Program Officer at D-tree Tanzania

Program Officer at D-tree Tanzania

Program Officer

Program · Unguja Island, Zanzibar
Reports to: Sr. Program Manager
Location: Zanzibar

Start Date: Immediate

Who we are

D-tree is a global digital health organization dedicated to ensuring that everyone has access to high-quality primary healthcare in underserved areas. We do this by working with governments to design, build and deploy digital tools for frontline health workers that improve their ability to deliver high-quality, evidence-based care. D-tree engages with governments to develop a shared vision for the potential of digital health, demonstrates the effectiveness of digital systems to improve health outcomes, and accompanies governments to scale these digital systems nationally and institutionalize them within their broader health systems.

Since 2011, D-tree has partnered with the Zanzibar Ministry of Health to implement an innovative digital health program, Jamii ni Afya (“Community is health”) supporting Community Health Volunteers to provide health services within their communities. This program has consistently demonstrated improved health outcomes, a strengthened community health system, and increased use of data for decision-making. Over time, Jamii ni Afya has grown from a pilot to a national program and has demonstrated how digital technology can transform the quality of a health system. The Zanzibar government has committed to adopt Jamii ni Afya at national scale; integrating digitally-enabled Community Health Volunteers into their formal Community Health Strategy, and to strengthen components of Jamii ni Afya including Early Childhood Development and immunizations. This represents the world’s first nationally scaled digital community health program, bringing high quality health services to the doorsteps of all of Zanzibar. The digital health program reached full scale in August 2021, allowing D-tree to focus on program sustainability, quality and impact.

Who you are

We are recruiting for a highly skilled and experienced Program Officer to work as an integral part of our Zanzibar team. You are responsible for program coordination and implementation and will play an active role, with the Senior Program Manager in program quality improvement and government engagement. You have excellent attention to detail and the ability to be accountable for planning and coordinating program activities including work plans, project deliverables, and donor reporting. You have prior experience in a similar role and can demonstrate your ability to coordinate highly complex projects, while working effectively within a team. You have experience strengthening digital systems and engaging with various technical and government partners to ensure long-term sustainability of systems. You are a strong communicator – both orally and written – and have excellent teamwork, collaboration and problem-solving skills. You are excited by D-tree’s mission and our pioneering work in Zanzibar and are driven by the impact that our work has on improving people’s lives.

What you will do

The Program Officer will collaborate with the Senior Program Manager to ensure that Zanzibar programs are planned and implemented at a high quality, within scope, schedule and budget. You will co-develop and manage work plans, ensure spending is aligned with the project budget, support financial management, liaise with project partners and other stakeholders, and draft donor progress reports. Given the technical nature of our work, you will support the design and development processes of digital systems strengthening – working to understand and document needs and working to propose relevant solutions. When projects are implemented, you will work closely with the program team and partners to develop training and implementation plans, program monitoring tools, and troubleshooting plans to ensure smooth implementation and sustainability. You will also support trainings with a consortium of staff and build capacity of partners and local government to support transition of the digital system management to the government. This is a dynamic and challenging role requiring individuals with experience coordinating projects and working with a variety of technical and government partners.

Specific responsibilities include:

Coordination & Implementation

• Coordinate and support the the design and development of digital system updates to better support Early Childhood Development and immunizations, including applying a human-centered design approach to develop context-specific messages.
• Support preparation, logistics and implementation of meetings and trainings with government and other stakeholders (including implementing partners, CHVs, facility health workers and supervisors).
• Conduct field follow-up activities, supportive supervision, and troubleshooting as needed to support digital system use, Jamii ni Afya transition to the government and Cross cutting program implementation.
• Provide coordination and technical guidance of community health activities being planned by cross cutting community health partners in Zanzibar ensuring cohesion and avoiding duplication of efforts.
• Regularly monitor program and review Jamii ni Afya -DHIS2 dashboard to understand trends and health impacts; use data to identify areas for improvement and propose strategies to improve system and program performance.
• Critically contribute to quarterly activity plans and budgets preparation for cross cutting program implementation.
• Support any other related duty as may be assigned by supervisor.

Communication and Presentation

• Lead the preparation of project reports and share these with the Program Manager for Review 3 days before the due date.
• In collaboration with Project Staff, support for preparation of technical and programmatic program reports.
• Maintain a working relationship with the project consortium team, regularly attending program meetings, participating in discussion and providing updates as needed.
• In collaboration with D-tree’s Communications Manager, generate content for external communications aligned with D-tree’s communications strategy

Qualifications

The following attributes are a general overview, but we will consider individuals who do not meet all of the details below if you have the right skillset and attitude.

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (e.g. public health, global development, or clinical medicine) OR Advanced
• Diploma with at least 3 years’ experience in public health programs
• Experience in Public Health, Health Administration, Clinical Medicine, Health Sciences, Community
• Development, Social Work, Digital Health, Working with Government a plus
• Experience in Early Childhood Development and/or immunizations a plus
• Experience in human-centered design a plus
• Strong coordination, communication, inter-personal and critical thinking skills
• Strong ability to understand and use data to inform decision making
• Good analytical skills; ability to think logically and rationally about problems and solution oriented
• Must be able to collaborate effectively with a team but should be self-motivated and be able to work independently
• Must show attention to detail and produce high quality written work.
• Proven computer skills in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint required
• Fluent in Swahili and good written and spoken English
• Tanzania national required

Salary Range

The salary range for this role is 26,000,000 TZS to 35,333,333 TZS annually inclusive of all cash compensation. Salary scales are set according to an explicit compensation policy, and relevant market data is analyzed when setting ranges for each role. To ensure internal parity, D-tree will analyze the candidate’s overall number of years of experience as well as relevant technical expertise pertaining to the position and in comparison with staff in the same job group to make the offer salary. Because salary ranges are small and the internal parity review is thorough, offers are firm.

Application information

To apply for this role please click the application link and follow the instructions. Applications which do not meet these requirements will not be considered. Please note that by applying to this position, you consent to your name being checked against a terrorist watch list prior to an offer of employment.

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