Country Health Director - Somalia (Merlin)

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Job Description Position: Country Health Director, Somalia Responsible To: Country Director (Technical Responsible to Health Advisors) Responsible for: Technical line management of international health staff Location: Nairobi, Kenya until security permits setting up of permanent office in Hargeisa, Somalia, with frequent trips to the field sites in the Somali region where security permits Starting Date: ASAP Contract Duration: 24 Months
Salary: £37,470 - £38,220 per annum dependant on relevant experience inclusive of annual Cost of Living allowance Benefits: Insurance cover, accommodation, R&R, 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 this is an unaccompanied position

Merlin Undaunted and determined, Merlin saves lives. We deliver medical expertise to the toughest places. And we stay to help build lasting health care.

Our mission is to end the needless loss of life in the poorest countries caused by a lack of effective health care. We help communities set up medical services for the long term including hospitals, clinics, surgeries and training for nurses and other health workers.

We do whatever it takes and we stay for as long as it takes.

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’s office in Nairobi currently provides full support to the Somalia country programmes.

Merlin currently operates in 3 regions of this highly fragmented and insecure country namely; South-Central; Puntland and Somaliland. In each region Merlin seeks to address the most critical gaps in essential health and nutrition services through the provision of drugs, medical and nutritional supplies, the training of health workers in treatment of malnutrition, delivery of primary health care, care of pregnant women and their newborn, strengthening of disease control services for people living with HIV/AIDS and TB and emergency response to major disease outbreaks such as cholera. Merlin’s approach in each region is sufficiently flexible to adapt not only to their differing health sector needs but also to the degree of humanitarian space available to implement programmes effectively. Much of the work is undertaken on a remote management principle from Nairobi working in close communication and collaboration with national staff in Somalia itself. Merlin also plays a significant role in inter-agency coordination through its current position as co-chair of the health cluster (along with WHO) in Puntland and for Somalia as a whole.

Main purpose of the role The Health Director for Somalia 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 Somalia based on clearly defined country health strategies.

Overall Objectives (scope) • Provide leadership and management to the programmes in Somalia. • 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 Somalia • Provide technical support to the programmes. • Ensure rolling out and the full implementation of Remote Management guidelines for Somalia programmes. • Represent Merlin to national authorities, international donors, international organisations and other NGOs at the national level. • Extending and enhancing Merlin’s influence in the health and nutrition cluster.

Responsibilities Leadership • Ensure the effective implementation and quality of projects, i.e. provide overall technical supervision for the country programmes in Somalia. • Play an active role in the development and maintenance of a coherent programme strategy 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 within country. • 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, security permitting, 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 • Support the Remote Management strategy and roll out for Somalia in particular.

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. • 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 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 and Somalia 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. • Ability to work in insecure areas and in areas of conflict. • 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. • Ability to remote manage a number of health teams. • 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 Somalia. • Experience in epidemiological data analysis, interpretation and qualitative/quantitative assessments and programme development.

Data Protection Please note that in accordance with the 1998 Data Protection Act, Merlin will hold and use personal information that you have given for the purpose of recruitment and employment. This information can be stored in manual and/or electronic form. This information may also be disclosed to third parties in accordance with the Data Protection Act. In cases where a job offer is conditional on ensuring that potential employees’ names do not appear on counter terrorism lists generated by the United Nations, European Union or the United States due to donor funding requirements, Merlin will use the information that you have given for checking that your name does not appear on these lists.
How to apply:
To apply for this position To apply for this job, please go to www.merlin.org.uk/jobs and apply using our online recruitment system. In order to apply for a job with Merlin online you will need to complete a short registration process and create an account – the online recruitment system explains how to do this. Once your account has been created, you will be able to save the information that you have entered in your application and re-visit it at any time before you submit it.
If you are unable to apply online for any technical reason, please contact applications@merlin.org.uk.
Please note that we do not accept CVs. Unfortunately due to the number of applications we receive, only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.

[Abdulrazzak]

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