Senior Program Implementation Lead Job Opportunity at D-tree International

Senior Program Implementation Lead

Reports to: Zanzibar Director
Location: Zanzibar
Start Date: February or March 2023

Who we are

D-tree International 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. 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. We are currently focused on transitioning all aspects of Jamii ni Afya to the Government of Zanzibar (GoZ). A transition plan is being finalized which outlines the GoZ commitment to increasingly taking full ownership for the program. By 2026, the GoZ will fully own and lead Jamii ni Afya in the areas of political/financial leadership, technology and program implementation.

What you will do

We are recruiting for a Senior Program Implementation Lead to lead transitioning the daily Jamii ni Afya program implementation, operations, and management to the government. As an integral part of D-tree Zanzibar’s leadership team, you will work closely with the Director, Deputy Director and the team leads who are responsible for transitioning Jamii ni Afya’s financial and technology ownership to the government. Together you will ensure that the GoZ has the commitment, skills, systems, support, and long-term plans required to take on full ownership of Jamii ni Afya into the future. Specifically, the Senior Program Implementation Lead will be responsible for ensuring the national, zonal and district-level health teams have the buy-in, capacity, and support needed to manage Jamii ni Afya, oversee its implementation, facilitate program operations, and ensure that CHVs deliver high quality services to families across Zanzibar. This includes ensuring that the GoZ is able to independently manage the following aspects of Jamii ni Afya:

Programmatic:

• CHV replacement and refresher trainings
• Regular and targeted supervision
• District-level management of the Jamii ni Afya program, including oversight of supervisors of CHVs
• District level IT support and basic troubleshooting, with clear standard operating procedures to escalate challenging IT issues
• Data use to inform program planning and budget requests at the national and district level
• National level decision-making around Jamii ni Ayfa, including expansion of CHV service delivery package;
• CHV compensation or workload changes; and coordinating partner support.

Operations and Coordination:

• Timely and efficient mobile money payment of CHV and Supervisor stipends using the automated pay-for-performance system
• Timely issuing of data bundles to CHV and Supervisor mobile phones to facilitate app data syncing
• Adequate district-level budgeting for program activities in annual budgets, and oversight of budgets throughout the year
• Coordination of community health partners interest and support towards a unified vision for a Community Health Program in Zanzibar

Quality:

• Regular district and national-level data reviews to inform planning and prioritization of activities
• Monitoring of CHV performance, and appropriate action taken to ensure CHVs consistently meet performance targets
• Monitoring of program dashboards and ensuring appropriate follow-up and interventions to improve key health indicators
• Review the CHV supervisor and CHV Pay for Performance scheme based on implementation learnings and program achievements and revise the structure as needed
• Revise the Jamii ni Afya app content to accommodate new national service delivery guidelines or expansion in package of services or target group

You will achieve this through strategic programmatic leadership in which you will champion the vision for this transition and inspire D-tree staff and MOH partners to see it through; oversee a team of about 15 national, zonal and district-level MOH staff to ensure strong plans are in place to execute this vision; directly build the skills of MOH stakeholders; strengthen required MOH systems; and represent D-tree within Technical Working Groups, at high-level meetings and in other forums to advance the Jamii ni Afya programmatic transition and D-tree interests more generally.

Who you are

You are a highly motivated, inspiring and committed individual who has a deep understanding of the Zanzibar community health system and existing strong relationships with key health system actors at the national and district levels. You have experience fostering government ownership of health systems initiatives, and extensive experience in building skills and capacity of government teams to fully own health programs. You are able to rally people behind an inspiring shared vision, and develop and execute plans to achieve that vision. You are a strong people manager with experience managing teams of government staff, and take pride in supporting the development of those you oversee. And importantly, you are committed to D-tree’s vision of a world in which everyone has access to high-quality healthcare.

Responsibilities

Leadership & accountability (30% LOE)

• Based on the Jamii ni Afya transition plan, champion an inspiring vision for government ownership of Jamii ni Afya program implementation
• In collaboration with D-tree Zanzibar leadership and MOH stakeholders, develop a clear plan to achieve full government ownership of Jamii ni Afya program implementation by 2026
• Be accountable for achieving annual milestones and overall progress towards milestones within the transition plan
• Generate awareness of Jamii ni Afya achievements, data, approach, progress, and areas of improvement, to improve broad MOH understanding of the program and increase buy-in and support

Capacity building and technical assistance (30% LOE)

• Working with GoZ leadership, identify and closely coordinate with a Jamii ni Afya Implementation focal person within the National Health Promotion Unit, in both Pemba and Unguja, for all transition activities
• Develop plans and build the skills of district, zonal and national MOH staff to increasingly manage programmatic, operations and program quality for Jamii ni Afya
• Identify required system improvements at the district, zonal, and national level to enable the GoZ to manage Jamii ni Afya and implement plans to build or strengthen these systems
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with MOH staff engaged in Jamii ni Afya, and ensure they have the buy-in, support and capacity to increasingly own Jamii ni Afya implementation activities
• Develop a Jamii ni Afya Operations Manual at the national, district and health facility levels to document responsibilities and actions needed for the implementation of Jamii ni Afya

Team management (25% LOE)

• Oversee national MOH HPU focal persons (in Unguja and Pemba) who are supporting the Jamii ni Afya transition (who will, in turn, oversee district-level HPU focal persons)
• Conduct all activities together with national HPU focal persons to build their skills and solidify their ownership of Jamii ni Afya.
• Over time, hand over leadership of activities to these focal persons and provide oversight and support.
• Mentor HPU focal persons in leadership and management, to be able to fully manage and oversee Jamii ni Afya in the future
• Develop accountability mechanisms to ensure national and district-level MOH staff supporting the Jamii ni Afya transition are supporting program activities
• Ensure MOH staff have clear responsibilities, work plans and support from the D-tree team

Representation & coordination (15% LOE)

• Support MOH focal persons to uphold Jamii ni Afya interests among MOH, Implementing Partners and other stakeholders
• Represent D-tree at relevant Technical Working Groups, MOH and partner meetings
• Ensure strong coordination across MOH departments and Implementing Partners working in community health
• Strong coordination and collaboration with Senior Government Adviser and Senior Digital Health Adviser to inform the implementation and sustainability of Jamii ni Afya
• Communicate effectively through available forums at national, district and shehia level about Jamii ni Afya and the and role of D-tree

Qualifications

• We are looking for an inspiring, experienced and committed individual who can operate effectively at the strategic as well as operational levels to make our projects succeed.
• 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 skill set and attitude.
• 10+ years of experience working on health systems strengthening initiatives within Zanzibar
• A minimum of 5 years’ experience managing a team, with demonstrated experience in performance management and capacity building
• Existing strong relationships with key Zanzibar health system actors at the national, zonal and district levels
• Previous experience supporting government ownership of a donor-funded project including demonstrated experience or working closely with District Health Teams of the Ministry of Health
• Strong work ethic and the ability to work independently and make decisions under minimal supervision
• Superior analytical skills; ability to think logically and rationally about problems and solution-oriented
• Must be able to handle complex priorities, collaborate effectively with a team, be persistent and work under tight deadlines
• Good communication skills
• Excellent written and spoken English and Swahili required
• Tanzania nationals preferred

Salary Range:

87,750,000 TZS to 135,000,000 TZS gross annual salary inclusive of all cash compensation.

Note: Starting salaries typically fall in the lower half of the salary range; however, they are ultimately determined by the scope of the position, the candidate’s relevant experience, and internal equity.

Application information

To apply for this role please fill in the google form here. Only applicants who respond to all questions and include their CV as well as a thoughtful, tailored cover letter will 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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Senior Program Implementation Lead Job Opportunity at D-tree International