Health Financing Technical Advisor at Financing Alliance for Health

• The Health Financing Technical Advisor will lead the implementation of a Strategic Initiative in Kenya, an Africa Frontline First- Catalytic Fund that is designed to address critical community health systems gaps, increase domestic investments towards community health and ensure high-quality implementation and utilization of GC7 and C19RM resources.
• Working closely with the Ministry of Health- Division of Community Health, the Health Financing Technical Advisor will provide technical expertise and strategic guidance in the execution of the Strategic Initiative’s priorities and activities. The overarching goal of this initiative is to ensure that Kenya establishes strong policies, strategies, and operational plans for community health programming; monitoring and regular assessments of systems that support MoH to identify areas of improvement; functional coordination platforms to turn data into evidence-based decisions and performance; increased resource mobilization for community health; integrated financial planning with broader HRH and efficient resource allocation in community health; and long term financing and sustainability plans to ensure lasting impact for scaling and strengthening the community health program.
• The Health Financing Technical Advisor will collaborate with the MoH to identify community health needs and priorities, jointly develop annual SI workplans, co-design implementation approaches and strategies for these workplans and oversee their day-to-day roll-out, ensuring effective coordination and execution.
• The Advisor will actively engage and collaborate with stakeholders beyond the Ministry of Health, including the Ministry of Finance, funders, and donors such as the Global Fund, as well as implementing partners within the community health ecosystem.

Key scopes of work will include:

Strategic Initiative Implementation:

• Lead the implementation of the Strategic Initiative in Kenya, focusing on scaling and sustaining an integrated community health system.
• Introduce and socialize SI and other AFF financing mechanisms to MoH and stakeholders alongside AFF teams.
• Develop detailed action plans and timelines for executing project activities in alignment with program objectives.
• Monitor progress and performance indicators, making necessary adjustments including identification of programmatic and absorption bottlenecks, problem solving and resolution to ensure successful implementation.

Policy and Strategy Development:

• Collaborate with the Ministry of Health to develop strong policies, strategies, and operational plans to advance community health programming.
• Conduct regular assessments of existing systems supporting community health to identify areas for improvement.
• Provide technical expertise in designing and implementing evidence-based strategies to address identified gaps.

Health Financing: 

• Contribute to the development and implementation of health financing strategies for community health; analyzing the current financing mechanisms, identifying gaps and opportunities, and recommending strategies to ensure sustainable and equitable financing for community health care services. 
• Provide technical assistance in the innovative design, implementation, and management of health financing models and mechanisms that promote financial risk protection and expand access to primary healthcare services. 
• Support MoH in resource mobilization efforts for community, both domestic and external resources. This includes identifying potential funding sources and providing guidance on resource mobilization, allocation, and utilization.

Economic Evaluations: 

• Conduct health outcome/impact evaluations (e.g., Cost-Benefit/-Effectiveness/-Minimization Analyses and Models) to demonstrate the benefits, value for money, impact, and returns on investments of interventions related to community health.
• Conduct costing analyses of community health strategies and interventions to ensure accurate budgeting and allocation of resources.

Resource Tracking and Investment Mapping:

• Develop tools and methodologies to measure and track the flow of resources in the health system for community health.
• Conduct mapping exercises to identify existing resources and investments towards community health initiatives at national level.
• Analyze data and prepare policy briefs to inform decision-making processes related to resource allocation and utilization for community health.

Prioritization, Planning and Budgeting: 

• Assist in the development of annual workplans and budgets for community health. This involves estimating funding needs, advising on the appropriate allocation of resources, and ensuring workplans and budgets are aligned with the MoH primary healthcare goals and objectives. 

Stakeholder Engagement, Coordination and Collaboration: 

• Lead coordination efforts between MoH and other health actors and stakeholders (government agencies, donor agencies, civil society, private sector among others) to ensure alignment and synergy in health financing efforts for community health.

Policy Advocacy: 

• Engage in policy advocacy efforts to promote evidence-based health financing policies and reforms that support community healthcare. This involves policy analysis, generating evidence on the impact of different financing approaches, and engaging policymakers to influence decision-making processes.

Position Qualifications

Required

• Master’s degree in health economics, economics, or public health with a health financing focus, or related field.
• At least 6 years relevant experience in PHC programming and financing experience directly supporting governments in LMICs in health financing, budgeting, and evidence-based decision-making.
• Experience in the development of PHC strategies and policies, costing of interventions, funding gap analyses, resource mapping, and investment cases.
• Experience in providing support in policy reforms around user-fee elimination, revenue collection, risk pooling, and strategic purchasing for healthcare services.
• Experience working with ministries of health and finance, donors and implementing agencies.
• Established track record of carrying out analytical work and preparing high-quality technical reports, policy briefing materials, and presentations.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to generate innovative solutions.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build effective partnerships and work collaboratively with diverse stakeholders.
• Diplomatic and patient, with ability to understand specific nuances of country contexts (political, cultural, economic, etc.).
• This position is only open to candidates who reside and are authorized to work in Kenya.

Preferred

• Experience with designing, implementing, overseeing, or guiding the implementation of Global Fund grants, including previous experience as part of grant application teams, providing technical support in the implementation of grants.