Child Health and Immunization Consultant – Kenya

Background:

USAID/Kenya and East Africa (KEA) invests in population and health programs at national and county levels that aim to improve the survival, well-being and productivity of the Kenyan population by reducing the burden of major infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, and addressing the main causes of maternal and child illness and deaths. This includes cross-cutting work to strengthen healthcare systems and build capacity and supporting the national government to formulate key policies and guidelines while assisting counties to better plan, manage, and finance quality health services to meet local needs. The Health Population and Nutrition (HPN) office is USAID/KEA’s largest office, managing a portfolio valued at over $400 million annually. The office receives funding from a number of U.S. Presidential Initiatives, including the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), Feed the Future (FtF), as well as other USAID health funds for family planning, maternal newborn and child health, nutrition, emerging pandemic threats, and water, sanitation, and hygiene.

Activity Background:

SoCha is seeking a Child Health and Immunization Consultant to support USAID/KEA’s health program teams and implementing partners.

Roles and Responsibilities:

The Child Health and Immunization Consultant will perform the following tasks:

Technical and Strategic Support:

• Articulate and extend USAID’s strategic partnership vision, strategies, and tactics at the national and FH focal counties. Enhance understanding of the Family Health integrated strategy towards achieving national and county results for the health of women, children, adolescents, and youth.
• Facilitate the delivery of technical assistance for the development and oversight of strategic partnerships on a key national and county health strategic plans’ priority result areas through use of data and guided by current child health and immunization policies and strategies.
• Provide high level technical guidance in child health and immunization to assigned counties, including senior-level officials.
• Work in collaboration with USAID HPN staff, A/C/AORs and Activity Management Teams (AMTs) to plan and implement USAID’s child health, immunization, and vaccine preventable disease (VPD) surveillance and response programs using an integrated approach.
• Provide updated technical information on child health, immunization, and VPD surveillance issues in line with USAID’s program policies to partners and a wide group of public health collaborators as it becomes available. This information generally involves how to implement, monitor, and evaluate Family Health programs using data, and report progress to key stakeholders.
• Develop and nurture formal and informal partnerships with civil society, faith-based organizations, county-based academia, and private organizations and provide technical assistance to counties on barriers towards achieving child health, immunization, and VPD surveillance goals. This will involve working with broad based partners on the development and implementation of high impact interventions including modalities to develop, sustain, and expand partnerships.
• Provide technical expertise on child health, immunization, and VPD surveillance issues at national (e.g., UHC) and county levels and advise HPN on opportunities to collaborate and synergize with other donors, multilateral, and private sector organizations working in the counties.
• Provide strategic and technical leadership in the preparation of key annual and mid-term planning and reporting documents including the County Integrated Development Plans, and the Quarterly, Semi-Annual, and Annual Progress Reports, and facilitate regular programmatic reviews with national child health, immunization, and VPD surveillance programs, counties, and other relevant stakeholders.
• Conduct thorough literature review and proactive engagement with stakeholders, keep abreast of emerging developments in the national and global issues, and advise accordingly on how these policies, strategies, and technical guidelines can most effectively be incorporated to enable the Mission to maintain the fidelity and relevance of Family Health programs.
• Provide strategic advice to the Family Health COE on partnership development and management and methodologies to improve the performance of USAID’s health investments for improved FP/RMNCAH outcomes in thirteen (13) focus counties.

Coordination and Representation:

• Using diplomacy and technical acumen, establish strategic working relationships with senior health officials and committees at county and lower levels, donor agencies, civil society organizations, and private sector health counterparts to enhance coordination and regular and timely sharing of information on health programs at the county level, including changes in key policies, and legal and regulatory environments that could affect child health, immunization, and VPD surveillance in the implementation of USAID programs.
• Provide guidance to USAID on identifying and developing relationships with stakeholders at national and county levels and ensure that results and impact of child health, immunization, and VPD surveillance programs.
• Participate in technical consultations and meetings at national and county technical working groups and related partnership meetings with cross-sectoral teams and the private sector and share follow-up actions with USAID.
• Document and develop materials on processes and lessons learned in outcome-based programming for child health, immunization, and VPD surveillance programs.
• Work in close consultation with counties to provide required guidance on how best to collaborate and coordinate child health, immunization, and VPD surveillance programs with county governments and other stakeholders such as civil society and the private sector at the county level.

Qualifications and Skills:

Education:

• A master’s degree in either Public Health, Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medicine or Social Sciences is required.

Prior Work Experience:

• Minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible professional experience in health program management for a development organization, including managing FP/RMNCAH programs or other relevant public health programs that involve coordination with a wide variety of stakeholders in a government department, international agency or implementing partner, is required.

Language Proficiency:

• Excellent oral and written English and Kiswahili skills are required.

Job Knowledge:

• Knowledge of public health and FP/RMNCAH programs, strategies, methods, processes, and techniques used to plan, develop, implement, and evaluate FP/RMNCAH programs is required.
• Extensive knowledge of the country and County health context including national priorities such as UHC, Linda Mama etc., and challenges in reducing Maternal, Newborn and child mortality is required.
• Knowledge of key stakeholders engaged in health at National and county level in the regions of Kenya is required. Demonstrated knowledge of the overall health sector context and thorough public health knowledge regarding the status of the health of women, children and Adolescents and youth is also required.
• Professional-level knowledge of development principles, concepts, and practices, especially as they relate to the devolution of the health sector and the increasing roles and responsibilities of the Counties.
• Strong understand donor, multilateral, and private sector involvement in FP/RMNCAH in Kenya. The consultant must have knowledge and understanding of the different levels of the county governments, and the role of units within each level, to enhance effective communication, and to develop consensus on program/project strategy and implementation plans.

Skills and Abilities:

• Strong skills in communication, advocacy, and networking. S/he must have strong conceptual and analytical skills to be able to quickly grasp and translate new concepts into operational plans and results. These positions requires outstanding interpersonal skills and the ability to exercise flexibility in analyzing and reacting to evolving planning and implementation contexts.
• Excellent computer skills, including skills with Microsoft Office, web-based databases, and electronic filing.
• Demonstrated timely action on decisions and informed judgment in planning and carrying out tasks, using diplomacy and tact.

Period of Performance:

130 days LOE over 6 months (November 2024 – April 2025).

Location:
Nairobi, Kenya.