Senior Program Officer – Health Financing

Results for Development (R4D) is a leading non-profit global development partner. We collaborate with change agents around the world — government officials, civil society leaders and social innovators — to create strong systems that support healthy, educated people. We help our partners move from knowing their goal to knowing how to reach it. We combine global expertise in health, education and nutrition with analytic rigor, practical support for decision-making and implementation and access to peer problem-solving networks. Together with our partners, we build self-sustaining systems that serve everyone and deliver lasting results. Then we share what we learn so others can achieve results for development, too.

We have a unique and vibrant culture at R4D. Diversity, equity and inclusion are at the heart of our work environment and help advance our mission. Diversity—of ideas, identities, perspectives and backgrounds—is vital to who we are and what we do. We seek people who embrace these values and will help reinforce them. Our work culture is collaborative, creative and entrepreneurial. We operate based on trust and respect. Teams across the organization frequently collaborate on programmatic work and support each other in continuously building a better R4D.

Project Summary:

In 2014, the Government of Nigeria (GoN) committed to reforming health care financing and service delivery in a Presidential Summit on Universal Health Coverage and enacted the Nigeria National Health Act. The Act officially recognized Nigerians’ right to health and established a Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) to make financial resources available for primary health care (PHC) services. These reforms have the potential to greatly strengthen Nigeria’s PHC system and improve population health. Federal and state governments in Nigeria are currently working with local and international partners to implement systems for channeling these new health care funds for service delivery and financing, and setting up state-level health insurance mechanisms.

To support these reforms, Results for Development (R4D), in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Health Finance and Governance Project, is working with public actors and a consortium of development partners in Nigeria on the Nigeria Healthcare Financing Technical Assistance Program to provide technical assistance to the Government of Nigeria on health care financing policy development and implementation at the federal-level and sub-nationally (focusing on Kaduna and Niger States). Overall, the work engages key national and state-level stakeholders in joint policy dialogue, generating evidence to inform health financing design options, and helping to develop implementation “know how” to support the roll-out of health financing reform at the state level. Doing so will provide an enabling environment for creating health impact via financing and programmatic interventions by the public sector, BMGF, and other development partners in Nigeria.

Opportunity:

R4D is seeking a Senior Program Officer (PO) based in Abuja, Nigeria to support the day-to-day operations of the Nigeria Healthcare Financing Technical Assistance Program, alongside other members of the Washington, D.C. and Nigeria-based project teams and under the guidance of the Country Director and other team leads. The Senior Program Officer will play an integral role in technical, administrative, and operational aspects of the project.

This position is based in Abuja, Nigeria and will report to the Country Director based in Abuja.

Responsibilities

Other responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Provide project management for 1-2 key workstreams in the technical assistance program, which may include activities at the federal and/or state levels.
• Develop and maintain positive relationships with stakeholders, including federal and state level government officials, development partners, and Nigeria based partner organizations.
• Leverage evidence-based findings to support the development of appropriate health financing policies and strategies to inform decisions of governments, donors and other stakeholders.
• Conduct stakeholder consultations and in-depth primary and secondary research and analyses, including through critical review of literature and interviews with experts, to support policy development.
• Support internal administrative projects that are critical to the development of a rapidly growing team and organization.
• Support in-country program creation, development, and related activities
• Support the organization of meetings, workshops, and stakeholder consultants in Nigeria, including logistics, invitation lists and agendas, and producing meeting summaries.
• Support the formulation of high impact policy recommendations and deliverables.

Qualifications

• MA with 5 years or experience OR a BA with 7 years of relevant global health experience
• Relevant work experience in a research institution, government, bilateral or multilateral development agency, consulting firm, NGO, or think tank.
• Interest in healthcare, healthcare financing, political science, policy development and Human resource for health.
• Strong qualitative and quantitative analytical skills
• Proven experience effectively working with and meeting the needs of various stakeholders, both in Nigeria and globally
• Ability to think and solve problems in structured, logical, and creative manner.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with ability to prepare compelling presentations and written reports.
• Effectively able to work collaborate in a team-based environment as well as independently to work on complex work streams/ projects.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to connect with a wide variety of different stakeholders.
• Comfortable working with a diverse team located in different geographies.
• Proven project management experience, preferably with BMGF and USAID projects
• High level of proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, PowerPoint, and Word
• Willingness to travel international and domestically, approximately 20-25%