Malaria Technical Officer (Re-advertised)

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Office/Unit/Project Description

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 170 countries and territories, working with Governments and people on their own solutions to global and national development challenges to help empower lives and build resilient nations.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the pledge to leave no one behind reflect the interconnectedness of health and sustainable development issues such as the widening economic and social inequalities, the climate crisis, rapid urbanization, the continuing burden of HIV and other infectious diseases (e.g., malaria, tuberculosis, COVID.19), the growing burden of non-communicable diseases and the emergence of health threats. The scope and scale of delivering health and well-being for all, demands innovative partnerships and financing.

UNDP’s partnership with the Global Fund (GF), is in line with UNDP’s HIV and Health Development Strategy 2022-2025, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the pledge to leave no one behind. 

In Angola, the Ministry of Health and UNDP have had a long-standing, strategic partnership for health service delivery through Global Fund grants. When requested, UNDP acts as interim Principal Recipient (PR), working with national partners and the Global Fund to ensure management, implementation and oversight of GF grants, while simultaneously strengthening health institutions and systems for national entities to assume the PR role over time. 

Currently, UNDP is acting as the Principal Recipient for the consolidated HIV, Malaria and Tuberculosis 2021-2024. 

Most of the interventions planned in this Grant are implemented at sub-national level and in priority provinces based on their epidemiological burden. Its objective is to expand the coverage of high-quality HIV, malaria and tuberculosis services for the most vulnerable populations: pregnant women, children under 5, adolescent girls and young women and key populations.

To that end, UNDP has established  offices in Benguela, Kwanza Sul and later in Bie and has recruited a strong team to provide technical assistance and Grant oversight. Provincial teams ensure that adequate grant management and implementation of activities are in line with the grant agreement and the sub-national approach. The Lessons learned from the Benguela and Cuanza Sul sub-national approach will inform the next Global Fund Funding cycle in Angola.

To help the UNDP Project Management Unit (PMU) deliver in a timely and quality assured manner on the Grant Performance Framework targets, while complying with UNDP and Global Fund rules and regulations, UNDP Angola is recruiting a Malaria Officer  to support the malaria pillar of the Grant. The individual will be based in Benguela, with regular travel to  Luanda, Bie and Kwanza Sul.
 

Scope of Work:

• Provide technical support to the Provincial Departments of Public Health (Malaria team) in Benguela, Bie, Cuanza Sul and the NMCP, to develop and execute high-quality Malaria programmes, in line with the Global Fund approved Funding Request for 2021-2024 and NMSP (2021-2025);
• Provide mentoring and capacity building to the Benguela and Cuanza Sul Provincial Departments of Public Health in planning, management, supervision and quality assurance of malaria services;
• Facilitate linkages between health-facility and community-based interventions with a view to achieving grant performance targets:
• Contribute to grant results documentation and learning activities, including through reports, presentations, and other means, and to the dissemination of this knowledge as needed;
• Produce and disseminate knowledge products and processes (toolkits, case studies, best practices, peer-review publications, etc.) for national and international audiences to accelerate the rapid transfer of best practices;
• Act as a technical focal point for malaria within UNDP Global Fund Project Management Unit.

Institutional Arrangements

The incumbent will be directly supervised by the project manager (Benguela)  and overall direction of the deputy project coordinator/project manager C19.

Competencies

Core Competencies

• Achieve Result: LEVEL 1: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline;
• Think Innovatively: LEVEL 1: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements;
• Learn Continuously: LEVEL 1: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback;
• Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 1: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible;
• Act with Determination: LEVEL 1: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident;
• Engage and Partner: LEVEL 1: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships;
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 1: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination.

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies

Business Direction & Strategy

• Strategic Thinking
  • Ability to develop effective strategies and prioritized plans in line with UNDPs objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, potential risks and opportunities; linking the vision to reality on the ground, and creating tangible solutions;
  • Ability to leverage learning from a variety of sources to anticipate and respond to future trends; to demonstrate foresight in order to model what future developments and possible ways forward look like for UNDP.
• System Thinking
  • Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system.

External Relations and Advocacy

• General (cross-cutting)
  • Ability to build and maintain an overall positive public image for the organization, its mandate and its brand, while ensuring that individual campaigns and other communications and advocacy initiatives are supported in reaching the public.

2030 Agenda: People 

• Health
  • Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Business Management 

• Result Based Management
  • Ability to manage programmes and projects with a focus at improved performance and demonstrable results.
• Risk Management
  • Ability to identify and organize action around mitigating and proactively managing risks.

Ethics 

• Ethics Advise and Guidance
  • Ability to quickly analyze complex fact patterns and provide comprehensive, sensitive, and confidential ethics advice and guidance.

Requirements:

Minimum education requirements:

• Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Public Health, Health Policy, Epidemiology or related field or;
• First level university degree (bachelor degree) in above related field with additional 2 years experience will be given due consideration in lieu of advanced university degree. 

• Minimum 2 years(with master’s degree) or 4 years (with bachelor’s degree) of professional experience in programme, health management and/or financial and administrative project management, including experience relating to development assistance programmes;
• Significant experience in implementing, managing and monitoring and evaluating projects in the health sector and experience with Malaria is required.

Required Skills:

• Significant experience in implementing, managing and monitoring and evaluating projects in the health sector and experience with Malaria;
• Experience in the management of health projects or programmes;
• Experience supporting national malaria programmes;
• Analytical ability to interpret policies and assist in the development or review of disease specific policies as required improving the policy environment related to malaria in Angola.

Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section:

• Experience writing and publishing scientific papers in peer reviewed journals;
• Experience in working in Angola or similar contexts is desirable;
• Experience in designing and evaluating malaria activities in Africa. The incumbent must have proven experience in capacity building and mentoring local staff in a developing country;.
• Experience in the design, delivery and documentation of capacity-building interventions targeting Government institutions as well as civil society organizations;
• Experience working with NGOs and civil society is considered an asset;
• Previous experience managing similar Global Fund projects are considered an asset.

Language

• Fluency in English and Portuguese is required;
• Knowledge of another UN language would be an asset.

Disclaimer

Applicant information about UNDP rosters

Note: UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

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