The Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health (MNCAH) Technical Specialist is responsible for ensuring technical excellence in Save the Children’s health systems strengthening initiatives. This role provides strategic leadership and guidance to enhance health systems and improve outcomes for maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health. The Specialist ensures that evidence-based interventions are integrated into programs and policies, supports capacity building, and promotes quality of care across all levels of service delivery.As a senior member of the Program Development, Quality, and Impact (PDQI) team, the MNCAH Specialist leads the design and delivery of high-quality, innovative, and cost-effective programs in both humanitarian and long-term development contexts, driving immediate and lasting change for children.The role also involves initiating and providing technical leadership for MNCAH-focused studies, documenting and disseminating innovations and best practices, and advancing research and advocacy through collaboration with civil society organizations and other institutions. Additionally, the Specialist plays a key role in establishing, maintaining, and expanding donor relations within the MNCAH sector.In the event of a major humanitarian emergency, the role holder will be expected to work outside the normal role profile and be able to vary working hours accordingly.
KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY
Program Development, Fundraising, and Innovation
- Develop high-quality proposals: Initiate and design innovative, cost-effective, and sustainable project proposals and concept notes for the MNCAH sector, focusing on high-impact interventions.
- Address coverage gaps: Identify gaps in achieving universal coverage of essential health interventions, particularly for the most deprived communities and children, and recommend actionable solutions in collaboration with county and national MoH.
- Promote integration: Seek strategic linkages to integrate MNCAH components into broader programs such as WASH, Nutrition, Protection, Child Poverty, and Education.
- Donor engagement: Proactively identify potential donor sources and share health-related project opportunities aligned with the Country Strategic Plan and program priorities.
- Stay informed: Keep abreast of emerging trends and innovations in health and incorporate relevant developments into program design.
- Foster innovation: Identify and test new ideas, integrating novel technical approaches into program development.
Program Quality Technical Leadership and Innovation
- Act as the primary MNCAH technical resource for program teams and partners, providing expert guidance and support.
- Lead strategy development: Develop and adapt MNCAH strategies, guidelines, standards, and tools for effective implementation at both community and facility levels.
- Drive innovation: Promote the design and uptake of cost-effective, innovative health interventions in collaboration with program implementation teams.
- Capacity building: Provide technical support for delivering sustainable capacity-building strategies for field teams and partners, in coordination with operations teams.
- Offer technical guidance: Advise program teams on appropriate approaches, methodologies, and conceptual frameworks to ensure high-quality implementation.
- Monitor and support implementation: Identify needs, provide timely feedback, and ensure effective delivery of MNCAH programs.
- Review donor reports: Support the preparation and review of donor reports to meet quality standards in technical content, format, and deadlines.
- Develop learning plans: Identify technical learning needs and create capacity-building plans for Save the Children and partner staff, leveraging opportunities through coordination and networks.
- Ensure adoption of common approaches: Support program teams in fully implementing Save the Children’s Health Common Approaches as outlined in program design.
Representation and Advocacy
- Represent Save the Children in relevant internal and external forums, including national-level technical platforms such as Child Health, EPI, IMNCI, and iCCM technical forums.
- Engage donors strategically: Identify opportunities to engage donors and unlock new funding streams in alignment with the donor engagement strategy.
- Policy engagement: Participate in and provide technical support for the development, review, and implementation of Ministry of Health policies, strategies, and implementation guides at both national and county levels.
- Advocacy alignment: Collaborate with ACCM and operations teams to review and implement health policy research and advocacy strategies in line with the Country Strategic Plan and Save the Children’s global strategy.
- Targeted advocacy: Leverage donor interest and government priorities to advocate for reaching the most marginalized children in both humanitarian and development contexts.
- Positioning: Identify and capitalize on key opportunities and events to position Save the Children as a leading organization in reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health (RMNCAH) in Kenya.
- Collaborate with partners: Work closely with Save the Children members and peer organizations to advance the mission for children.
- Communication and visibility: Partner with the ACCM team to develop impactful communication materials that highlight the urgency of increasing coverage of high-impact interventions for the most deprived children.
Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Knowledge management
- Field support: Conduct regular field visits to assist program and MEAL teams in monitoring implementation quality, identifying challenges and bottlenecks, and developing practical solutions.
- Quality benchmarks: Support the development, piloting, and refinement of quality benchmarks for new programs in collaboration with program and MEARL staff.
- Data utilization: Promote the synthesis and use of high-quality data for decision-making and identify potential areas for operational research.
- Knowledge products: Lead the preparation of issue logs, technical documents, presentations, and peer-reviewed articles on program strategies, findings, and research results.
- Monitoring plans: Work with MEARL to ensure all health projects have robust monitoring plans, baselines, reviews, and evaluations aligned with project designs and donor requirements.
- Progress tracking: Provide technical assistance to MEARL in tracking milestones toward health program goals as outlined in the Country Strategic Plan.
- Strategic research: Collaborate with the PDQI team to identify and lead strategic health research and studies to inform innovative programming and advocacy.
- Dissemination: Facilitate the appropriate dissemination of research findings and documentation of good practices internally and externally to donors, governments, partners, and other stakeholders.
- Knowledge sharing: Engage with technical resources across Save the Children members to share best practices and leverage support for studies, assessments, innovations, advocacy, and capacity building.
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE/SKILLS
- A bachelor’s degree in medicine.
- Post graduate Degree in any of the relevant fields i.e. Medicine/Nursing/Public Health/Global Health.
- Knowledge of current global, regional and national trends in MNCAH and current developments in public health in general.
- Recommended a minimum of 8-10 years of relevant technical experience managing MNCAH programs including at senior level.
- Experience working within the devolved Kenyan health system is a must.
- Proven experience of developing and managing high quality, innovative and cost-effective technical Health projects in development and humanitarian/emergency/fragile settings.
- Proven experience and skills in research and advocacy and influencing institutional, private and/or corporate donors and writing high quality donor reports.
- Experience of working with local/national governments and capacity building of systems, partners and staff.
- Ability to extensively travel for project monitoring and provide on-site technical support to field teams.
- Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including influencing, negotiation and coaching.
- Highly developed cultural awareness and ability to work well in an international and matrix management environment with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
- Strong results orientation, with the ability to challenge existing mindsets.
- Experience of solving complex issues through analysis, definition of a clear way forward and ensuring buy in.
- Ability to present complex information in a succinct and compelling manner.
- Ability and willingness to dramatically change work practices and hours, and work with incoming surge teams, in the event of emergencies.
