Senior Technical Advisor, Honduras, Data.FI 93 views

Senior Technical Advisor, Honduras, Data.FI

Company Overview:

About Palladium – Palladium is a global leader in the design, development and delivery of Positive Impact – the intentional creation of enduring social and economic value.  We work with governments, businesses, and investors to solve the world’s most pressing challenges. With a team of more than 3,000 employees operating in 90 plus countries and a global network of over 35,000 experts, we help improve economies, societies and, most importantly, people’s lives. 

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion – We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status.  

Should you require any adjustments or accommodations to be made due to a disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or any other circumstance, please email our team at accessibility@thepalladiumgroup.com

Safeguarding – We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse.  All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.

Project Overview and Role:

Palladium’s, Data for Implementation (Data.FI) Project. is seeking a Senior Technical Advisor (STA) to support the COVID-19 and HIV work in Honduras.
Data.FI is a five-year global project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to support the HIV and COVID-19 response. Data.FI partners with programs to accelerate and sustain access to high-quality data to expedite HIV and COVID-19 epidemic control and maintenance. By improving global, regional, national, and community/local in-depth analyses of HIV and COVID-19 epidemiologic and programmatic data, Data.FI expedites program achievements to improve client services and attain and sustain control of the epidemics. Data.FI supports host country governments to enhance existing health information systems (HIS), informing management responses to gaps in programming and sustaining impact by supporting local partner transition. 
The STA is responsible for the technical execution of all of Data.FI’s COVID-19 related activities, which will be carried out at the national level and in two regions.  Activities include: 1) working with stakeholders across the clinical, surveillance and laboratory sectors to develop performance metrics and design a strategy for data use; 2) implement the data use strategy in two regional situation rooms; 3) lead the process to update the COVID-19 surveillance case definitions; 4) improve surveillance data quality, data reporting and provide mentorship to staff in 2 regional epidemiology offices; 5) train health care providers in the completion of surveillance forms and the use of the surveillance information system, XCOVID; and 6) improve the information system for management of inventory at SESAL’s 4 laboratories for COVID-19 testing.  This position will have direct responsibility for the execution of activities 1, 2, and 3, and will oversee activities 4, 5, and 6, with occasional direct participation in those activities. The STA will provide direct support to all products/deliverables across the 6 activities and  will oversee a team of 4 people, 3 of whom are expected to work at the regional level.   
Currently, this position is primarily home-based, with the expectation of regular local travel in Tegucigalpa for in-person meetings and workshops with SESAL, other partners, and Data.FI staff. Occasional overnight travel elsewhere in the country to support Data.FI staff and activities, is also anticipated.

 Primary Duties and Responsibilities: 

The primary responsibilities of the Senior Technical Advisor, Honduras, are:

Technical Leadership:
•Provide technical input and ensure quality in the design, planning and delivery of projects related to improving data use, surveillance, and laboratory inventory systems. 
•Serve as the Data.FI lead in technical working group meetings with the government and other stakeholders to review priority indicators, identify and define priority information needs, gather stakeholder requirements, and map data for data analysis and visualization products. 
•Facilitate a process among government and non-governmental stakeholders to update the COVID-19 case definitions. Assist SESAL in updating the associated reporting forms, overseeing it if requested.
•Leverage adult learning principles to create interactive sessions with stakeholders, intended to engage critical thinking skills, encourage accountability, and be highly systematized for ease of replicability.
•Develop and/or strengthen a methodology for data review and use which identifies the root cause of performance problems and engages multiple stakeholders in corrective action planning.
•Work with a team of data analysts, system architects, and data visualization specialists to apply a user-centered approach design, prototype, and iterate user-friendly on data analytic and visualization products. Identify and advise on mitigation strategies to address data limitations and data quality issues
•Provide training, mentoring, and technical support to government counterparts, local partners and teams to strengthen capacity to manage, analyze and visualize data to inform program decisions
•Advise government counterparts and relevant non-governmental partners at the national and regional levels on the needed enhancements of national information management systems to meet COVID-19 response data management and use needs. Assist in their implementation as requested and feasible.
•Work with PAHO to develop a plan for the timing, location, and content of the training of health care providers to complete the surveillance forms and to report data using the XCOVID platform.   
•Liaise with SESAL’s laboratory managers and Data.FI’s laboratory consultants to facilitate decision making and ensure updates to the inventory system (SIMMCOVID) are completed within the first 3 months of the project. 
•Guide staff in the planning and development of project deliverables and ensure the quality of the final products. 
•Represent Palladium to governments, donors, and other stakeholders, providing thought leadership at  ministry-level events, technical working groups and international meetings.  .
•Identify, build, and maintain relationships with partners and consultants who can provide technical expertise in health and other sectors of international development.
•Supervise and mentor Regional Data Use Advisor, 2 Regional Data Quality and Capacity-building Advisors, and a data analyst. 

Reporting requirements include:

•Weekly meetings (either in-person or via Teams/phone)
•Weekly written reports to the Country Director
•Monthly reports to the USAID Mission in collaboration with the Country Activity Manager
•Emails as needed
•Other reporting as requested by the line manager.

Relationships
•Reports to the Country Director, Palladium
•Respond to technical and administrative requests from the Country Activity Manager and Data.FI Senior Technical Advisors as needed.

Authority levels
•Country Activity Manager, Palladium
•Senior Technical Advisors, Data.FI (Surveillance and data use).

Required Qualifications:

•Master’s degree in public health, statistics, public policy, international development, or health informatics; a clinical degree with clinical experience preferred but not required
•8+ years experience in public health program management (including the supervision of staff) promoting evidence-based decision making with government cadres; experience with implementing health information systems (e.g., surveillance, laboratory) is preferred.
•Experience working with SESAL at sub-national and national levels i strategic information for health in Honduras.
•Experience in capacity building of public health staff and in training of clinical providers in the use of information systems is preferred.
•Experience leading diverse stakeholder groups in decision-making.
•Proficiency in data analysis is required to successfully lead activities (in-depth knowledge is not required.)
•Demonstrated understanding of the COVID-19 data streams in Honduras, and the information needs of stakeholders from the facility level through to the national level. 
•Experience working with USAID preferred.
•Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint at a moderate to advanced level.

•Current legal authorization to work long-term in Honduras

Key competencies & professional expertise required

•Ability to guide and support the clients, project teams and technical teams in designing and implementing solutions that meet the specified requirements; knowledge of user-centered design methodologies.
•Strong organizational, stakeholder management and people skills required; existing relationships with USAID, SESAL/UVS/UGI, PAHO, and other stakeholders an asset
•Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
•Ability to work in a dynamic and agile environment with changing requirements and priorities. 
•Demonstrated ability to work effectively with team members and clients of different cultures, gender, and hierarchical levels. 
•Candidate must speak and write Spanish at the level of a native speaker. English language proficiency is preferred but not required.
•Experience in writing reports.

Core competencies
•Detail-oriented and deadline-driven with strong organizational skills
•Highly self-motivated and able to work independently as well as in team settings
•Strong communication and interpersonal skills
•Demonstrated ability to work effectively as a member of a fast-moving and multicultural team while maintaining a client-centered focus