Senior Technical Advisor - Data Impact Program - Asia Pacific Region

Vital Strategies is an international public health organization. Our programs strengthen public health systems and address the world’s leading causes of illness, injury and death. We currently work in 73 countries, supporting data-driven decision making in government, advancing evidence-based public health policies and mounting strategic communication campaigns. Vital Strategies’ priorities are driven by the greatest potential to improve and save lives. They include non-communicable disease prevention, cardiovascular health promotion, tobacco control, road safety, obesity prevention, epidemic prevention, overdose prevention, environmental health, vital statistics systems building and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis treatment research. Our programs are primarily concentrated in low- and middle-income countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific; the Overdose Prevention Program is our first initiative in the U.S. Please visit our website at www.vitalstrategies.org to find out more about our work.

Vital Strategies offers competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits . Vital welcomes and supports a diverse, inclusive work environment. As such, our commitment is to promote equal employment opportunities (EEO) for all applicants seeking employment.

Data Impact Program, Data for Health Initiative

The Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative aims to enhance public health data collection and use in low- and middle-income countries. The goal of the initiative is to ensure that a billion more people live in countries where data are maximally used to steer public policy and program decisions. Under the Initiative, Vital Strategies, in partnership with other global public health organizations, is implementing a multi-year program to provide support to numerous countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Pacific in improving public health data systems, such as civil registration and vital statistics and cancer registries, and enhancing the use of data for decision making. The program currently operates in over 10 countries specifically in the Asia-Pacific region.

As part of the Data for Health Initiative, the Data Impact Program (DIP) provides technical assistance to government public health agencies and national statistics institutes to support capacity development in the domain of data use, i.e., analysis, presentation, dissemination and translation of data into policy. The Program’s objective is to help governments systematically strengthen the use of data in policy development and other key decision areas – to prevent data from being collected but then “left on the shelf” (or on a computer). In each country, the specific activity plan is determined collaboratively with government partners, reflecting government priorities and requested areas of support.

Job description

Overview

The Senior Technical Advisor (STA) is a senior technical leadership position reporting to the Program Director based in the Asia-Pacific region. The STA will lead and develop technical content to support best practices in data analysis, synthesis, presentation and dissemination of data for decision-making and provide technical assistance to national ministries of health and other key stakeholders. The STA will also have program management responsibilities, overseeing implementation of the DIP in up to 10 countries located in the region.. The STA will communicate frequently with government and global partners and be responsible for cross-cutting activities– e.g., donor reporting, regional network collaboration, etc.

Specific Duties

• Serve as a senior technical lead; provide direct technical assistance to government partners and oversee the development of global technical assistance strategies and products.
  • Design and provide technical assistance to government agency leadership and staff on data-driven planning, management and policy-making t to develop their capacity to conduct policy-relevant data analysis based on existing vital statistics and survey data
• Conduct assessments of how public health data is used by policymakers, program planners, communications officers, and other stakeholders in national ministries of health
• Develop tools, technical materials and curricula; and provide technical assistance that reflect best practices and evidence for building policy-relevant analytic capacity for decision-making impact in ministries of health
• Advise on policies, procedures, and institutional structures to promote exemplary institutional data use
• collaborative development of a technical assistance workplan; consultation to government leadership; trainings for staff; etc.
• Lead country-specific activities and provide guidance and supervision to staff in assigned countries
  • Establish and maintain strong collaborative working relationships with government partners
  • Budget for and monitor spending on work plan implementation
  • Provide technical guidance to partners and colleagues who deliver trainings
  • In collaboration with leads from the African and Latin American regions, ensure planning and implementation are undertaken consistently across the geographies where the Program operates.
  • Provide supervision and support to team members working with countries in the region and overseeing the planning, budgeting, implementation and financial management of the Program in the region.
• Collaborate with the DIP leadership team to design and direct the program in existing and new countries
• Participate in leading monitoring and evaluation of the DIP
• Ensure technical relevance and accuracy of DIP reporting for the region

Requirements

• Minimum Masters degree in a relevant field (e.g., public health, epidemiology, public policy) with 15 or more years of experience in public health practice
• Demonstrated experience and expertise in epidemiology and public health policy development
• Experience working in low- and middle-income countries and on projects with strong data components
• Prior experience working in or with the local government ministries who focus on public health
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Experience in team management and staff supervision; strong interpersonal skills
• Proficient in oral and written English, proficiency in other languages will be an advantage
• Ability to travel internationally, up to 30% of time (once safe to travel)

Please submit a CV and cover letter, including salary expectations, through the Vital Strategies Career Center, or via the link below:

https://phg.tbe.taleo.net/phg01/ats/careers/v2/viewRequisition?org=VITASTRA&cws=37&rid=294

The deadline for applications is December 19, 2020. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.