HEALTH EDUCATION SPECIALIST NORTH EAST SYRIA (RE-ADVERTISED)

(This position is being re-advertised. Please consider that if you had previously applied)

Position: Health Education Specialist – NES

Location: Amuda, North East Syria

Type of contract: Contract of collaboration

Duration: 12 months (3-month probation period) – with possible renewals

Closing date of the vacancy: 15 February 2024 (applications on a rolling basis)

Starting from: March 2024

GENERAL CONTEXT

Un Ponte Per (UPP) is an Italian NGO established in 1991 with a mission to prevent armed conflicts, protect human rights, and support local civil society in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean countries. Since 2015, UPP has been leading the way in the North East Syria (NES) response, developing a comprehensive system of health services delivered in 26 facilities, including mobile units, hospitals, primary health care centers, and rural health posts, as well as providing capacity building for local actors on Gender Based Violence (GBV) prevention and response, Child Protection (CP), Psycho-social Support (PSS) and protection mainstreaming in health programs. In 2022, UPP also launched a multi-year Health System Strengthening (HSS) programme to address the structural needs and contribute to the reinforcement of the NES health care system in the medium/long-term, encompassing the different components of HSS such as health education and capacity building of health professionals, health care planning and management at territorial level, quality of care, emergency preparedness and response, data management and production of health statistics to support evidence-based decision making.

For further information please refer to our website: www.unponteper.it/en/

DEFINITION OF THE POST

The Health Education Specialist (HES) will be responsible of achieving the programme’s outputs aimed at reinforcing the training offer and the capacities of local Health Education Institutions (HEIs), through assessment and research, curriculum review, sub-granting, capacity building of trainers, and implementation of a post-graduate course on management of health care services and Global Health. The Specialist will form integral part of UPP Health Governance Department, she/he will be under the technical supervision of the UPP Health Governance Specialist and under the line management of the Project Manager, and will closely coordinate with the Health Governance Coordinator. She/he will be technically supervising and mentoring a local Health Education Officer (dedicated to support the health education component) and will provide advice and recommendations for mobilising additional expertise (both international and local) to achieve the planned goals throughout the project implementation, as needed.

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Health Education Specialist, in coordination with the key figures mentioned above, will be responsible of:

• Assessment of local Health Education Institutions in terms of administrative, accounting, reporting, management and absorption capacity constraints;
• Quality assessment of curricula and human and technical resources needed for delivering health education against recognised standards in the country of implementation (Syria) or in the region (Middle East);
• Development of a plan to improve both management and technical capacities of HEIs, including capacity building, technical assistance and sub-granting;
• Coordination for the implementation of the HEIs improvement plan, including the identification of needed human and material resources to support the rolling out of the plan, the delivery of capacity building and technical assistance;
• Close support and supervision of HEIs in the development of proposals for the sub-granting programme and in the management of the grants;
• Close support and technical assistance to selected HEIs in the design and delivery of one postgraduate course in Global Health and Epidemiology / Health Care Management, building up from the lessons learned in the pilot training delivered under the previous project.;
• Supervision and mentoring of the UPP local Health Education Officer and other internal resources as needed, including the development and roll out of internal capacity building plans;
• Providing advice and technical support in the technical dialogue with the Contracting Authority and in the development of reports and new proposals related to the specific area of expertise, as requested by the Line Managers;
• Any other activity as requested by the Project Manager or the HGS directly related to the achievement of programme’s outputs in health education.

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS

• Master’s degree in Health Education, Health Professions Education and related fields or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Expert in health education areas, with at least 5 years’ experience implementing and providing technical assistance in health education programs and liaising with local health institutions and relevant stakeholders in low-resources settings.
• Proved experience in designing and delivering higher health education and training programmes and in the development of health education materials and resources.
• Experience in management of health services
• Experience in the planning and programming cycle including implementation and evaluation of programs
• Fluent in English.

MERIT ACCREDITATION:

• Previous experience and work with HEIs in Syria or in Middle East countries
• Fluent in Arabic and/or Kurdish
• Experience in Management and coordination of health care facilities, programs and projects
• Training experience to health professionals
• Proven leadership capacity
• Working experience with NGOs in Middle East countries
• Accredited experience as trainer in health services
• Experience in planning and implementation of health programs.
• Experience in coordination of humanitarian aid projects.
• Good understanding of the project life cycle management.
• Excellent capacity to work in team.
• Proven capacities to plan activities successfully targeting results and objectives.
• Ability to supervise and/or mentor other categories of social services professionals and workers.
• Experience of planning, organizing and prioritizing work, working under pressure and meeting deadlines.
• Ability to work under pressure in stressful environments

OTHER REQUIREMENTS:

Un Ponte Per is an International NGO committed to diversity and inclusion within its teams, in line with the principle of non-discrimination. UPP encourages all candidates irrespective of gender, religion and ethnicity including persons with disabilities to apply and become part of the organization.

Ethical Conduct

UPP upholds all the minimum standards in terms of Ethical Conduct and strives to increase its standards over the minimum. Zero tolerance is reserved to Sexual Abuse and Exploitation and to Child Abuse, Violence, Harm, Injury and Negligence. UPP participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme, therefore, any candidate assures that s/he has never breached any standard in terms of SEA and Child Safeguarding and that s/he will not in the future. UPP will conduct extensive reference check and vetting on shortlisted candidates that might compromise candidates’ privacy. Shortlisted candidates shall promptly provide an up-to-date criminal background check. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms his/her understanding of these recruitment procedures.