Global Health Fellows Program
Technical Advisor II/III: Strategic Information Advisor
Strategic Information Branch; Strategic Information, Evaluation and Informatics Division; Office of HIV/AIDS; Bureau for Global Health; United States Agency for International Development
Location: Arlington, VA
Assignment: Two year fellowship
GHFP-II-P5-200
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 (USG) has made the fight against HIV/AIDS a top priority, not only for humanitarian reasons but because the HIV/AIDS crisis threatens the prosperity, stability and development of nations around the world. USAID has been, and continues to be, at the forefront of the USG response in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic, funding 10 billion dollars in activities since its inception of its international HIV/AIDS program in 1986 with programs in nearly 100 countries worldwide. PEPFAR is the largest commitment ever by any nation for an international health initiative dedicated to a single disease. In July 2008, the United States Congress re-authorized the PEPFAR legislation in the amount of $48 billion, $35.4 billion of which is dedicated to HIV/AIDS services, $3.8 billion to tuberculosis, $4.8 billion to malaria, $1.7 billion to research and $2.3 billion to training health care workers. The Global Fund will receive at least $2 billion per year.
USAID’s Bureau for Global Health’s (GH) Office of HIV/AIDS (OHA) has overarching responsibility for the full range of USAID’s HIV/AIDS programs and serves as the Agency’s lead office for implementing the interagency President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). OHA’s primary functions are to provide strategic direction, technical leadership, and support to field programs, and to effectively manage headquarters programs devoted to ending the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. As a lead partner in the PEPFAR interagency process, OHA makes decisions concerning the strategic allocation of financial and human resources in the sector and provides leadership in designing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating HIV/AIDS programs. This entails ensuring the technical integrity of USAID’s headquarters and mission strategies and programs; providing global technical leadership on the full range of interventions related to HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment; leading HIV/AIDS research programs; supporting USAID missions in working with partners and other government agencies; and monitoring, evaluating and reporting on the impact of the Agency’s HIV/AIDS programs in support of PEPFAR goals. GH/OHA is composed of eight Divisions and 25 Branches.
The Strategic Information, Evaluation and Informatics Division (SIEI), provides strategic direction, technical leadership, and support to OHA and USAID missions in managing and utilizing data systems. The SIEI Division focuses on building capacity in program monitoring, surveillance, and evaluation to increase the impact of programs on the HIV epidemic. The Division also ensures that strategic information is used to provide accountability, oversight and management of PEPFAR programs and partners; provides technical expertise to advance the use of expenditure data for increasing transparency , oversight and accountability across programs to achieve the greatest impact in the HIV/AIDS response; and manages and coordinates in-country health information systems and health information technology through support of data standards and interoperability.
The Strategic Information Branch provides technical expertise to support and promote data-informed decision making, through program monitoring, reporting and analysis in order to target resources appropriately to achieve HIV epidemic control. The branch supports headquarters and missions by building capacity for program monitoring and surveillance to improve HIV/AIDS programs and to provide accountability, oversight and management of programs and partners. The Branch focuses on strengthening PEPFAR and USAID program data for use in inter-agency and intra-agency analyses.
INTRODUCTION:
The role of strategic information (SI) is critical in planning and implementing PEPFAR programs. SI teams support both host country governments and the USG Team to build systems that provide quality and timely data for decision making. Each USG country team should have SI staff to manage the portfolio of activities necessary to accomplish this objective. The position of the Headquarters (HQ) Strategic Information Advisor was created to support the country team’s structure as well as facilitate communication between the USG country teams and HQ SI staff. SI Advisors, together with Regional Advisors (RAs) in OHA, are uniquely positioned to support country teams at the HQ level. Feedback from field staff and RAs reinforces the need to continue this role. The HQ SI Advisor also supports OHA’s technical (prevention, care, treatment) teams in managing and analyzing data for program improvement and management.
The Strategic Information Advisor (Advisor) will be based in the Strategic Information (SI) Branch within the SIEI Division and will serve both as a point of contact and as a coordinator for PEPFAR-supported country teams for all USAID/PEPFAR SI related activities. The Advisor will provide technical advice to PEPFAR-supported countries and to technical area teams within OHA. The Advisor will receive technical direction from the SI Branch Chief, who will serve as the onsite manager.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Strategic Information Advisor will be responsible for:
- Technical guidance to PEPFAR-supported countries:
- Providing technical advice to the USG country teams in program planning (annual Country Operation Plans) and reporting (quarterly program reports).
- Supporting the strengthening of country capacity to utilize data for program planning and target setting.
- Working with the USAID country team to determine if the planning and reporting process reflects current policy and guidance.
- Serving as a liaison between the USAID country team and HQ by connecting country teams that require technical assistance with experts in technical program areas.
- Participating in portfolio reviews when needed.
- Coordinating and communicating with the HQ Country Lead and representatives from the various Technical Working Groups on SI related issues as needed.
- Providing technical guidance to program areas (prevention, care, treatment) within OHA:
- Providing technical support to technical teams within OHA in program planning, data collection and analysis to support decision making.
- Serving as a liaison between SI and technical teams to enhance the OHA and USAID-wide understanding and use of data.
- Analyzing data and participating in portfolio reviews as needed to support technical objectives.
- Providing technical guidance within the SI Team:
- Participating in planning, implementing and reporting on USAID activities at the Branch, Division, Office and Agency levels.
- Participating on various multi-agency, international collaborative efforts.
- Maintaining communication with other SI Advisors to reduce redundancies in tasks, share information and promote “synergies” in individual and team functioning.
- In collaboration with the SI Branch Chief, working with SI Advisors to resolve challenges related to their role(s) as SI Advisors.
LEVEL III
An Advisor at the level III will be further responsible for:
- Providing strategic leadership to the branch and technical guidance to other USG staff involved in HIV/AIDS SI activities.
- Establishing processes that help ensure that data generated by the SI systems are used for program planning, policy development, advocacy, and program evaluations. This would be in collaboration with external stakeholders, agency leadership and/or partner country governments.
- Supporting the increased use of partner country systems for PEPFAR reporting.
- Serving as a nominated member of interagency committees tasked with development of strategic priorities for analysis work plans.
International and domestic travel approximately 25-30%.
TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (7%)
- Keeping abreast of literature and latest developments in the fields of strategic information with regards to HIV/AIDS.
- Deepening knowledge of strategic information.
- Participating in interagency and intra-agency working groups as appropriate to the scope of work.
- Participating in professional continuing education and skills training within the purview of GHFP-II.
REQUIRED SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE:
- Master’s degree or higher in public health, public policy, epidemiology or a related discipline.
- Knowledge of monitoring and evaluation methodology including frameworks, data quality assurance, analysis reporting and best practices in data dissemination and data use.
- Demonstrated experience working with HIV/AIDS programs in resource-challenged settings desirable.
- Demonstrated experience with managing data, information, and monitoring and evaluation of HIV/AIDS program activities and implementation.
- Demonstrated flexibility and openness in responding to changing work priorities and environments.
- Strong interpersonal communication, leadership and writing skills.
- Ability to work on diverse teams and with staff of other USG and international donor agencies.
- High degree of judgment, ingenuity and originality to interpret strategy, to analyze, develop and present work results.
- Ability to travel internationally.
- US citizenship or US permanent residency required.
In addition to the above, the position requires the following at each level:
TECHNICAL ADVISOR II
- Minimum five (5) years’ public health and program monitoring and evaluation experience with at least two (2) years’ experience in an international or resource challenged setting.
TECHNICAL ADVISOR III
- Minimum ten (10) years’ public health and program monitoring and evaluation experience, with at least three to five (3-5) years’ experience in an international or resource challenged setting.
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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