Public health expert in District health management team (2 positions) Full Time

The role

The Public health expert will support the districtd (50% of time) and the central level (50% of time) to make informed decisions in prioritizing operational and strategic plans regarding quality maternal, neonatal, sexual and reproductive health, and related non-communicable disease, mental health and nutrition, with focus on health service delivery improvement and quality assurance. His/her main responsibilities will be:

• Support quality improvement initiatives across district health facilities
• Contributing, in consultation with the districts and districts health stakeholders, to the development of the strategic plan, operational planning, monitoring and evaluation follow-up
• Develop and implement community health outreach and education programs
• Strengthen health facility management systems and clinical governance structures
• Support the implementation of health sector policies and guidelines at facility level
• Coordinate with community health workers and volunteers on health promotion activities
• Facilitate health facility accreditation and quality certification processes
• Support health financing initiatives and community health insurance schemes
• Conduct supportive supervision visits to health facilities and community health programs
• Participate in district health planning and resource allocation processes
• Support emergency preparedness and response planning at district level
• Close collaboration and follow-up with selected NGOs/CSOs
• Participate in strategy dialogue at the district level
• Actively participate in the alignment, consistency and coordination of various technical and financial partners
• Strengthen the synergies and strategic coherence of interventions with other interventions in sexual and reproductive health and women’s rights.

Project description

To support Rwanda’s Health Sector Strategic Plan V (2024–2029) to address maternal mortality (203 deaths per 100,000), chronic malnutrition (33% stunting), and non-communicable diseases (50% of deaths) while prioritizing climate resilience and gender-responsive care, the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) is developing a Results-Based Financing (RBF) loan in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MOH), Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), and the Ministry of Finance (MINECOFIN).

AFD’s anticipated loan will use results-based payments conditioned on key performance indicators to strengthen Rwanda’s health system, building on existing RBF mechanisms to enhance access to climate-resilient, gender-responsive healthcare. This loan envisions a specific focus at district level in the Northern Province, targeting four districts: Musanze, Gakenke, Rulindo, and Gicumbi.

The RBF program is designed to target two MOH priorities:

• Increasing qualified healthcare professionals within a strengthened health system
• Enhancing access to high-quality primary healthcare addressing maternal/child health, NCDs, mental health, nutrition, and emergencies

To support the anticipated RBF implementation, AFD has requested Expertise France to provide technical assistance through residential experts to be seconded to key divisions or departments within RBC and MOH, as well as at district level. This planned support would focus on four strategic areas: Decentralized Healthcare, Health System Governance and Management, Biomedical and Health Infrastructure, and Climate Resilience.

The technical assistance project will be implemented over a period of 30 months. Under the management of a team leader, the team would consist of 8 Technical Experts, and would be supported by Expertise France’s Kigali-based Project Support Unit (PSU) for administrative, finance, HR and procurement, as well as Paris-based HQ for public health technical support.

Overview

Expertise France is the French agency for international cooperation, under the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance. The agency develops and implements projects that sustainably strengthen public policies in low- and middle-income countries and focuses on four priority areas:

• Democratic, economic and financial governance;
• Stability of countries in crisis/post-crisis situations and security;
• Combating climate change and favouring sustainable urban development;
• Strengthening health systems, social protection and employment.
• Economic and financial governance
• Sustainable development, climate and agriculture

In these areas, Expertise France engineers and implements capacity-building projects, mobilises technical expertise and acts as a project coordinator, bringing together public expertise and private know-how. With an annual business volume of 390 million euros and over 400 projects in 145 countries, Expertise France’s activities are part of France’s international cooperation policy and official development assistance.

Active since 2019 in Rwanda, Expertise France Rwanda implements 6 projects, primarily funded by the European Union, AFD and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for a total amount of €50M. The agency’s main areas of intervention in Rwanda are:

• Economic and financial governance
• Sustainable development, climate and agriculture
• Health and human development

Profile

Qualifications

Master’s degree in Public Health, Health Services Management, or related field.

Professional experience

• 4 years of experience as a Public Health Expert in the public sector level and/or within an international organization
• Proven experience and knowledge of Rwanda health systems especially at operational district level
• Knowledge and experience of at least 3 years implementing sexual and reproductive health programs and Primary Health Care
• Knowledge on health services quality improvement cycle process
• Experience in monitoring and evaluation of health programs
• Knowledge of health facility operations and clinical quality standards
• Experience in community health programming and health promotion
• Understanding of health financing and insurance mechanisms

Skills

• Monitoring and evaluation competences;
• Strong supervisory and mentoring skills
• Strong communication, interpersonal and stakeholder engagement skills, including government, NGOs, and community organizations.
• Initiative-taking and sense of responsibility.
• Proficiency in office tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).
• Perfect command of English and Kinyarwanda; fluency in French is an asset.

Tagged as: Expertise France, Rwanda