Health Technical Advisor

**Requisition ID**: req29655

**Job Title**:Health Technical Advisor

**Sector**:Health

**Employment Category**: Regular

**Employment Type**: Full-Time

**Open to Expatriates**: Yes

The IRC’s vision is that the impact of our programs and the influence of our ideas empowers those caught in crisis to make lasting change in their lives. To support achievement of this vision, the IRC’s Technical Excellence (TE) unit provides technical assistance to IRC’s country program staff and shares what we learn to influence policy and practice. The TE unit supports technical excellence through the following ways:
1) Guide program design to achieve outcomes by incorporating the best available evidence

2) Build technical capacity of country program staff to implement, measure and continuously improve programs

3) Influence the IRC, peer agencies and donors to use proven interventions and generate new evidence to achieve change in peoples’ lives

The TE Unit is comprised of five technical Units, all of which have deep expertise in their respective sectors: Education, Economic Wellbeing, Governance, Health, Violence Prevention and Response, while cross-cutting work happens with the Gender Equality Unit and the Research & Innovation Unit

The Health Technical Unit (HTU) is organized in three sectors; Health (integrating general primary healthcare including sexual and reproductive health, child health, communicable and non-communicable diseases, mental health & Psycho-Social Support), Environmental Health and Nutrition. The structure emphasizes a clear division of roles between technical assistance core and important functions versus other specialized support functions to best meet the needs of country programs and regions. In 2021 the HTU supported programming in 6 regions and 34 countries.

**Specific Responsibilities**:
Health Technical Advisor (TA) will spend at least 80% of their time delivering technical assistance in-person and remotely to country program colleagues, coordinating within the health unit and with other technical units and departments. This is a primarily country facing position with the central responsibility focused on program quality. The remaining 20% of their time is spent on influence, advocacy, research, internal initiatives, at the discretion of their supervisors, this includes active participation in different HU workstreams.

Technical areas of focus will include: Comprehensive Primary Healthcare both at community and health facility levels, including communicable and non-communicable diseases, sexual and reproductive health, maternal, newborn and child health, iCCM, nutrition (maternal, adolescent, IYCF practices, prevention of malnutrition), mental health and psychosocial support, outbreak response and Infection Prevention and Control in Health Facilities.

The Health Technical Advisors’ specific responsibilities are as follows:
Core and important technical assistance responsibilities:
**Engaging in program design and business development**:

- Support country program staff to design programs and projects, ensuring that they are:
o Aligned with the IRC’s Strategy 100, which includes supporting country program staff with contextualizing outcomes and the theories of change, and selecting interventions based on the best available evidence and the local context;

o Responsive to client needs and preferences

o Based on sound context and gender analysis
- Support selection of indicators for country programs and promote use of data for decision-making
- Review technical quality of proposals, including review of technical strategies, interventions and activities and ensuring alignment to IRC’s outcomes
- Input into go / no go decisions on proposals
- When necessary, write technical narratives of proposals
- Provide input on budgets required for project delivery
- Engage with donors and do outreach with partners in support of country programs

**Building technical capacity of country program staff to ensure ongoing program quality and innovation**:

- Conduct technical training and ongoing technical coaching for country program staff, including on IRC outcomes and evidence framework, theories of change, evidence and indicators as well as technical topics as the need may arise
- Share cross-context learning with country program staff across regions
- Support senior country program staff recruitment, onboarding and capacity development

**Project delivery support**:

- Work with country program colleagues to help analyze data that inform periodic review and course correction as needed.
- Ensure participation in quarterly data review calls with each country
- Review and share program-specific tools / resources / curricula and work with Technical Unit specialists to contextualize and adapt global and country-specific materials
- Help define approach to teaming / partnering with other organizations

**Management and Coordination**:

- Coordinate and plan with country coordinators and health