Health Poverty Action (HPA)
Career Opportunity: Project Officer
Based in Nairobi (5-month Contract)
Health Poverty Action (HPA) aims to secure health care access for marginalised communities in 13 programme countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
HPA is currently partnering with Youth Alive! Kenya (YAK) to implement the High-Impact Community Testing for Covid-19 Project in selected informal settlements in Nairobi.
The Overall Objective of the Project is to rapidly scale-up Community Health Volunteers (CHVs)-led Covid-19 Antigen-detecting Rapid Diagnostic Test (Ag-RDT).
This testing will be linked to health facilities for patient management in Nairobi County.
The Project Officer, who will report to the Country Programme Manager, will provide technical leadership to the field-level day-to-day project implementation.
In addition, the post-holder will oversee the performance of the Project initiatives by the partner., i.e. Youth Alive!.
The overarching goal of this post is to enable Nairobi County Health Services to build a critical mass of testers identified for testing deployment.
This strengthening of the CHVs will free the health system to continue in other vital primary health care functions.
We want to hear from you if you are a Social Worker with good working knowledge of the community health system in Nairobi County. You need to have a strong background in community health, particularly in informal settlements.
In addition, they must possess demonstrable experience working with the Nairobi
County Health Services Department.
DETAILED JOB DESCRIPTION
Position Title: Project Officer
Reporting to: Country Programme Manager
Job Summary: The post holder’s principal function is to provide technical leadership to the field level day-to-day implementation of the High-Impact Community Testing for Covid-19 in Informal Settlements of Nairobi project (FIND Project).
The Post holder will oversee the performance of the FIND Project initiatives by the partner., i.e. Youth Alive!. The overarching goal of this post is to enable Nairobi County Health Services build a critical mass of testers identified for testing deployment.
This strengthening of the CHVs will free the health system to continue in other vital primary health care functions.
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Post duration: 5 months(starting will be communicated at the beginning of the contract)
Hours: FULL TIME
Main Functions of Post:
1. Provide technical support to project targeted health facilities to enable them to implement the key FIND Project components.
2. Build the capacity of Community Health Volunteers (CHVs)-at project supported health facilities through training and supervision.
3. Support health data management and project reporting.
4. Support all community-based activities including training, outreaches, and community mobilisation.
5. Contribute to documentation of the project lessons to enable learning from the action, which will be used to contribute to MoH policy for CHV-led testing.
Working closely with the Nairobi County Health Services Department and Youth Alive!, the duties and
responsibilities of the post are:
1. Provide technical support to project targeted health facilities to enable them to implement the key FIND Project components.
1.1 Support the Logistics Officer in ensuring the Ag-RDTs(Antigen Detection Rapid Diagnostic Test) are distributed to targetted health facilities in time and in the required quantities.
1.2 Support the equipping of targetted health facilities with PPEs.
1.3 Support the setting up of an effective referral network that ensures any cases needing referral are quickly handed over to the next level.
1.4 Ensure that a high-quality service is offered at the project supported facilities.
2. Build the capacity of Community Health Volunteers (CHVs)-at project supported health facilities through training and supervision.
2.1 In collaboration with the Nairobi County Health Services Department, support the implementation of various pieces of training for CHVs and health workers in targetted public health facilities.
2.2 Provide regular support supervision and in-service training to CHVs and health workers at project-supported facilities.
2.3 Contribute to building the capacity of the Nairobi County Health Services Department to supervise
project-related activities at project-supported facilities.
3. Support health data management and project reporting
3.1 Work with CHEWs(Community Health Extension Workers) to ensure CHWs case fill in the investigation forms completely and accurately.
3.2 Receive duly filled investigation forms and enter the data on mobile-based software (KoBoCollect) that
HPA will develop.
3.3 Contribute to the preparation of the quarterly narrative and financial reports to be submitted to FIND.
4. Support all community-based activities including training, outreaches, and community mobilisation.
4.1 Support the partner Youth Alive! Area to raise awareness among the communities regarding the effectiveness of Ag-RDTs, and against misconceptions about the Ag-RDTs through community meetings and mass gatherings, contents broadcasted through local radio stations, radio talk shows and spot messages
4.2 Provide oversight to the implementation of outreach activities by the CHVs to improve demand for testing.
5. Contribute to documentation of the project lessons to enable learning from the action, which will be used to contribute to MoH policy for CHV-led testing.
5.1 Support the project to document lessons it learns over its implementation for future planning, improving service provision and influencing MoH policy.
Undertake other duties as may reasonably be requested by the Country Programme Manager.
Qualifications and Person’s Specifications
The candidate should be a Social Worker with good working knowledge of the community health system in Nairobi County.
They need to have a strong background in community health, particularly in informal settlements.
In addition, they must possess demonstrable experience working with the Nairobi County Health Services Department.
They should have excellent oral and written communication skills, should have demonstrable computer skills (should be knowledgeable in MS Office packages MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint) and should be able to use the internet.
Finally, they should be fluent in English and Kiswahili and should be able to work with minimal supervision.
How to Apply
Please email your CV and cover letter to jobs@healthpovertyaction.or.ke.
In the cover letter, please specify your salary expectation.
The email subject line should include the following: FIND Project Project Officer
Closing date for applications: Sunday, 12th June 2022