Founded in 2002 by President William J. Clinton, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to strengthening integrated health systems around the world and expanding access to care and treatment for HIV/AIDS, malaria and other illnesses. Based on the premise that business oriented strategy can facilitate solutions to global health challenges, CHAI acts as a catalyst to mobilize new resources and optimize the impact of these resources to save lives, via improved organization of commodity markets and more effective local management. Unlike other implementers, CHAI does not operate stand-alone programs, nor does it build parallel health systems. Rather, CHAI works at the invitation and in support of governments. We focus on large-scale impact and have secured lower pricing agreements for treatment options in more than 70 countries, including cutting the costs of Viral Load laboratory tests by 50% in South Africa. CHAI’s teams are working side-by-side with over 30 governments to tackle many of the largest barriers to effective health care.
CHAI’s health financing program is working with 10 of these countries to support Ministries of Health to substantially and sustainably improve access to essential health services for their populations. Health financing is often insufficient and overly reliant on donors and individuals paying out of pocket at facilities. Low income countries in Africa and South East Asia see over half of the global disease burden, are home to 40% of the global population and account for only 3% of health spending. Donor contributions for health have plateaued, and in many countries are likely to decline in the coming years. Domestic resources for health are increasing, but the rate of growth in government spending dedicated to health fluctuates and is often insufficient to meet population needs. In addition, resources that are made available may not be spent efficiently. Healthcare providers face stock-outs, ration services among patients and charge informal or formal user fees, which can act as a deterrent for patients, and particularly the poor, to seek care.
CHAI is supporting governments to address these challenges by strengthening tax-funded and donor funded systems and rolling out health insurance reforms. Staff members work closely with Ministry of Health partners, often with permanent desks in government offices, to support evidence-based decision making and design systems to mobilize sustainable resources and ensure those resources go as far as possible so that providers can deliver quality care and patients can access that care.
Position Overview:
Flexible location per leadership approval with preference for CHAI program country in Southern and Eastern Africa
CHAI is looking for a Senior Associate to support our global health financing work, with a focus on Ethiopia and other countries in Eastern and Southern Africa. The Government of Ethiopia is rolling out health insurance and aims to reach most of its population of close to 100 million people by 2020. Currently the government is scaling up community-based health insurance for the informal sector, rolling out social health insurance for the formal sector, with the goal of harmonizing these two schemes under a national insurance scheme. The Senior Associate will work with the CHAI Ethiopia team and other stakeholders to support the new Ethiopian Health Insurance Agency to overcome management and operational challenges in scaling up health insurance reform. This has the potential to be one of the most transformational and successful health financing reforms on the continent, setting an example for other countries.
Ethiopia will be a flagship program for CHAI’s health financing work and therefore the Senior Associate will document and share lessons learned with other CHAI country offices and support those country teams in similar efforts. This includes work in South Africa where CHAI is supporting the roll-out of a national health insurance. It also includes support to programs in Malawi and Swaziland where CHAI is working with Ministries of Health to design an essential health care package and ensure that it can be delivered in the short-term and over time by assessing facility readiness, developing robust investment cases and strengthening tax and donor funded health financing systems. The Senior Associate will also provide strategic and technical input for work planning, budgeting and proposal writing; shaping CHAI’s health financing strategy moving forward across countries.
The Senior Associate will work as part of a small global team of 5 people, supporting country teams in Ethiopia and across Eastern and Southern Africa to shape CHAI’s strategy in health financing and health insurance.
Responsibilities:
This is a challenging, fast-paced and rewarding position. The senior associate will work closely with CHAI global and country teams, stakeholders and governments, to increase government ownership over the health sector and implement health financing reforms that will significantly increase access to and utilization of services for populations in need. The Senior Associate will provide strategic and technical support for the implementation of high profile projects as described below.
- Work with CHAI country teams to support government partners, including by designing and implementing tools and processes for improved resource allocation and management, and supporting their institutionalization in Ministries of Health
- Support the roll-out and scale-up of health insurance in Ethiopia and South Africa including:
- Generating evidence through quantitative analyses to inform decisions on benefits package design,
- Generating evidence through quantitative analyses to inform decisions on collection and pooling of revenue, and
- Supporting design and roll-out of core operational processes for insurance including premium collection and enrollment, provider contracting and payment, financial management and auditing, reporting other core areas for health insurance reform
- Conduct cost and impact, and other quantitative analyses that assess opportunities to improve efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability in health financing in specific country contexts
- Research methods used in the roll-out of health financing reforms and public financial management reforms in other countries and support governments to adapt lessons to new contexts
- Develop and deliver presentations to CHAI, governments and other stakeholders to inform key policy decisions
- Onboard, train and provide day to day troubleshooting support to CHAI staff in health financing, financial modeling and other areas as needed
- Drive and coordinate planning and budgeting, shaping CHAI’s strategy in health financing
- Support monitoring and evaluation across CHAI country programs, as well as reporting to CHAI country teams, donors and stakeholders, disseminating lessons learned through annual reports as well as case studies and publications
- Other responsibilities as needed by manager
Qualifications:
- Advanced degree preferred in a relevant field such as health economics, public health, public policy, business, or other relevant disciplines preferred; Bachelor’s degree minimum with exceptional experience
- A minimum of 3-5 years of experience in a relevant public or private sector job in a rigorous environment (e.g., management consulting, finance, public financial management);
- Experience working in developing countries, particularly in the health sector;
- Project management experience, including experience conceiving, planning and executing programs or projects with verifiable results and little external support;
- Strong strategic and structured thinker and problem solver with excellent analytical and quantitative skills and experience in modeling using Microsoft Excel;
- Strong writer, facilitator and oral communicator able to explain complex concepts using Microsoft Word and PowerPoint;
- Ability to work independently, self-motivate and propose new initiatives;
- Ability to navigate changing priorities and handle multiple tasks simultaneously;
- Strong interpersonal skills and proven ability to build relationships in a multicultural environment;
- English language fluency.
This role will include 70% travel and will support multiple country locations in Africa with significant time spent in Ethiopia.
More Information
- Job City South Africa
