Summary
Date Posted: Wednesday, October 06, 2021 , Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:

Health Specialist
USAID Revenue for Growth Activity
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) is conducting the Revenue for Growth Activity (RGA) in order to help Zambia improve its domestic revenue mobilization (DRM), which can help to expand Zambia’s fiscal space for public spending and investments in service delivery and poverty reduction. This activity is engaging both government and non-government stakeholders in building capacity in tax policy analysis, improving tax compliance and administration, and strengthening the tax culture in a manner that facilitates private sector growth and promotes effective relationships between taxpayers and the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ). The RGA is organized around four Objectives: 1) Improve Tax and Non-Tax Administration and Compliance; 2) Strengthen Tax Policy; 3) Enhance Public-Private Dialogue; and 4) Enhance Capacity to Address Emerging Fiscal Policy and Management Issues.

Purpose/Objective of Assignment
DRM applies to several national key program priorities, including improved health care for Zambia’s citizens. The DRM process will help to provide additional fiscal space for health care by supporting the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) as associated with the Health Care Financing Strategy 2019 – 2027. Although other nations are designing and implementing such Schemes, it is a new health financing option for Zambia. In order for the Scheme to be successfully implemented, it must have attributes of a good health financing mechanism: feasibility, equity, efficiency and sustainability. The NHIS Act lays a foundation on which the National Health Insurance Scheme will operate through the development of carefully designed operating procedures and regulations that meet the expectations of all the key stakeholders.
To help the Ministry of Health (MOH) in carrying forward its Health Care Financing Strategy, the RGA will support selected aspects of the Strategy’s implementation. Specifically, RGA will support the Strategy’s implementation by securing staff with the expertise necessary to address technical issues and processes. To do this, the RGA will first hire a Health Specialist who will perform the roles and responsibilities described below.

Roles and Responsibilities of the Health Specialist
The roles and responsibilities of the Health Specialist are summarized below.
• The Health Specialist will recruit two Technical Health Advisors: one to support the National Health Insurance Management Authority (NHIMA) and one to support the Health Care Financing (HCF) Unit at the MOH. The two Technical Health Advisors will be embedded at their respective Authority/Ministry and will be paid by RGA for a period to be determined (one to three years), after which time they will be expected to be hired by their respective Authority/Ministry. The two Technical Health Advisors will report to their respective Authority/Ministry and to the RGA.
• Once the two Technical Health Advisors have been selected and onboarded, the Health Specialist will manage the two Technical Health Advisors, which will consist of:
• supporting the embedding of the two Technical Health Advisors at their respective Authority/Ministry;
• identifying technical assistance that could benefit one or both of the Technical Health Advisors, developing a work plan for the provision of the technical assistance, identifying and recruiting one or more experts to provide the assistance, and organizing the delivery of the assistance;
• identifying conferences, seminars or other events that would benefit one or both of the Technical Health Advisors and organizing logistics required for the Technical Health Advisors to attend the event;
• supporting the Technical Health Advisors in their work on selected issues; and
• any other activities to support the Technical Health Advisors in the performance of their duties.
• If the Health Specialist possesses the required expertise (see below), he/she will supplement the technical assistance provided to NHIMA and/or the MOF HCF Unit on selected issues.
• The Health Specialist will comply with all RGA project reporting requirements, including but not limited to preparing monthly, quarterly and annual reports, work plans, and monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) reports.
Functions to be Performed by the Technical Health Advisors
For reference, below is a summary of the specific functions to be performed by each of the Technical Health Advisors.

NHIMA Technical Health Advisor
The NHIMA Technical Health Advisor’s specific responsibilities include the following:
• In coordination with the Director of the National Health Insurance Management Authority, the Director of the Health Care Financing Unit and that Unit’s Technical Health Advisor, conduct a pragmatic review of: a) the status of Zambia’s current health care financing initiative, including the information base on which it rests and the ways in which its activities are monitored and evaluated in order to establish a benchmark of current coverage, data, and funding, and; b) the current status of other similar nations’ health care financing initiatives (both successful and problematic);
• Support the development of a system to enroll people from the informal sector and those exempted;
• Cooperate with staff of the Ministry of Finance, the Statistics Agency, Parliamentary bodies, and outside organizations in conducting analyses, such as financial sustainability modelling, to inform tariffs, subsidies, benefits and contribution rates;
• Support capacity building initiatives for staff working across different directorates of NHIMA as well as units in the MOH and other staff organizations having involvement with health care financing, including the Ministry of Finance and the Parliamentary Budget Office, providing technical input and formal training and day-to-day support; and
• Work with the MOF HCF Unit Technical Health Advisor to create a bridge between NHIMA and the MOH for issues common to both
.
MOH HCF Unit Technical Advisor
The MOH HCF Unit’s Technical Health Advisor’s specific responsibilities include the following:
• Explore innovative financing strategies such as a medical levy, sin taxes and motor vehicle accident fund to accelerate progress towards Universal Health Coverage by the government;
• Review and carry out an assessment of the efficiency bottlenecks in the health sector to inform decisions to improve efficiencies;
• Update the resource allocation formula/framework to take into account changing needs by districts;
• Support the development of an investment case for health to help lobby the Ministry of Finance to increase funding to the health sector; and
• Work with the NHIMA Technical Health Advisor to create a bridge between the MOH and NHIMA for issues common to both.
Term
The Health Specialist will be hired initially for a one-year period. This period may be extended based on the progress of the work being conducted by the RGA, NHIMA, and MOH and the availability of funding. The Health Specialist’s functions are expected to evolve to reflect the activities performed by the two embedded Technical Health Advisors.

Qualifications
The Health Specialist will possess the following qualifications. Note that some of the public sector experience may have been accrued concurrently.
• An undergraduate degree in health economics, management, or a closely related field.
• A graduate degree in economics, public administration or closely related field, or a medical degree.
• 5 years’ experience working within, or directly advising, complex public sector agencies on the delivery, costing, data management, and/or monitoring and evaluation of human services, especially regarding health care delivery.
• 5 years’ experience coordinating/managing the work of subordinate technical specialists working within, or directly advising, complex public sector agencies.
• 3 years’ experience working with international organizations.
• 3 years’ experience developing service delivery costing models (preferred).
• Experience in one or more subject areas to be performed by the Technical Health Advisors (listed above).
• Experience working on health issues in two or more countries (preferred).
• Excellent English written and verbal communication skills.

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: 60

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

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