Senior Health Specialist

The Senior Health Specialist will oversee the Global Financing Facility's co-financing and technical assistance to countries to accelerate maternal and newborn health outcomes. The role involves advising on evidence-based approaches, supporting evaluation metrics, contributing to knowledge products, representing the GFF in global partnerships, and supporting country-led investment case development and implementation.

Responsibilities

• Provide advice to country clients, World Bank task teams and the GFF secretariat team on evidence-based and scalable approaches to address issues related to maternal, newborn and child health and stillbirth prevention (MNCH).
• Translate technical evidence and best practice into high quality investment case and large scale World Bank program development in the context of a health systems approach to RMNCH-N.
• Support the development of relevant metrics and evaluation approaches to enable results and performance-based financing approaches to improve MNCH performance with a focus on service quality.
• Advise on GFF collaboration with internal and external stakeholders on MNCH, including links to education, social protection, and labor market opportunities.
• Contribute to knowledge products including development and dissemination of tools, analytical work, country case studies and workshops at regional and global level, in collaboration with other teams within the GFF Secretariat.
• Support the GFF in routine reporting to stakeholders and responding to ad hoc requests for information on MNH and stillbirth prevention programming across the GFF portfolio and ensure successful operationalization of the GFF strategy, Transform 2030.
• Represent the GFF on global MNH donor and technical partnerships and at relevant events.
• Serve as a GFF Focal Point in one to two partner countries to support country led processes of investment case development and implementation and stakeholder alignment through a functional country platform.
• Engage with World Bank regions, country management units and task teams in the development and implementation of IDA/IBRD operations in support of the investment case and facilitate Bank access to GFF trust funds in support of strategic technical assistance, advisory services, and analytics.

Requirements

• Doctorate degree in medicine, public health or related field with a focus on Maternal and/or Newborn Health, or demonstrable equivalent expertise gained through work experience.
• At least 10 years of work experience in MNCH in low income and complex settings with specific knowledge and experience implementing evidence based MNCH tools, interventions, approaches, into large scale programs.
• Experience at integrating MNCH into World Bank operations would be an advantage.
• Experience working at or in support of primary health care, particularly the front-line provision of high-quality services.
• A firm understanding of primary health care in the context of broader health systems and health financing reforms.
• Experience working across sectoral, practice and disciplinary boundaries and with multiple stakeholders – both public and private – in building collaborative alliances for results.
• Track record of successful partner engagement and collaborating within teams and across organizations to deliver high quality products.
• Experience and knowledge of the World Bank’s operations and business processes is an advantage.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English; Ability to speak French an advantage.

Skills

• Maternal and newborn health
• MNCH Program Implementation
• Primary Health Care
• Public Health Systems Strengthening
• Health Financing Reforms
• Evidence-Based Interventions
• Partner Engagement
• Stakeholder Collaboration
• Global Health Financing
• Technical Assistance
• Program Evaluation
• Knowledge Product Development
• Investment Case Development
• World Bank Group Operations
• Health Sector Coordination
• Public Health Expertise
• Health Programme Management
• English Communication Skills
• French Communication

Languages

English, French