Technical Advisor II - Health System Strengthening

Job Posting Organization:
The Faith and Community Initiative (FCI) is a large, multi-country global health program implemented under a World Vision-led consortium. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is slated to lead implementation in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Indonesia. FCI's mission is to support countries in building resilient, nationally owned health systems that sustainably deliver integrated health services, including HIV, TB, malaria, maternal and child health (MCH), and nutrition services. The initiative aims to strengthen community and frontline health worker platforms and has three key objectives: strengthening community and frontline health worker networks, ensuring existing faith and community-based services are well-coordinated and integrated into government systems, and transitioning to national and sub-national systems. FCI emphasizes the importance of strengthening health systems, including digital data use and supply chains, and aims for a sustainable transition to country-led ownership over time.

Job Overview:
The Technical Advisor II - Health System Strengthening (HSS) will provide technical leadership for Nigeria's FCI activities, ensuring that faith and community-based services are well-coordinated and integrated into government systems. This role is crucial for strengthening health systems across community, facility, district, and national levels. The advisor will ensure that hub-and-spoke models supported by FCI are effectively integrated into national and district health systems. Responsibilities include providing technical leadership for workforce development plans, aligning service provision with Ministry of Health structures, and ensuring adherence to national guidelines. The advisor will collaborate with government counterparts, implementing partners, and CRS technical teams to design and implement health systems strengthening interventions that enhance access, quality of care, accountability, and sustainability, ultimately supporting a transition to locally led service delivery models.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provide technical leadership and support to Nigeria FCI government counterparts and implementing partners on health systems strengthening approaches, standards, and best practices aligned with national health strategies and donor requirements.
• Lead the alignment of faith-based and community-supported facilities with Ministry of Health policies, standards, and reporting requirements, including participation in relevant technical working groups.
• Conduct assessments and develop action plans with health facilities and district structures to address service delivery quality, supervision systems, human resources for health, and governance gaps.
• Lead technical assistance aimed at strengthening supervision systems, including joint supervision with district health management teams, performance review processes, and follow-up on agreed corrective actions.
• Strengthen supply chain management systems by supporting facility and district level forecasting, ordering, stock management, and coordination with national supply systems.
• Enhance the capacity of implementing partners and CRS staff through training, mentoring, coaching, and development of practical tools related to health systems strengthening.
• Support learning and adaptation by documenting lessons learned, contributing to operational reviews, and using routine data and assessment findings to inform continuous improvement.
• Collaborate closely with monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning, systems integration, service delivery, and faith-community mobilization colleagues to ensure integrated implementation.

Required Qualifications:

• Strong understanding of health systems strengthening principles and practices.
• Ability to analyze system gaps and translate findings into practical improvement actions.
• Strong facilitation, mentoring, and relationship-management skills.
• Ability to work effectively across government, faith-based, and community stakeholders.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Proficiency in standard office software and routine reporting tools. Preferred qualifications include experience with quality improvement, human resources for health, supply chain management, or integrated service delivery models, as well as experience supporting the transition or sustainability of donor-funded health programs.

Educational Background:
A Master's degree in public health, health systems, medicine, nursing, health policy, or a related field is required for this position. This educational background is essential to ensure that the candidate possesses the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively contribute to health systems strengthening efforts.

Experience:
A minimum of 8 years of relevant professional experience with progressive responsibility in health systems or service delivery roles is required. Candidates should have demonstrated experience supporting health facilities or district-level health systems strengthening in low-resource settings. Experience working with government health systems and institutional stakeholders, as well as providing technical assistance to multidisciplinary teams, is also essential.

Languages:
Proficiency in English is mandatory, and fluency in the official language of Nigeria is also required. This linguistic capability is crucial for effective communication and collaboration with local stakeholders and partners.

Additional Notes:
The position does not have supervisory responsibilities. The role requires a willingness to travel up to 25%. CRS offers a comprehensive benefits package for U.S.-based staff, including medical, dental, life insurance, vision, and a generous retirement savings plan. For successful candidates employed outside the U.S., benefits packages are based on the country of employment. CRS is committed to safeguarding program participants, community members, staff, and volunteers from all forms of exploitation and abuse. The successful candidate is expected to sign and adhere to CRS's Code of Conduct. The job description is not exhaustive and may evolve as needed.