Oversee financial management and reporting for the Bauchi office’s budget;
- Actively look for opportunities to drive forward E4A’s work in
Bauchi and opportunities to collaborate with other in-country
stakeholders
- Lead on coalition building with regard to accountability
mechanisms in Bauchi, helping to ensure that E4A makes the right
connections and supporting the development of E4A as a platform in line
with E4A’s strategy;
- Work in conjunction with the Media Advisor to build the MNH
capacity of Nigerian journalists, opinion-formers and decision-makers in
line with the E4A Nigeria work- plan.
- Information Packaging, Dissemination, Advocacy, Accountability and Sharing of Lessons Learned
- Identify the information needs of target audiences and
package/tailor evidence according to formats which are most relevant and
meaningful to each one;
- Develop tactful strategies to promote the effective use of
evidence into action (policy, programme, advocacy, accountability) among
different stakeholders;
- Work with advocates and those working to strengthen
accountability mechanisms to ensure they have the evidence required to
be more effective;
- Use evidence to support the development and populating of accountability tools to track MNH progress and commitments;
- Work with and leverage efforts by other development partners in
the State, and with their networks to mobilise greater public and
political support for advocacy efforts;
- Work with the MamaYe Campaign Lead, Communications Specialist and Budget
- Advocacy Advisor to develop advocacy materials (i.e. stories,
campaign materials) and ensure that the E4A/MamaYe Nigeria campaign
website is a useful tool for delivering the advocacy strategy.
- Package complex scientific information for a range of
stakeholders in an easily understandable and appropriate format for
non-scientists, and disseminate as appropriate;
- Identify opportunities for sharing lessons learned and tools, and dissemination of the programme result
- Attend Advisory Committee meetings as required to provide updates on E4A’s work in Bauchi State;
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV's and covering letters to:
[email protected]
Note:
- This is a full-time position, running from April 2016 (depending on the availability of the successful candidate) to March 2017.
- Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for interview.
- Early submission of applications is recommended as shortlisting
will be an ongoing process as applications are received. Interviews will
be held on Thursday 31 March 2016.
Application Deadline Thursday, 24th March, 2016.