Resident Advisor

JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (JSI) is a public health management consulting and research organization dedicated to improving the health of individuals and communities throughout the world over the last forty years. JSI is currently seeking an outstanding Resident Advisor for the USAID-funded Country Health Information System and Data Use (CHISU) global cooperative agreement in Madagascar.

CHISU is a 5-year program designed to enhance host country capacity to produce high-quality health information, to optimally manage this information, and to institutionalize evidence-based decision-making. The program works with USAID- supported host country health managers, health workers, and other stakeholders to strengthen enabling environment for health information management and strategic planning in order to: improve harmonization of fragmented information systems, reduce duplication of data collection, and improve monitoring and tracking of the country’s own health trends and priorities.

The Resident Advisor will support the Government of Madagascar to strengthen the health information system (HIS) and the malaria surveillance, monitoring and evaluation system, improve availability of quality health data at all levels of the health system, and to improve the resilience of the Madagascar health system in case of a major disease outbreak.
The Resident Advisor will also be responsible for stakeholder engagement in order to clearly articulate the HIS strengthening approach to them and develop advocates for the approach.

Specific Responsibilities will include, but are not limited to the following:

• Lead CHISU activities in Madagascar and ensure all activities are coordinated according to approved scopes of work and work plans;
• Serve as the primary point of contact with the USAID Mission and the Government of Madagascar for CHISU activities;
• Ensure coordination with Ministry of Health, Office of Nutrition and other stakeholders;
• Support the development and validation of supportive supervision tools, support materials and standard operating procedures to improve the malaria surveillance, monitoring and evaluation system and HMIS functioning and use;
• Support the integration and interoperability efforts within MOH and across Ministries with other existing systems (specifically the DHIS2, Nutrition Data Collection system, Surveillance system, eLMIS etc.);
• Support the design of a national HIS architecture with all parties at a national level;
• Develop SOPs and provide mentoring to MOH staff to improve data collection, data quality and use at each level of the health system;
• Strengthen web-based applications for data visualization;
• Work with the HQ teams in the preparation of CHISU annual work plans, quarterly reports and annual progress reports to the Mission and CHISU headquarters;
• Ensure project financial systems and controls comply with generally accepted accounting practices and USG standards;
• Oversee monitoring of project activities and ensure incorporation of lessons learned into ongoing activities;
• Supervise local staff, when necessary;
• Perform other assigned functions relevant to CHISU work in Madagascar, based on the emerging needs either from the Mission and government agencies.

• Advance degree (MPH, MS, MIS, MA, other) in public health or related fields such as health systems or health information;
• At least 10 years “hands on experience” in HMIS, disease surveillance, M&E, data quality assessments and related areas, with a health or related international NGO or bilateral/multilateral organization;
• Experience working with diseases surveillance and HMIS systems in other countries;
• Experience in the development and operations of robust Health Information Systems and specifically community based information system;
• Experience with adult training approaches and excellent workshop and meeting facilitation skills;
• Sound computer literacy and IT knowledge with experience in word processing, spreadsheets, databases, statistical analysis software such as DHIS2, SPSS, SAS, STATA or EPI-Info;
• Superior analytical skills including quantitative research activities in terms of planning, implementation and data analysis;
• Good interpersonal and people management skills and demonstrated ability to work effectively and harmoniously with other project staff, host country counterparts, USAID, consultants, other donors and international organizations;
• A team player but also able to work independently and to manage various projects on a daily basis with minimal supervision;
• Fluency in written and spoken French and English, and demonstrated capacity to effectively communicate and document, including the writing of quality reports and detailed analysis of strategic information;
• Ability to travel within Madagascar as required by the position.