Project Management Specialist (SPHSS & HSS) - USAID India (Apply by: 28 May 2014)

USAID/India is accepting applications for the following Foreign Service National (FSN) Personal Services Contract position: 

Advertisement No. : USAID/14-08

Position Title : Project Management Specialist (Senior Private Health Sector Solutions and Health Systems Strengthening)

Number of Positions : One 

Office : Health Office (HO)

Grade : FSN-12

Location : The position is based at New Delhi.

Working Hours : 40 hours per week, Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:00pm

Education:

Master’s degree or Post Graduate Diploma (from reputed institute) in business administration, finance, economics, or other related field is required. Additional training in health systems, innovation and technology, and related fields is desired.

Experience:

Ten years of direct private sector work experience in strategy consulting, business planning, or corporate development, that require deep understanding of marketplace dynamics, deal structuring, and negotiation; demonstrated direct experience in market priming and market shaping activities, preferably for health products and services or base-of-pyramid markets; experience working in or directly with the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device industry, or private health service delivery; experience working successfully in both a high pressure and a team environment, and minimum of two years’ of team leadership experience is required. 

Duties:

The Senior Private Health Sector Solutions and Health Systems Strengthening Project Management Specialist has overarching strategic, supervisory, technical, project management, and program/administrative responsibilities, and serves as a critical link between Health Office programs and private sector resources. S/he functions with a high degree of independence with respect to developing private sector relationships to address key health challenges, as well as responsibilities related to guiding the private sector portfolio of the Health Office to achieve greater health outcomes. The incumbent will report to the Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) Team Leader, who has overall responsibility for all HSS activities in the portfolio. 

Broadly, the incumbent’s responsibilities will include:

I. Strategic, Technical, and Thought Leadership 

• Provide expert technical advice and strategic direction for ramping up engagement of the private sector in programs for sustainable health impact, identifying key opportunities for establishing a strategic footprint in India to capitalize on the growing wealth in the country; scan landscape for potential investors including medical technology and pharmaceutical companies, provider networks/associations, consumer packaged goods firms, social enterprises, angel investors, impact investors, high net-worth individuals, among others; track global best practices in private health sector solutions, evidence, U.S. Government (USG) objectives, resource availability, cost-effectiveness, and likelihood of success of potential partnerships; use negotiating and influencing skills as a trusted thought leader to champion appropriate approaches and effective state-of-the-art interventions to bring sustainable change; represent USAID/India with active participation at meetings, seminars, and conferences on health sector solutions coming through the private sector.

• Actively seek opportunities to promote innovative private sector solutions for health sector challenges, leveraging resources, forging market-based partnerships, as well as local or global development alliances, to achieve the Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) goals and greater potential for sustainability; serve as a private sector champion, and collaborate with other private-sector champions, as appropriate; and work closely with the Center for Accelerating Innovation and Impact and the U.S. Global Development Lab in Washington and the Mission Center for Innovation.

• Help to develop a vision for private sector engagement to achieve the three Agency goals related to 1) ending preventable maternal and child death, 2) achieving an AIDS-free generation, and 3) reversing the epidemic of TB; lead collaboration among the three Health Office teams for a common agenda regarding private sector solutions and engagement, partnerships, and innovations; participate in Mission work groups assigned to innovation, and public-private partnerships, as might be assigned from time-to-time by Mission or Health Office management; provide analyses, expert advice, updates on developments, and recommendations to senior Mission management and staff regarding strategy formulation and private sector engagement related primarily to health resources in the Mission’s portfolio; identify short- and long-range achievable, sustainable opportunities and strategies and participate, as required, in the development of Mission strategic plans, monitoring strategies, results analyses, resource requests, and other strategic planning and reporting documentation.

• Catalyze opportunities for private sector solutions/opportunities among Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent (RMNCH+A), HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB), HSS and other programs across the entire Health Office, igniting relationships between private sector, and other technical staff and partners; serve as a convener and foster collaboration within the entire Health Office so that private sector solutions can support efforts to achieve the three Agency goals named above; prepare guidance or “rules of engagement,” when necessary; represent USAID and proactively participate in coordination of activities and issues with GOI, the private sector, other donor and multi-lateral agencies related to private sector health solutions, especially to avoid duplication of effort and/or programming gaps. 

• Spawn opportunity by working on market priming and market development activities for key health products and services; seek out opportunity and innovative approaches for the private sector to be actively engaged in approaches to achieve universal health coverage or other mechanisms to provide quality health services at scale.

• Stay abreast of strategies, reports, analyses, publications, research, latest technologies, innovations, and developments in India and globally relevant to involvement of the private sector in providing useful health solutions, particularly related to addressing critical health issues in RMNCH+A, IDPC, and HSS and techniques to capitalize on public-private partnership opportunities for greater synergy; follow best or promising practices from other countries that may be applicable to India or practices successful in India that could benefit other countries; identify capacity building needs that can accelerate results.

• Determine the additional analyses, assessments, or reviews required primarily for sound private sector engagement and appropriate risk taking for innovations, without constraining efforts; build a learning agenda that is a broad ranging integrated approach to collaborating, learning, and adapting in order to improve or adjust programs in the portfolio; design and oversee the implementation of such analyses or assessments; and participate in, coordinate, or manage USAID inputs into assessments conducted in conjunction with other USG Agencies, international organizations, other donors, or other stakeholders.

• Serve as a private sector advocate by acting as point person for important visitors from the U.S., including Congressional Delegations, high-level officials from USAID/Washington, other important USG officials or officials from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (GFATM).

II. Private Sector Engagement Portfolio Management 

• Actively seek private capital for leveraging with health programs to accelerate results; negotiate deals that support the achievement of Agency and Health Office goals; shape, influence, and implement the Mission’s Health Office private sector engagement and partnership strategy, and participate in the design of new activities led by other members of the HO Team to highlight potential for private sector solutions to meet Mission and Agency foreign assistance goals.

• Establish and maintain relationships with potential private sector funders and high net- worth individuals to design and negotiate “deals,” and launch them, keeping an eye on benchmarks of success. The incumbent will serve as a critical interface with the private sector to ensure the application of creative and innovative solutions that can fit with USG policies and practices. This often involves extremely sensitive and difficult discussions and negotiations, requiring credibility, resourcefulness, and the highest level of diplomacy, tact, and communication skills. 

• Manage private sector engagement and solutions activities on a day-to-day basis; identify and resolve program issues, assure that all activities are carried out in a technically sound and cost-effective manner, and assure that activities are carried out in accordance with all applicable Mission and Agency program priorities, directives, and regulations. The incumbent will be managing at least $5 million per year; in addition, s/he may serves as activity manager for a USAID/Washington-managed activity focused on accessing and capitalizing on private sector involvement ($2.2 million per year for the next year).

• Serve as the manager, Agreement or Contracting Officer’s Representative (AOR/COR) of specific activities relating to private sector engagement, and engage in thought leadership and oversight of any other activities applying private sector solutions managed by other Health Office or Mission staff; 

• Ensure the timely review and approval of Health Office private sector engagement activity overall plans, annual work plans and benchmarks, and budgets; monitor results vis à vis established benchmarks to ensure that they are achieving the planned goals and compliance with agreed upon plans and investments. 

• Routinely review the private sector collaborative aptitude and capacity building needs of the implementing partners, especially local entities; and develop plans and effective approaches to address any disinclination to work with the private sector or any deficits.

• Ensure benchmarking and reporting systems are in place to assess progress and success in private sector solutions to USAID Health Office challenges and Mission goals; develop a learning agenda for private-sector engagement and partnerships, with an appropriate system to gauges progress and provide for course correction or other adjustments. 

• As appropriate, hand off management and the ongoing review and documentation of implementing partner performance on private sector-leveraged programs to respective technical teams for regular monitoring visits, routine reporting, assessments/evaluations, though with the incumbent ensuring that the partnership piece is working as intended (and troubleshooting any hiccups); participate in forums to ensure ongoing success and verify asset use; ensure that issues are identified in a timely manner and that recommended follow-up actions are carried out; identify successes, best practices, innovations, and lessons learned for sharing on a national and global level; and develop plans to address any deficits. 

• Manage and oversee the Mission’s Health Office private sector engagement/solutions activity budgets and finances in coordination with Health and Financial Management Office and Team’s leadership; ensure that program/activity expenditures, accruals, and pipelines are monitored and that corrective action is taken when needed; ensure appropriate and timely funding actions. 

• Participate, as needed, in preparing for and responding to audits of assistance related to private sector engagement and solutions.

• Ensure that Health Office private sector program and activity management files (both electronic and hard-copy, as per policy) are up to date, in order, and complete. 

III. Health Systems Strengthening Team Supervision and Technical Oversight 

• Assist HSS Team Leader in providing technical, administrative, and managerial leadership for the HSS staff and convene team meetings as required, ensure information sharing and collaboration among the HSS Team staff and projects, monitor deadlines to ensure they are met, and raise issues with HSS Team Leader or Health Office Director as necessary.

• Provide technical oversight and supervisory guidance, as requested by the HSS Team Leader, to the planning, design, project implementation, technical strategies, benchmarking of results, and development of a monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) agenda for the HSS portfolio.

• Ensure proper management of the overall HSS budget and finances as assigned by the HSS Team Leader, including procurement planning, use of program funds, and overseeing Regional Agreement or Contracting Officer’s Representative (AOR/COR) monitoring of pipelines to avoid funding gaps or excess forward funding.

• Ensure that HSS resource requests are developed to meet deadlines, such as the Operating Plan (OP), the Health Implementation Plan (HIP), the Congressional Budget Justification (CBJ), the Country Operational Plan (COP), and the USAID or President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) annual performance reports.

• Assist in the mentoring of Junior Foreign Service Officers, particularly those serving within the Health Office as well as with those on rotation assignments from other Mission offices or USAID/Washington.

• Assist the HSS Team Leader, as necessary, with setting work objectives and professional development plans, monitoring the division of labor in the Health Systems portfolio, preparation of performance evaluations, preparation of training plans, and the need for cross coverage and temporary duty (TDY) assistance.

IV. Program and Administrative Duties 

• Ensure coordinated response by HSS staff to Program Office, Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC), the Office of Global Health or HIV/AIDS/Washington requests for information or participation in key planning and program documentation for efforts such as the OP, the HIP, the CBJ, the COP, and the USAID or PEPFAR annual performance reports. 

• Lead or participate in the preparation of new procurements, such as the preparation of scopes of work, program descriptions, illustrative budgets, waivers, and exceptions to competition as required.

• Serve on Technical Evaluation Committees for procurements or new staff recruitment, chairing those related to private sector solutions and engagement, as assigned.

• Handle all assigned work either independently or, as required, as part of teams, according to established Mission policies, practices, and programmatic guidance, as in effect and in accordance with all applicable USAID regulations and guidance as provided in the USAID Automated Directives System (ADS) and elsewhere. 

• Make independent judgments that can be defended as necessary, planning and carrying out independently the specific activities entailed in fulfilling major duties and responsibilities. 

• Resolve problems that arise by determining the approaches to be taken and methodologies to be used; developing, coordinating, and clearing proposed solutions with all necessary parties; and then taking appropriate actions necessary to resolve the problem.

The incumbent will perform other duties and tasks as assigned or required.

Language:

Fluency (Level IV) in English and Hindi is required. Bilingual fluency in speaking, reading and writing is required. 

Knowledge:

Extensive knowledge of the private sector landscape; and knowledge of private sector partnership and leveraged programs and innovation frameworks, including knowledge of creative precedents applicable to health systems is required.

Knowledge of team management techniques to plan, organize, and direct multidisciplinary teams and activities; knowledge of the public health system and some key national programs, such as the National Health Mission; and knowledge of promising and best practices related to health financing, health information systems, and supply chain management in the public and/or private sector is desired.

Ability and Skills:

The required Abilities and Skills include:

• An entrepreneurial mindset, including an ability to think strategically, operate independently, be self-motivated, and set and achieve ambitious targets.
• Ability to undertake market analysis; develop business plans; and conceptualize, negotiate, and implement private sector partnerships.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills, resourcefulness, and credibility, with the ability to build relationships and communicate effectively with people of varied professional, cultural, and educational backgrounds at up to the highest levels, and with the skill to marry entrenched public sector thinking with private sector thinking.
• Ability to understand incentive structures, and engage and persuade senior-level executives and other key stakeholders at all levels.
• Ability to absorb and synthesize a broad range of information, including financial, regulatory, clinical, programmatic, demographic, and scientific information.
• Excellent prioritization skills to juggle multiple tasks simultaneously within tight time deadlines.
• Strong leadership skills to assist in leading a results-driven team, and play the role of a thought leader, motivating individuals and influencing professional working groups.
• Ability to synthesize and highlight programmatic successes, both in writing and orally, for briefing papers, visiting dignitaries, and Government of India (GOI) and private-sector officials. 
• High level of proficiency with word processing, spreadsheets, and presentation software.

Ability to readily analyze, understand, and discuss new program design, management, implementation, and MEL approaches is desired.

Opening Date for Applications : May 7, 2014

Closing Date for Receipt of applications: May 28, 2014 at 1700 hours

To Apply: 

1. Interested applicants must apply on Universal Application for Employment (UAE) as a Locally Employed Staff (DS-174) (attached). Please note: Must answer all the questions in DS-174 application form.

You may also click the link below to access the above form: 

http://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1860/ds174_0.pdf

Applications not submitted in the specified form will not be accepted.

2. Submit print copies of applications to:

Human Resources
United States Agency for International Development
U.S. Embassy
Shantipath, Chanakyapuri
New Delhi – 110 021

Or

Electronic Submission to: indiaper@usaid.gov

3. Applicants must specify the advertisement number and position title in Column 1 of the Employment Form. Applications without reference to a specific advertisement number will not be accepted.

Notes:

Probationary Period: FSN employees currently serving their probationary period or with less than one year of USG service are not eligible to apply. Employees desiring a change after the initial probation period will be required to be in their present position for not less than 120 days.

Compensation: The selected individual will be compensated in accordance with the Local Compensation Plan for Foreign Service National (FSN) employees. 

Applicants living outside New Delhi / NCR should note that if selected for the position, no resettlement travel or housing is associated with the position. It would be the candidate’s responsibility to travel to New Delhi in a timely manner for the pre-employment clearances.

Age Requirement: Consistent with local law, customs, and practices, the separation/ retirement age for Foreign Service National (FSN) employees is 60 years.

Equal Employment Opportunity: It is the policy of the United States Government to ensure equal employment to all persons without regard to race, color, religion, caste, sex, national origin, age, disability, or sexual orientation. 

Due to a high volume of anticipated applications, only short-listed candidates will be notified.