Global Health Fellows Program
Technical Advisor III/IV: Senior OVC Research and Evaluation Advisor
Implementation Support Division, Office of HIV/AIDS, Bureau for Global Health, United States Agency for International Development
Location: Arlington, VA
Assignment: Two year fellowship
GHFP-II-P5-182
The Global Health Fellows Program (GHFP-II) is a five year cooperative agreement implemented and managed by the Public Health Institute in partnership with Global Health Corps, GlobeMed, Management Systems International and PYXERA Global. GHFP-II is supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
GHFP-II’s goal is to improve the effectiveness of USAID health programs by addressing the Agency’s immediate and emerging human capacity needs. The program seeks to accomplish this goal first through the recruitment, placement and support of diverse health professionals at the junior, mid and senior levels. These program participants include fellows, interns, corporate volunteers and Foreign Service National professionals. The program then provides substantial performance management and career development support to participants, including annual work planning assistance, and ensures that professional development opportunities are available.
Looking to the future, GHFP-II also seeks to establish a pool of highly-qualified global health professionals that will ensure the Agency’s ongoing technical leadership and effectiveness. This objective is supported by an extensive outreach program that brings global health opportunities and specialized career advice to a diverse range of interested individuals, with a particular focus on those underrepresented in the field of global health.
BACKGROUND:
The US Government’s (USG) engagement to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS is a top priority worldwide. The USG response includes coordination among USAID, the Centers for Disease Control, Department of Defense, Peace Corps, and other entities. This initiative is collectively known as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). USAID has been at the forefront of the USG’s response to provide quality HIV/AIDS services to over one hundred countries to mitigate the health crisis that threatens the prosperity, stability and development of these nations.
Aligned with the USAID evaluation policy and the PEPFAR 3.0 focus on data for decision-making, USAID’s Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) Team supports a portfolio of activities including implementation science studies, program evaluations and routine reporting through the Site Improvement through Monitoring System (SIMS) and the PEPFAR Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (MER) indicators.
INTRODUCTION:
The Senior OVC Research and Evaluation Advisor (Senior Advisor) will work in the Global Health Bureau’s (GH) Office of HIV/AIDS (OHA) in the Implementation Support (IS) Division. The Senior Advisor is expected to work as a key member of the OVC Team. S/he will work closely with the OVC Team Lead and receive guidance from the ISD Chief as her/his onsite manager. S/he will be a member of the Measure Evaluation Management Team, which is a cross-division team focused on health and social information systems, high quality evaluation of HIV/AIDS programs, and data use for decision making. The Senior Advisor will work across multiple constituencies to provide key leadership and technical expertise in the areas of OVC implementation science and evaluation strategies; collection and analysis of routine program data; and dissemination of research and program results. The Senior Advisor will also serve as the liaison for the OVC inter-agency technical working group (TWG) and broader PEPFAR Strategic Information (SI) working groups and structures including the PEPFAR Interagency Collaborative for Program Improvement (ICPI).
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Senior OVC Research and Evaluation Advisorwillbe responsible for:
- Providing technical oversight to centrally-funded implementation science research studies; pilot evaluations within the global/central OVC mechanisms, multi-country, USG supported, OVC project evaluations and special studies to address policy and cross-cutting programmatic issues.
- Integrating results of various studies and analyses into comprehensive technical briefs and evaluation reports for GH/OHA, PEPFAR and Mission staff; and contributing to peer-reviewed journals and other scholarly publications.
- Developing systems and processes to enhance oversight of Mission-funded country studies of particular importance.
- Promoting a common understanding among implementers and host country counterparts that research and evaluation data and program recommendations will serve as the basis for any substantive changes to improve targeting and resource programming for OVCs.
- Serving as OHA’s senior OVC technical advisor for the OVC TWG on SI and as a liaison for the ICPI, Expenditure Analysis (EA), the MER, and the SIMS.
- Additionally, leading efforts for the OVC TWG sub-working group on evidence building for advancing key evidenced based OVC programs.
- Coordinating with the Global Health Bureau and the Policy and Public Liaison office on USAID evaluation efforts to improve transparency of data such as USAID’s Global Health Data Access Plan, the Data for Development (Open Data) Policy and the foreign assistance dashboard.
- Leading efforts to ensure that “lessons learned” and “best practices” are disseminated and that OVC evaluation results are used to inform ongoing programs and new program development.
- Providing expert technical leadership for OVC activities under the current and any follow on MEASURE Evaluation award and for the SOAR project.
Level IV
An Advisor at the level IV will be further responsible for:
- Promoting sophisticated analysis of existing data sources on child health and wellbeing, including but not limited to rigorous systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and modelling studies.
- Establishing and nurturing key collaborations with research institutions and academics, with the aim of advancing the collective capacity to design, manage and interpret rigorous evaluation and research studies on vulnerable children and their families across USAID’s Missions.
- Leading efforts to identify, adapt, refine and pilot/integrate within the research portfolio of PEPFAR’s OVC programs, metrics and research methodologies that advance the state of the art in evaluation of PEPFAR’s OVC portfolio.
- Conducting complex analysis of policy and program goals and objectives to identify and formulate specific policy and program options in the OVC area based on research and evaluation findings.
- Directing or participating in review of proposed OVC studies including protocols for IRB submission.
International and domestic travel approximately 10%.
Training and professional development (7%)
- Keeping abreast of literature and latest developments in the fields of OVC research and evaluation.
- Deepening knowledge of OVC research and evaluation.
- Participating in interagency and intra-agency working groups as appropriate to SOW.
- Participating in professional continuing education and skills training within the purview of GHFP-II.
REQUIRED SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE:
- Doctoral degree in psychology, education or related social or behavioral science discipline.
- Proven experience with evaluation methodology including frameworks, data quality assurance, analysis reporting and best practices in data dissemination and data use required.
- Verified expertise in data management processes and tools including web-based database systems.
- Knowledge of and experience in information management systems.
- Experience providing technical oversight on large-scale child welfare and development, or education evaluations.
- Demonstrated flexibility and openness in responding to changing work priorities and environment.
- Demonstrated ability to develop positive working relationships with donors, other partners and host country officials in a cross-cultural environment.
- Strong interpersonal skills and proven ability to develop and maintain effective working relationships across teams and organizations and with external partners in a complex international and multi-cultural environments.
- Strong organizational skills with the ability to plan, coordinate and implement work inputs from several sources and partners, and manage the simultaneous delivery of multiple outputs.
- Experience drafting briefing materials for non-technical audiences and deliver oral presentation of evaluation findings in concise, jargon-free language.
- Strong computer and writing skills with proven ability to produce concise technical reports and high quality presentations in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint with graphics.
- US citizenship or US permanent residency required.
In addition to the above, the position requires the following at each level:
Technical Advisor III
- Minimum of ten (10) years’ experience in implementing child welfare or development or other social sector programs, with at least three (3) years’ experience working in an international or resource challenged setting directly related to evaluation of programs for orphans and other vulnerable children or related populations.
Technical Advisor IV
- Minimum fifteen (15) years’ experience in implementing child welfare or development or other social sector programs with at least five (5) years’ experience in an international or resource challenged setting directly related to evaluation of programs for orphans and other vulnerable children or related populations.
SALARY AND BENEFITS:
Salary based on commensurate experience and earnings history. The Public Health Institute offers a comprehensive benefits package including professional development programs.
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