Country Health Director

Job Description
Position: Country Health Director, Kenya
Responsible To: Country Director and technically the Health Advisor(s)
Responsible for: Technical line management of international health staff
Location: Nairobi, Kenya, with frequent trips to the field sites in Kenya
Starting Date: ASAP
Contract Duration: 24 Months
Salary: ?34,670 - ?36,170 per annum (dependant on relevant experience) inclusive of annual Cost of Living allowance
Benefits: Insurance cover, accommodation, additional return flights, and annual leave entitlement of 24 days per annum rising to 30 days at the completion of 12 months of continuous employment with Merlin.

Only short-listed applicants will be contacted. Due to the urgency of this position, applications will be short listed on a regular basis and we may offer this post before the closing date. Please note that the position is unaccompanied.

Merlin International Profile
Merlin specialises in health, saving lives in times of crisis and helping to rebuild shattered health services. Each year, Merlin helps more than 15 million people in up to 20 countries.

Context and Background
Merlin has been operational in East Africa since 1997 with programmes in Kenya since 1998 and Somalia since 2004. Merlin works in close partnership with the Ministry of Health and a range of international and national partners to ensure that Merlin’s strategy and activities are complimentary to national health plans and policies.

Merlin currently operates in two regions in Kenya – Nyanza Province in the Western Highlands and Turkana Province in the Arid and Semi Arid region of northern Kenya. The overall objective of Merlin’s work in Kenya is to contribute to a reduction of health inequalities and the reversal in the current downward trend in health related indicators. Merlin does this by continuing to build on lasting, working relationships with communities and local partners; supporting the strengthening of the Kenyan health system; approaching health problems with innovative interventions; developing answers to key practical questions through operational research and using lesson learned at local levels to feed into national level programming and planning. Currently Merlin’s programmes in Nyanza focus on the prevention and control of highly prevalent malaria, HIV/AIDS and TB. In Turkana, Merlin is responding to the humanitarian needs of pastoralist communities caught in the vicious cycle of drought, food insecurity and lack of access to essential health services.

Main purpose of the role
The Country Health Director for Kenya has the overall responsibility for the Health elements of the country programme. This role provides strategic and technical leadership to ensure the effective development and implementation of quality health programmes in Kenya based on clearly defined country health strategies.

Overall Objectives (scope)
• Provide leadership and management to the programmes in Kenya
• Ensure the effective implementation of quality health programming in line with approved programme proposals and budgets
• Contribute to the overall planning and strategic direction of Merlin’s programme in Kenya
• Provide technical support to the programmes
• Represent Merlin to national authorities, international donors, international organisations and other NGOs at the national level.

Responsibilities
Leadership
• Ensure the effective implementation and quality of projects, i.e. provide overall technical supervision for the country programmes in Kenya
• Play an active role in the development and maintenance of a coherent programme strategy for the country that contributes to Merlin's aims in collaboration with the operational field staff and technical teams
• Coordinate and technically manage the overall planning and direction of Merlin's health activities
• Ensure effective communication with and information exchange between the health team members in Kenya
• Play a leading role in the creation of a shared vision among all staff of Merlin's programme staff and their role in achieving these
• Maintain constructive working relationships with MoH counterparts and senior members of the provincial teams in the regions of operation

Programme Management
• Develop and implement appropriate health care programmes in close consultation and coordination with the Country Management Teams (CMT) and HQ based Health Advisors;
• Ensure Merlin programmes are implemented according to Merlin policy and recognized international and national standards
• Ensure that realistic work-plans are in place and implemented for all programmes
• Ensure appropriate systems and plans are in place for dealing with health emergencies and provide leadership for staff during emergencies;
• Conduct regular visits to project sites for the purposes of project monitoring, quality control and strengthening of relationship between Merlin field staff, provincial and district authorities and other NGOs in the area
• Ensure the functioning and updating of health information systems in all Merlin sites
• Ensure the monitoring of the drug consumption in all field sites for the orders to be in line with consumption and to avoid stock ruptures
• Ensure, in strong collaboration with the field, CMT and regional HQ desks, that reports (external and internal) are of good quality and submitted in a timely manner
• Ensure that communication/updates to MoH and other health partners are timely and accurate

Health Strategy and Programme Development
• Monitor the health and humanitarian situation in the region and advise the Country Director and London based staff, on appropriate course(s) of action
• Coordinate/undertake needs assessment in line with evolving humanitarian priorities in coordination with Country Management Teams, Health Advisors and Regional Desk and formulate future plans for possible programme extension
• Encourage community participation in health activities to ensure the long term ownership and effectiveness of the programme.
• Develop and support a coherent health strategy to reflect health needs and Merlin’s capacity to meet these, in particular focusing on different donor compliance and mainstreaming of programmes.
• Lead and contribute to the preparation of high quality and timely programme proposals in response to health needs in collaboration with the Country Director, relevant field teams and Health Advisors
• Support Country Director in designing, drafting and negotiating new programmes with the representatives of existing and new financial donors
• Liaise closely with the Merlin London Health Department on policy/strategy development when required

Representation
• Represent Merlin's work to the MoH (at all levels), to international donors, UN agencies and (I)NGOs, through formal and informal contacts/meetings
• Contribute towards the dissemination of Merlin's work through publications (general, health sector, academic) in consultation with the field technical teams, the London Health Department and the London PR Department
• Develop advocacy and key strategies according to programme needs in Kenya and Somalia
• Ensure all relevant parties are kept informed on Merlin activities as appropriate

Human Resources
• Provide supervision, direction and coaching/mentoring to the Health Coordinators for Kenya and other technical staff where relevant.
• Play an active role in the recruitment of health staff in coordination with the Country Director, the Merlin London HR Department and the Health Advisers in London
• Support the Health Coordinators in the recruitment of qualified health personnel in the Merlin supported regions where necessary.
• Ensure briefings, appraisals and debriefings of health staff
• Identify training needs for both expatriate and national health staff
• Enhance the technical and health management skills of international and national health staff through formal & informal training in conjunction with the Health Coordinators
• Responsible for staff health care in general and in particular for international staff, following Merlin health policy
• Update medical evacuation guidelines for international staff and being a focal person for organizing medical evacuation in coordination with CMT, Health Advisor, London HR and Merlin’s Insurance agency
• Ensure appropriate health briefings for all new staff, consultants and visitors

Security
• As a member of the Country Management Team play an active role in ensuring that security guidelines are implemented and followed up
• Ensure personal/ team safety and compliance with security regulations

Other
• Maintain good inter-team communications, cultivate good team dynamics, and take suitable action when problems occur
• Provide coverage for other positions when necessary and carry out any other responsibilities as requested by the Country Director/ London Health Advisor

Person Specification
Essential
Qualifications, experience and competences
• Medical doctor or qualified nurse with Master in Public Health or equivalent degree
• Substantial post qualification experience in managing public health services within developing countries
• Previous responsibility for health programme management in emergency and transitional / development settings
• Extensive overseas management experience including strategic planning, and programme management
• Substantial experience of Primary Health Care, Epidemiology, Infectious Diseases e.g. malaria, HIV/AIDS and Reproductive Health and Nutrition.
• Flexibility towards treatment protocols and ability to incorporate advice from the Head Office health team when developing treatment protocols.
• Ability to use appropriate management tools to ensure the effective running of the programmes, staff management and development.
• Successful experience of representation at national and local levels
• Ability to write clear and concise reports/proposals
• Confident and proficient in HMIS and statistical package (Epi-Info, SPSS, STATA)
• Substantial experience of training staff and a commitment to national and expatriate staff capacity development
• Strong communication skills, with excellent written and spoken English
• Excellent management and personnel skills to enable the motivation, encouragement and participation of the Merlin health teams.
• Confident and proficient in the use of MS Office
• Some experience of managing budgets
• Experience of establishing strong working relationships with colleagues from different functions and cultures and an ability to work well with local authorities and other humanitarian actors
• Experience of a flexible approach to managing and prioritising a high workload and multiple tasks in a fast paced environment with tight deadlines
• Experience of proactively identifying and addressing issues
• An understanding of and commitment to Merlin’s mission and values

Desirable
Qualifications, experience and competences
• Previous working experience in Kenya
• Clear understanding of the MoH initiatives and strategies.
• Experience in epidemiological data analysis, interpretation and qualitative/quantitative assessments and programme development

Data Protection
Please note, on submitting your application, you are agreeing to Merlin holding and using the information that you have given for the purposes of recruitment and employment – should an offer be made. Where required by donors funding requirements, some job offers are conditional on our ensuring that potential employees’ names do not appear on counter terrorism lists generated by the United Nations, European Union or the United States. On submitting your application, you are agreeing to Merlin using the information that you have given for checking that your name does not appear on these lists.

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