Job Vacancy at Options Consultancy Services Limited

Options Consultancy Services Limited (Options) was established in 1992 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marie Stopes International. Options is a leading provider of technical and management expertise in the health and social sectors. We work in partnership with national and state governments, international development agencies, the private sector and civil society to strengthen programmes and policies to support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in health and poverty reduction.

Our work focuses on providing expertise in sexual and reproductive health, maternal newborn and child health, HIV and AIDS, citizen voice and accountability, gender, social inclusion and equity to enhance institutional effectiveness to support strengthening of health service delivery.

We are recruiting to fill the position of:

Job Title: State Coordinator

Location: Bauchi

Job Description
MamaYe – E4A Nigeria State Coordinator Bauchi Terms of Reference

• We are looking for a State Coordinator to strategically drive and manage the smooth implementation of MamaYe- Evidence for Action (E4A) activities in Bauchi State.
• You are passionate about maternal and newborn health issues and have a track record of mobilising, communicating and catalysing social change in Nigeria.
• You are a prominent leader in civil society or highly experienced in working with Civil Society Organisations and an activist for women and children in Nigeria
• You have experience leading and managing a team.
• You have strong relevant networks and experience in coalition building.
• You are skilled at developing health strategies and cultivating partnerships with diverse stakeholders including government, private sector, non-governmental and civil society.
• You have an astute understanding of and effectively employ strategies within the political, social, cultural and economic landscape in Nigeria when designing and implementing advocacy campaigns and initiatives.
• You are a strong writer, communicator, team player and connector with the ability to make change happen.
• You have an understanding of the political, social, cultural and economic landscape in Nigeria

The Programme

• Evidence for Action (E4A) is a programme managed by Options Consultancy Services and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation until 2017 to improve maternal and newborn survival through a combined focus on evidence, advocacy and accountability across three sub-Saharan African countries: Ethiopia, Malawi and Nigeria.The E4A consortium brings together experts from academic institutions, internationally recognized advocacy and accountability coalitions and civil society organizations. It works through local institutions in each of the three selected countries which host a small E4A Country Team.
• In each country and at a regional level, E4A has launched a locally driven programme under an umbrella E4A regional advocacy campaign known as MamaYe! The campaign has a clear focus on survival and positive stories rather than a resigned social acceptance of death in pregnancy and childbirth which is common throughout Africa.
• The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through the advocacy work, has committed resources to expand the reach of the E4A program and enable existing and effective models of change to be scaled-up, improving maternal and newborn survival in Nigeria, Malawi and Ethiopia.

Job Summary

• The State Coordinator for Bauchi will strategically drive and manage the smooth implementation of MamaYe- Evidence for Action (E4A) activities in this State in a way that is Value for Money and ensuring that expected results, as laid out in the programme logframe and country strategy, are achieved.
• You will be expected to work with the Country Director, National Technical Advisor, Communication Specialist, Media Advisor, MamaYe Campaign Lead, Budget Advocacy Advisor and other State Coordinators to strategically use evidence for strengthening advocacy and accountability for maternal and newborn health, targeting this evidence to relevant audiences (e.g. non-governmental organisations, advocates, accountability structures, district health planners, policy makers) with the aim of accelerating progress on maternal and newborn survival in Bauchi State.
• A key component of this role is to facilitate evidence based planning and decision making to ensure efficient allocation of resources to MNH in order to improve quality of care for mothers and babies.
• As the State Coordinator, you will be responsible for the overall functioning of MamaYe-E4A in Bauchi, providing technical inputs and support in the use of evidence to power advocacy and accountability on maternal and newborn health. Working closely with the MamaYe Lead, you will ensure a strong MamaYe movement grounded in evidence based approaches and tactics.
• Technical support will be provided to you by Options, specifically the Technical Support Unit and consortium partners, who will help ensure you have the international and national technical support necessary to deliver your objectives.
• You will proactively identify and exploit opportunities for scaling up existing E4A approaches that have proven to be successful. In addition, you will be expected to share areas of learning and come up with new ideas, which will enable the programme to achieve results. You will also be responsible for ensuring that state level work reinforces national level work and responds to changes at the national level.
• You will be expected to work closely with E4A colleagues based in Nigeria and internationally, particularly on technical and work planning issues, contribute inputs to the country operational plan and strategies, and ensure that state level logframe indicators and targets are met.
• You will be based in Bauchi State at an organisation selected by Options, which will act as the host agency. It will be important to work closely with staff from this host agency and make sure that capacity at the agency is built where necessary.
• You will report to the National Technical Advisor, whilst maintaining regular technical communication with other E4A colleagues.
• Team reporting arrangements will be reviewed if any change in team staffing occurs.

Responsibilities

• Lead Technical Inputs on MNH in Bauchi
• Support the implementation of the MamaYe-E4A strategy at state level
• Support MNH evidence-related strategies/activities in the State;
• Support relevant ministries and others in strengthening maternal death review processes;
• Contribute to the generation, analysis and packaging of evidence to support advocacy and accountability efforts;
• Establish state level accountability mechanisms bringing together a diverse array of partners to push for change on MNCH issues
• Collaborate with stakeholders (i.e. including media, advocates, CSOs) committed to strengthening evidence, advocacy and accountability in Nigeria;
• Proactively anticipate and participate in identifying technical assistance (TA)/subcontracting needs relating to evidence, advocacy and accountability areas or wider work in focus states, in conjunction with Options, and management of TA including development of TORs, contracting of TA and monitoring of TA outputs;
• Oversee financial management and reporting in Bauchi State and submission of timely and accurate financial reports to Options;
• Oversee financial management and reporting for the Bauchi office’s budget;
• Actively look for opportunities to drive forward E4A’s work in Bauchi and opportunities to collaborate with other in-country stakeholders
• Lead on coalition building with regard to accountability mechanisms in Bauchi, helping to ensure that E4A makes the right connections and supporting the development of E4A as a platform in line with E4A’s strategy;
• Work in conjunction with the Media Advisor to build the MNH capacity of Nigerian journalists, opinion-formers and decision-makers in line with the E4A Nigeria work- plan.
• Information Packaging, Dissemination, Advocacy, Accountability and Sharing of Lessons Learned
• Identify the information needs of target audiences and package/tailor evidence according to formats which are most relevant and meaningful to each one;
• Develop tactful strategies to promote the effective use of evidence into action (policy, programme, advocacy, accountability) among different stakeholders;
• Work with advocates and those working to strengthen accountability mechanisms to ensure they have the evidence required to be more effective;
• Use evidence to support the development and populating of accountability tools to track MNH progress and commitments;
• Package complex scientific information for a range of stakeholders in an easily understandable and appropriate format for non-scientists, and disseminate as appropriate;
• Identify opportunities for sharing lessons learned and tools, and dissemination of the programme result
• Attend Advisory Committee meetings as required to provide updates on E4A’s work in Bauchi State;
• Track progress in Bauchi State against logframe indicators in collaboration with the Evidence Advisor;
• Contribute to keeping the MamaYe websites up to date with relevant evidence, new stories and blogs;
• Contribute to the development of workplans and country strategies and their implementation.
• Delivery of Operational Plan
• Develop country operational plan in Bauchi State, coordinating activities of the programme team and consultants (and engaging in trouble-shooting where necessary) to support the smooth implementation of the programme;
• Work with MamaYe-E4A staff to regularly review and develop the political strategy to overcome barriers and build on supportive factors to ensure the successful implementation of the E4A workplan in Bauchi State.
• Provide technical input to the overall E4A strategy, using best practice on what works to achieve change in health outcomes;
• Ensure sound technical implementation of the operational plan in Bauchi State;
• Quality assure evidence related outputs;
• Monitor progress of operational plan to ensure activities in Bauchi State are on track and regularly report on progress to the National Technical Advisor;
• Work with and leverage efforts by other development partners in the State, and with their networks to mobilise greater public and political support for advocacy efforts;
• Work with the MamaYe Campaign Lead, Communications Specialist and Budget
• Advocacy Advisor to develop advocacy materials (i.e. stories, campaign materials) and ensure that the E4A/MamaYe Nigeria campaign website is a useful tool for delivering the advocacy strategy.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV’s and covering letters to:m.cavanagh@options.co.uk 

Note:

• This is a full-time position, running from April 2016 (depending on the availability of the successful candidate) to March 2017.
• Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for interview.
• Early submission of applications is recommended as shortlisting will be an ongoing process as applications are received. Interviews will be held on Thursday 31 March 2016.