Health Specialist

Job #: req24687

Organization: World Bank

Sector: Health/Nutrition/Population

Grade: GF

Term Duration: 4 years 0 months

Recruitment Type: Local Recruitment

Location: Maputo,Mozambique

Required Language(s): English

Preferred Language(s): Portuguese, French

Closing Date: 10/31/2023 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC

Description

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org.

HEALTH, NUTRITION AND POPULATION GLOBAL PRACTICE CONTEXT

The central contribution of the HNP Global Practice to the World Bank’s twin goals is to enable the achievement of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), in which all people are effectively covered by essential health services, and nobody suffers undue financial hardship because of illnesses. The HNP Global Practice includes staff members in Washington, DC and many country offices. The HNP Global Practice works with and across multiple sectors, in recognition of the fact that HNP outcomes often depend on actions that lie outside the HNP sector. The HNP Global Practice supports country and regional efforts to: (i) improve health outcomes, especially for the poor and most vulnerable; (ii) expand access to high-quality HNP services, interventions and technologies that give the most value for money; (iii) strengthen health systems for results; (iv) establish and improve health financing mechanisms that promote efficiency, equity and sustainability of investments; (v) strengthen heath-relevant institutions within and outside the health sector; (vi) harness multisectoral policies and investments for better health outcomes; and (vii) develop and learn from rigorous impact evaluations.

AFRICA REGION CONTEXT

REGIONAL CONTEXT

In the Africa Region of the World Bank, there are four units that comprise the Africa HNP practice. The Africa HNP Practice Managers have joint responsibilities for region wide HNP strategies, and staff work across unit boundaries. HAEH1, which covers Eastern and Southern Africa, is responsible for policy analysis and dialogue, ASA, strategic engagement, relationship management and lending operations in that part of the region. The Unit has 41 staff members, located in Washington DC and in country offices. HAEH1 has a strong portfolio of ASAs in 20 countries, and an active and diverse portfolio of 18 projects under supervision, with a net commitment of about $1.5 billion.

COUNTRY CONTEXT

Currently, our work program in Mozambique and Comoros covers: reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child, and adolescent health and nutrition (RMNCAH-N) related service delivery, early years, health system strengthening, including public financial management and fiduciary functions, human resources for health, health care financing. Moving forward we are looking to support the countries in 3 ‘new’ priority areas: i) digital health, ii) climate change and health, iii) Women’s and Girls empowerment and the development of a strong Adolescent Health programme, that includes expanded access to HPV vaccination. This will require a team aware of and able to scale up new innovations and willing to challenge the orthodoxy of approaches that have not delivered sustained or significant results.

We are working to strengthen the alignment with traditional development partners, but also to leverage the support of African foundations active in health and development. The team works with the Global Financing Facility (GFF), a broad coalition of bilateral and multilateral agencies that seek to transform the status of the health of women and children worldwide, through smart, scaled, and sustainable financing that is linked to RMNCAH-N results. Mozambique is one of the GFF countries implementing a health operation that supports the Investment Case (IC) focused on RMNCAH-N that the Government adopted in April 2017. The Government and HP are seeking ways to further improve the aid effectiveness in the health sector and better the spending program by improving prioritization, monitoring and evaluation, allocation of resources and fiduciary functions to maximize the benefits from the available resources domestic and external. The Bank’s current portfolio in Mozambique has three active operations and a fourth going to Board in February 2024. In addition, there are opportunities for cross sectoral work as we address issues of water, energy, climate, and digitalization. The COMPASS project in Comoros is also covered by this office.

The HNP team in Mozambique also works with other Global Practices (GP) and Cross Cutting Solutions Areas (CCSAs), namely: the Governance GP on Public Financial Management issues in the health sector; the Education GP, and Social Protection GP on the Human Capital Project for the Northern Mozambique; the Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment GP on COVID-19 related Development Policy Operations; the Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience and Land GP on immediate health response to natural disasters and epidemics, including COVID-19; and (iii) the Water GP during the response to COVID-19 and Sanitation. As for the CCSAs, the HNP team collaborates with Climate Change Cross Cutting Solution Area on the building climate resilience in key sectors of the economy including health and Gender.

Duties and Accountabilities

The Health Specialist will have the following key responsibilities, inter alia:

•  Support implementation of the Bank’s HNP operational portfolio in HAEH1, including the preparation of selected national and/or regional operations. This will be including contributing to technical discussions and monitoring of the Bank portfolio on a day-to-day basis in close collaboration with the relevant government agencies and development partners;
•  Co-lead and contribute to high-quality analytical and advisory services tasks in HAEH1;
•  Participate in and contribute to technical assistance work to support relevant capacity-building activities including workshops, seminars, etc;
•  Participate in and contribute to policy dialogue with government counterparts — including at the national and sub-national levels — and with other relevant stakeholders;
•  Help teams with building and maintaining partnerships and networks within the Bank (in HNP as well as other sectors) and with external partners;
•  Contribute to sector-specific or cross-sectoral inputs for various operational products/outputs (e.g., sector/country briefings, background reports, portfolio performance reviews, etc.);
•  Review and contribute to sector-specific or cross-sectoral policy and other documents;
•  Organize and participate in missions of the health team;
•  Respond to ad hoc information requests from internal and external parties;
•  Carry out any other activity required as part of the health and human capital portfolio;

The Health Specialist will report to the Practice Manager (Health Nutrition and Population) for Eastern and Southern Africa (HAEH1). For day-to-day operational work, the Health Specialist will support Task Team Leaders on assigned tasks and work closely with other Task Team Leaders and the Human Development Program Leader. The Health Specialist will be subject to all World Bank regulations and guidelines applicable to staff.

Selection Criteria

•  Master’s degree or higher in public health, nutrition, population and the equivalent 5 to 8 years of relevant professional experience with public health, and or health service delivery projects is required. Experience in digital health, adolescent health, and climate and health would be welcome.
•  A proven track record of high standards/accountability for work products, meeting deadlines, an ability to prioritize tasks within their work program and strategies for working collectively with colleagues on the team to deliver products of the highest caliber.
•  Demonstrated ability to think strategically, rapidly analyze diverse information from varied sources.
•  Excellent oral and written communications skills is essential with ability to prepare documents on complex subjects, speak and write persuasively, and present ideas clearly and concisely.
•  Demonstrated ability for collaboration in a multicultural environment.
•  Experience working on WBG funded projects and familiarity with WBG operations, policies, and procedures is an advantage.
•  Prior work experience in Africa is an advantage.

In addition to the above, the selected candidate is expected to demonstrate the following WBG core competencies: Integrative Skills — Understands core issues and knows where to get additional expertise when needed.

Knowledge and Experience in Development Arena — Understands policy making process and role of the health sector in that process. Is able to find relevant information and examine similar policy questions in multiple regions and to distill operationally relevant recommendations and lessons from this analysis for clients.

Policy Dialogue Skills — Identifies and assesses policy issues and communicates findings/points of view verbally and through economic reports and papers. Plays an active role in the dialogue with the government and/or other stakeholders as part of Bank teams.

Client Orientation — Maintains client relationships in the face of conflicting demands or directions and provides evidence-based advice and solutions based on sound diagnosis and knowledge.

Drive for Results — Identifies the needed resources to accomplish results involving multiple stakeholders and finds solutions to obstacles affecting key deliverables.

Teamwork (Collaboration) and Inclusion — Shows leadership in ensuring the team stays organized and focused, and actively seeks and considers diverse ideas and approaches.

World Bank Group Core Competencies

The World Bank Group offers comprehensive benefits, including a retirement plan; medical, life and disability insurance; and paid leave, including parental leave, as well as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.

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