Overall Responsibilities
The African Strategies for Health (ASH) Project is a five-year contract with the United States Government through the US Agency for International Development Africa Bureau (USAID/AFR). ASH’s mandate is to assist the Africa Bureau of USAID to work with African institutions, other development partners and partners within the USG to provide a strategic vision for guiding investments to further the health of Africans. The project conducts reviews, assessments and facilitates dialogue with partners working in the field to improve the understanding of constraints impeding the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the goals of the Global Health Initiative (GHI). The ASH project office is in Arlington, Virginia and works with three partners and numerous collaborators. The Senior Project Associate (SPA) is responsible for providing research and coordination support to ASH technical specialists in order to facilitate the smooth implementation of the project’s technical activities. The SPA helps ensure the successful completion of programmatic deliverables by supporting ASH technical and project management staff. She/he works closely with the Technical Director to provide technical, administrative and logistical support to technical specialists to implement activities across a variety of technical areas including: MNCH, HIV/AIDS, Malaria, TB, HSS, Family Planning and Cross-Sectoral. The SPA contributes to the administrative and logistical management of activities through liaising with the ASH Administrative Coordinator and Finance & Administrative Director as needed.
Specific Responsibilities
Technical (70%)
- Under the direction of technical specialists, undertake literature and document reviews related to project activities for the development of technical briefs, reports, and concept notes.
- Summarize data from literature and document reviews.
- Extract and analyze data from WHO, UN, MICS, DHS, and other databases.
- Produce data visualizations, including maps, tables, and charts.
- Under the direction of technical staff, assist in the drafting and editing of technical activity/project documents, including presentations for meetings and conferences.
- Review and copy edit technical activity/project documents.
Operations (20%)
- Under the direction of technical staff, prepare scopes of work for short term technical activities (STTA) and assist in the identification of technical resources.
- Under the direction of the ASH Finance and Administrative Director, assist with the hiring of consultants including preparation of USAID approval requests and other administrative requirements.
- Ensure adherence to MSH’s Procurement Integrity standards in all activities.
- Coordinate logistics for workshop, conference, and meeting activities in compliance with USAID and MSH regulations. Contribute to the preparation of agendas and any necessary materials as well as any follow-up correspondence with participants after completion of workshops, conferences, or meetings.
- Assist with organizing services for meetings and conferences, including catering, venue, A/V equipment and services, travel, visas, accommodations, and production of materials, as needed.
- Assist with the documentation of proceedings from meetings and develop meeting reports.
- Coordinate with and assist other SPA to ensure adequate coverage during their absence (i.e., vacation, sick leave).
- Act as the administrative backstop on ad-hoc project activities, as assigned.
Information Management (10%)
* Work with Project Communications Specialist to draft communication products highlighting technical activities and ASH results.
* Update the project website, as needed.
* Contribute to/maintain activity and deliverable trackers.
* Respond to inquiries for project information.Qualifications
* BA required, MA preferred (e.g. Public Health, Development Studies, Environmental Health)
* 2 years of work experience in a related field or organization.
* Experience working with African projects or in Africa is preferred.
* Experience working with US Government systems (USAID, State Department, CDC, etc.) a plus.
* Fluent English required. Fluency in French and/or Portuguese is a plus.
* Ability to manipulate statistical packages (Epi Info, SPSS, SAS, StatCalc, etc.).
* Strong writing and proofreading skills.
* Experience researching academic journal databases and grey literature.
* Demonstrated ability in computer skills for word processing, databases, spreadsheets, and presentations (Microsoft Office applications preferred); and ability to learn new software packages.
* Demonstrated competence to assess priorities and manage a variety of activities in a time-sensitive environment and meet deadlines with attention to detail and quality. Excellent time management and multi-tasking ability.
* Experience working with teams to achieve results as well as ability to work independently, take initiative, and use good judgment.
* Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with professional colleagues in a broad range of nongovernmental, governmental, and international organizations within multiple socio-cultural contexts.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS: Keyboard use; pulling drawers; lifting papers
EmoticonEmoticon