****The Union North America****
The Union North America (UNA), based in New York City, is an international public health organization. UNA is an independent affiliate of The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), which has regional and country offices in Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, North America and South-East Asia. UNA provides expertise in project implementation and management, epidemiology and surveillance, and other core public health capacities on a variety of global health challenges. For more information about The Union North America and The Union, visit www.theunion.org.
****The Position****
The Union is seeking qualified candidates for the position of ****Program Officer – Data for Health Initiative – CRVS Improvement Program****. Applicants must possess a valid work permit to work in New York.
****Background****:
Beginning in February 2015, The Union North America, in partnership with other global public health organizations, is implementing a two-year program to improve civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) in 20 countries and municipalities in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Pacific. The CRVS Improvement Program is a major component of a wider initiative aiming to enhance public health data capacity in low- and middle-income countries. The goal of the initiative is to ensure that hundreds of millions more people live in countries where data are used to steer public policy and program decisions. The CRVS Improvement Program will involve country engagement, assessment, and intervention phases. The interventions include improving the registration of births and deaths, improving the quality of cause of death assignment at hospitals, and ascertaining likely causes of death in countries or cities where most deaths occur at home.
****Overall Role****:
The Program Officer (PO) will work under the supervision of the Director and in support of the Program’s Technical Advisory Group (TAG) members, who have lead responsibility for country-specific programs of technical assistance. As a member of the country implementation team, the PO will work directly with TAG members, supporting them to plan and oversee programs of work in all phases of the initiative in up to three countries or cities. Significant onsite engagement will be required.
****Specific Duties****:
****Project Planning****
- For each phase of country work, work with the Program Director and relevant TAG member to define scopes of work, create detailed work plans that identify priority results and the activities and the sequence needed to complete the phase;
- Team with Director and TAG members to determine resources (staff time, money, material) required to deliver results for each phase of work;
- Develop a feasible implementation schedule for project completion;
- Guided by the Program Director and TAG member, determine deadlines for key project milestones and deliverables;
- Ongoing revision and adjustment of work plans as needed in response to changing local conditions.
****Implementation and Progress Monitoring****
- Daily communication with UNA implementation team members, including in-country embedded staff persons, to support execution of work plans according to schedule;
- Organize in-country trainings, meetings, and workshops as per country initiative plans
- Identification, surfacing, and trouble-shooting bottlenecks and delays;
- Work with Deputy Director to draft regular progress reports, including monthly one-page updates.
****Participate in other UNA activities as needed****
****Requirements****:
- Master’s degree or equivalent in public health or public administration
- At least 2 years’ experience working on international development projects, ideally with strong data and information or M&E components
- Strong project management skills
- Proficient user MS Excel and Word
- Excellent interpersonal communication
- Ability to work independently and occasionally to self-direct a must
- Patience and adaptability to change a must
- Willingness to travel up to 40% a must
- Willingness and ability to be stationed for duty in one of The Union’s overseas offices (likely Lima, Peru or Singapore) a plus
- Proficiency in languages in addition to English preferred
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